Claire House update, posted by Noor

As we finished tidying up at the Ellesmere Port Royal British Legion late on Saturday night (or was it early on Sunday morning by then?), I was sure of two things; everyone had had a good night, and we had made a lot of money for a great cause. The dance and gladiator shows were enjoyed by both the audience and the other performers, and there had been lots of opportunities to tempt people into donating even more. The raffle proved very popular (the fact that one of the prizes was a giant chocolate hamper may have had something to do with this!), and the cake stall was emptied by the end of the evening. The bazaar gave local dancers the opportunity to sell items which they no longer used, with a percentage going to Claire House, and of course to buy new things as well. Once the show was over there was a chance for everyone to dance to a mixture of Arabic and western music, and members of Meroe's dance class, which takes place at the venue on Thursday evenings, took to the floor with a "flash mob" performance.


Meroe (in white) and her class

All this, along with a generous donation from Tameri's workplace, gave us a grand total of £585.20.

I'd like to say a massive thank you to everyone involved; the rest of the Ya Raqs girls for all their help, Deva Victrix for supporting us, Caroline Afifi and Caroline Thorpe for coming to perform, Elaine for her delicious cakes, and the staff at the British Legion who helped the night go so well, and of course, everyone who came along to the evening.

Claire House Fundraiser, posted by Pheonice

……and a good time was had by all,

The show began with an introduction by the Roman Emperor himself, who then presented the dancers. Ya Raqs performed several routines, including tradition Bedouin and Egyptian dances and a solo by Meroe, and we had guest appearances by Caroline Afifi, who performed a modern Egyptian piece, and Caroline Thorpe, a cheeky stick dance. As I danced, I was pleased to see a lot of the audience, both men and women, were dressed in attire suiting the theme of the night, and they were really getting into the swing of things.


Ya Raqs


Meroe

During the interval, a delicious buffet, supplied by Sue Powell-Green, was enjoyed; I didn`t know vegetarian food could be so varied and tasty. There was plenty of retail therapy from the bazaar, where the girls picked up lots of glitzy bargains, also a cake stand brimming with delicious homemade cakes, provided by Elaine Chapman, which were snapped up.

The second half of the show began with `The dance of death`, a poignant veil routine by Ya Raqs, followed by fighting by gladiators of Deva Victix; this went down really well with the audience, who enthusiastically cheered on their favourites.


The Dance of Death

After the fighting, there was dancing for everyone who wanted to join in. Some of the girls from the audience were wearing their recent purchases from the bazaar, while others were back at the bazaar looking for more bargains.

Many thanks to Noor for arranging the night.