(Founder and Artistic Director: Susie White)


Friday 27 June 2014

Midsummer Watch Parade, Chester 2014, posted by Kebi

It was a beautiful sunny day as Phoenece and I wandered down behind the cathedral in Chester to meet up with the other participants in the Midsummer Watch Parade. Ya Raqs have been invited to this parade many times before, and have always been impressed by the noise and colour of it. What a surprise, as we walked around the corner, to find there were even more people there than in previous years. Midsummer Watch 2014 was set to be bigger and better than ever before.

Phoenece and the stilt walker before the parade

We went to find our friend the Camel - our regular partner on these parades - and on the way met a new friend, the Donkey. Phoenece was so taken with the donkey she kept petting it!

With our old friend the Camel

And our new friend the Donkey

We all lined up and we were off. There were large groups of children waving stars, angels and demons. There were Green Men, a Unicorn and a Stag, Angels, Demons, a ship and of course the Dragon. Phoenece and I were in front of the camel and we danced and played our sagat all the way around the town.

Phoenece and Kebi in Town Hall Square

The parade ended in front of the town hall. As we walked to take our place with the others, the master of ceremonies shouted at us “Dance!” so we did. Middle Eastern dancing to a Samba beat is quite fun. We did the usual Ya Raqs thing and encouraged the crowd to join in.

What I wasn’t expecting was for the dragon to try to eat me! All of a sudden I was enveloped in a colourful cloud of smoke.

Kebi and the dragon

I managed to escape, but the Master of Ceremonies was not so lucky. However, a brave child from the pirate ship stepped forward and slayed the dragon with her trusty sword.

Chester Midsummer Watch goes from strength to strength. It was a loud, colourful, joyous, fun event. I am already looking forward to next year. Thank you to Russell Kirk for inviting us to take part.

Have a look at these photos by DFlockton Photography, who captured the flavour of the event.

And if you want a bit more background to the parade then check out the website here.

Ya Raqs in the news

Brook Street Carnival featured in the local press recently. The article below appeared in the Chester and District Standard, complete with a picture of the girls taking part in the parade.



Wednesday 18 June 2014

Henna tattoos - new!

For some years now, Ya Raqs have been offering henna tattoos to visitors at the events we have attended. These have proved very popular, but there are a couple of drawbacks.
- Even though we only use natural henna with no additives, we don’t offer tattoos to under 12s.
- The henna can take a while to dry, especially if it’s not a warm sunny day, so it can get smudged.
- The tattoo takes a couple of weeks to fade, so some people can’t have them because they have to go to school or work the next day.

Fortunately Aisha has been doing some research, and has come up with an alternative. The new tattoos dry almost immediately, wash off at the end of the day, and are suitable for all ages. Plus they can include colours, and those all-important glitter highlights!

Naima, Tameri and Aisha show off their tattoos

Close-up

We will still offer traditional henna tattoos as well; the choice is yours!

Henna tattoo

Monday 16 June 2014

Special Guests at Funoon wa Alwane

After weeks of rehearsals, and traumas over costumes – we feel like we’ve been sewing forever - Ya Raqs and Meroe were finally ready for their guest appearances in the show Funoon wa Alwane as part of Liverpool’s Arab Arts Festival at the Unity Theatre, Liverpool – and boy what a show. A sell out!

The whole Funoon concept is the brainchild of Nawarra whose aim is to bring together the colour and celebration of the folkloric dances of the Middle East and North Africa. Funoon wa Alwane is the third show of its kind and although cast members have come and gone over the past three years, the driving force behind the whole show has been constant.

Ya Raqs were incredibly honoured to have been asked to join the cast for this year’s show and were to perform their version of a Bedouin routine originally choreographed by Serena Ramzy, but tweaked for Funoon by Ya Raqs’ very own Meroe. There were a few heart stopping moments because regrettably Aisha had to pull out of the show at the last minute – less than 24hrs before show time – however Naima stepped in to the breech and after a bit of re-shuffling, the routine was back on!

After the initial technical checks for sound and lighting and a quick run through of the group routines, Meroe was interviewed by the BBC Arabic Network – we’re hoping to get a copy of the interview at some point and will post it here as soon as it comes through. That just left enough time for the Ya Raqs girls to have their traditional sugar fix before the performance – not ice cream this time but cake and lots of it!

Kebi and Meroe build their strength up before the show!

Then it was back to the theatre to get our make-up and costumes on ready for the start of the show.

Our first routine was danced to Efrooh Bawadina, which is a Bedouin wedding dance, so the Ya Raqs girls had the opportunity to wear their gorgeous red and black costumes that had been made by Meroe and Pheonece. Not only that but Meroe, who took the role of the bride in the routine, used it as an excuse to add a little bit more bling to her costume – as if she needed any encouragement!

Backstage before the Bedouin routine

When they came on to stage the whole theatre erupted and before long you could hardly hear the music for the cheers, claps and the zaghareets from the audience. I think they enjoyed it!

Meroe, then performed two solo pieces – first, her baladi routine to Farah Amira which was equally well received by the appreciative audience. She was very touched by the comments from audience members after the show.

Meroe's baladi performance

Her second solo was something new for Meroe – but given that she is supposed to come from Nubia, it probably shouldn’t be too much of a surprise that it was a Nubian dance in a fantastic new costume made for her by Bev Smith from Baladi Bazaar. Meroe glided across the stage and got the audience clapping and cheering once more.

Meroe in her Nubian costume

The show was brought to a close by the irrepressible Nawarra, who got the entire cast, and most of the audience, dancing on the stage for the finale.

The finale - photo courtesy of Phil Saunders

The whole show was amazing and we are grateful to Nawarra for the invitation to join the Funoon cast in 2014. Thanks also to Bev Smith for Meroe’s Nubian costume. Finally thanks to Naima for stepping in at the last minute to replace Aisha, and also to Phoenece who also had to change position at the last moment – they both did brilliantly. But Aisha won’t miss out completely because we are going to be performing the routine again in October in Henley on Thames as part of the Sheikh It! So she’ll get a chance to perform the Bedouin routine then!

The whole show was filmed by the BBC Arabic Network for a special programme on Funoon that will be broadcast very shortly. We’ll post a link as soon as the programme is ready.

Saturday 14 June 2014

Mini Roman Festival, posted by Meroe

Well it wasn’t the all singing, all dancing Roman event we have all loved and enjoyed in previous years. But despite the lack of any support from various quarters, Ya Raqs were determined to support the Romans and early Britons who put on a mini Roman Festival in Chester’s amphitheatre on Sunday 1st June.


Dumnonika's display attracted a lot of interest

It was a fantastic day and we had a great crowd. We were lucky enough to do a couple of performances, and some mini-me workshops. And the Romans – well they did all their Roman stuff that they are so good at.

Teddy gets a hip scarf too! Phoenece and friends in a workshop.

It was a fantastic day and if you came to the event and had even a bit of a good time could we please PLEASE ask you to spread the word and tell folk what a great time you had. We need to bring the BIG Roman festival back to Chester and celebrate this city’s amazing Roman Heritage. Thank you.