I just got back this Monday from a long weekend at
Orits bellydance festival in Eilat. I went there together with Artemisia of Belgium and we met up with some other dance friends from the Netherlands as well..
It is the 5th time that this festival is organised, and it featured top dancers and teachers like Mayodi from Paris, Amira Mor from USA, Asi (who is also an excellent costume designer!), Orit Maftsir, Yael Moav, Marina Oganyan (Russia), Gul, Aziza of Canada and many more!
There was so much good quality dancing and teaching during the weekend that I can wholly recommend it to anyone! Not only that, but the organization was flawless as well. There were a lot of participants running around but things went very very smoothly considering.. At times it felt more like a 3 day party than a
festival really
The first day started with a welcoming party outside and live drumming in the tent, it was fun to see the people starting to stream in. And some of them with the craziest outfits! After that there were workshops, we took Aziza's veil class and Asi's choreography..
On Thursday evening it was competition time!! I was pretty nervous but everything went fine after all.. The girl who won (Stephania) did a sassy drum solo, second place went to a young and very talented male dancer from France and I shared third place with Sophie (yay!!), who danced an amazing zill dance - sans music!! The announcements were pretty funny, all in Hebrew so I missed most of the talks afterward ;-) But I'm *very* proud to bring home another award!!
On Friday there were more workshops and an open stage, where both me and Artemisia performed a solo. And I have to say: we represented our homeland well :-) People were *very* enthusiastic and they even asked Artemisia if she could do her dance again!
Furthermore I absolutely loved Mayodi's balady workshop, he's a great dancer and he knows his stuff.. I do hope he will be there again in the future! Asi was great as well, very nice and a super entertainer, he did a comedy piece that had people in tears from laughing at the competition show.
After the workshops we watched the gala show, with 2 different performances fro m all the main teachers of the festival. They were a treat to watch, Mayodi danced a soulful number, Amira Mor lit up the stage with her engaging personality, Marina danced a beautiful bollywood song and Aziza well.. Aziza was lovely as always, she won the hearts of every single participant with her first set and she borrowed my galebaya (the one I got from Katja, Annamae and Lena in Sweden!!) for her Saidi piece.. *swoon* Good costume mojo!
Orit did not dance at the shows herself, she did the presentation of
the competition and shows and even a little duet with Asi at the party, but seeing her dance at the workshops is a delight in
itself.. Man, that lady can dance!!
The only downside of the whole adventure: Security in Eilat airport while going back can be tough.. Be prepared for loonnng questionings and to have your suitcases rummaged through.. Better safe than sorry, but its good to know and arrive early enough to not get stressed!
But all in all I'd say: It was a great festival, I hope I can make it back next
year! Would be fun to meet up with more dancers then!!
Eta: About Asi's costumes: Look for the pictures on the festival site
that say 'fashion show' because all those costumes are from him. The designs are very original and they look amazing on a stage..
More pictures will be added soon!