20th August 2016 was a special day! Not only
because it happens to be the special day when I chose to bless
this earth with my presence years ago, but also because my hard work and
sweaty afternoons running between two dance classes would finally pay off on
this day! As a clandestine student of belly dance since early 2015, finally
on my 36th birthday, I performed my first group performance at a
private event organised by my teacher Shiblie Nur at Holiday Inn, Singapore. It
was also the first time my family got to know that I was learning belly dance
for the past 1.5 years.
My first belly dance teacher was Shiblie Nur, (she passed
away on 31st Oct 2016) a loving and gentle task master. She was
trained in Egyptian style and all her classes were extempore, even her
choreography classes. I only attended her beginner classes once a week. Her studio was behind Cuppage Terrace, a stones throw from my office. But her classes were late in the evening, which
meant I had to wait around for a couple of hours after work and even then
unfortunately, the class would almost never start on time and would never
finish on time. For a full time working professional and a mother like me, this
meant that for a class of one hour I had to be prepared to spend three hours
or more. Even though I loved the vibe in the
class, Shiblie’s style, her loving mannerisms and her enigmatic smile, I knew
that it was not a sustainable option for me in the long run. So I began
searching for another teacher in the hope of a more convenient timing with a
fixed schedule. That is when I found Giselle Qi and her studio Belly Dance
Haven via a meetup group app. I took up her bellyfit classes initially and
slowly began liking her style. It was vastly different from Shiblie’s style. Her
class was very structured and the choreography was pre-planned and set in place
to the smallest hipdrop! It took me a while to commit to one of her group
choreography classes as I would need to attend all the classes to
complete the song.
In Jan 2016, I signed up to her intermediate level 1 class –
Aswan. Around March I signed up for level 2- Soraya, and in May I signed up for
Veil – Track 7. Then around April, Jo (my friends from Shiblie’s class) and I
caught up and she told me that she has signed up for solo performance for the
Al Hambra Hafla in August and she was also going to participate in a group
dance – ‘Shik Shak Shok’ too. She encouraged me to join the group
dance and I decided to take the plunge.
So from April 2016 to August 2016 were the crazy months when
every Saturday, I attended two classes back to back. From10am -1130 with Giselle
at Outram park, then a quick train ride to Somerset with an apple or sandwich on
the way to the group class with Shiblie at 1pm. I was on a roll! I felt good
and looked good! All the shimming for ‘Shik Shak Shok’ and the windmills
and veil moves had toned my body. Although insanely tiring and time-consuming, these classes brought a breath of
fresh air to my work-home schedule and I enjoyed every bit.
During the course of our training, Shiblie looked tired and
sick but brushed it off and did not tell us anything. I put it down to her age
as getting tired is natural when one is older. While she walked about, she
really looked like her age had got the better of her BUT the moment she stepped on the dance floor, her face would lighten up, her eyes and her smile
would brighten the room and her encouraging look would make me feel beautiful!
Finally on the 20th August, it was a test of
nervous as most of the girls in my troupe were performing for the first time,
with the exception of a few senior dancers. I did my own makeup too – first time ever! During rehearsals we realized that the stage was smaller than
the studio area and we would need to squeeze in a fair bit and be mindful of
each other so we don’t fall off the stage! Our names were called and we tumbled
on to the stage one by one as gracefully as we could. The song began and we
sailed thru the steps, I made a couple of mistakes but nothing disastrous in
the larger scheme of things. Longest song ever, 5 plus mi
ns later, I was done,
relieved and hungry!
Satya had very kindly kept some food for me and I went over
to his table and gulped that down. He and my colleague Yoko liked my
dance. After Yoko left, Satya and I then headed out of
the ballroom for a quick photoshoot in the corridor. Once I was happy with a
few photos we went back in to watch the other performances, including one by
the celebrity guest Najla Ferrara. The performances by Miki and Rania were also
stunning.
All performers were finally invited to the stage for a group
photo and we also huddled around Shiblie for a picture. A real starry night
experience where I felt overwhelmed but also awesome.
I’ve finally been able to live my dream of learning belly dance and I'm proud of it. Way to go!
