Site last updated
19 April 2008
Egyptian Nights...
Reviews & Press Articles
| 27th May 2006 | Bellydance Superstar Kami Liddle's Tribal Fusion Workshop | |
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And here
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| 15th September 2004 | Press Release - click on image for report (116kb) | |
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| January 2004 | Press Release - "Bellies Away with Belly Dance" |
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| 12th April 2003 | Egyptian Dance Hafla |  |
| Belly dance mania is sweeping South
Gloucester! Women all over the county are sewing sequins
on bras and daring to bare their bellies in pursuit of
this ancient art form. We are a real mixed bag of girls
from age 9 to 70, from size 8 to 28, brought together by
a shared passion for music, dance and costumes from Egypt.
Not to mention a willingness to have a go and have a
laugh. . On the 12th April 2003, the Jubilee centre in Bradley Stoke was taken over by belly dancers and Egyptian musicians for an evening of dance and drumming. Chas Whitacker, brought nearly 40 drums with him from all over the middle East and taught us about the drums and how to play them. The sound of so many people drumming a rhythm together was amazing. Anna Povey then led the group through some basic Egyptian dance steps to the live music. The feeling of the live music vibrates through your body and really brings the dance to life, especially the shimmies. 40 bottoms all shaking in time together was a sight not to be missed! The group then performed the dances they had learnt at the weekly classes in Yate and Bradley Stoke. ........Some of the dancing highlights were a sword dance performed by Caroline of Bradley Stoke where she balanced a real sword on her head whilst she danced. Some amazing solos from Linda and Carol of Yate and beautifully choreographed group dances and of course a fantastic shimmy number to live drumming from Anna the lady who made all this possible. Anna teaches and performs - to contact her click here. |
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| (Classes run in Yate and Stoke Gifford - click here for details.) | ||
| Christmas 2002 | Anna’s Christmas Hafla 2002 | |
| This year Anna decided to hold a few
tentative trail dance classes near her home in Bradley
Stoke and Yate, South Gloucester and was inundated by
women wanting to dance! It has been an absolute joy to
Anna to discover that so many women in the area feel as
passionately about the dance as she does. The weekly
classes grew and grew over the last year and just before
Christmas we had over 60 people come to our end of term
Hafla! To give the party an authentic Egyptian feel Anna invited musicians Chas and Simon to drum and play pipe for us. The drumming was truly amazing. Chas brought along nearly 40 spare drums and before long we were all drumming a basic saidi rhythm. The hall was absolutely filled with music which I’m sure could be heard all over South Gloucester. The best bit was building up to a Zaar rhythm. I had never before experienced what it feels like to get completely lost in the music and dance and found it an uplifting, exhilarating and unforgettable moment. After the drum lesson (which was exhausting, of course!) we had a slight break and some sustenance. This included hummus, op ali, baklava, spiced meat savories and nuts etc – most delicious. Not so good if you are going to dance – but we forced ourselves! The Yate group started by dancing with the Bradley Stoke group a good old hip dropping routine to Hossam Ramsey. Then we did a stick dance, which I think perhaps we didn’t do too expertly, as the audience seemed to enjoy it and we were supposed to be threatening! They didn’t look very frightened! This was followed by the Camel Dance which was very graceful and we were rather proud of, to a lovely number by Amr Diab. As new girls on the scene we are really looking forward to dancing this again at the spring performance platform in Bristol and meeting other dancers. We then had another break while Anna, Jo and Sam performed a risqué number breaking all the rules in black stockings and high heels, to Lady Marmalade from the Moulin Rouge album. This was a great success and inspired Pauline to sketch Anna in her outfit! We finished off the evening with everyone joining in the dancing. It was certainly a noisy, energetic and colourful evening and a good chance to show off the special outfits some of us had made. I think it was most successful and am looking forward to more dancing in South Gloucester! Thank you Anna, Chas and Simon! Review by Ruth Churley, Pauline and Sam |
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| (Classes run in Yate and Stoke Gifford - click here for details.) | ||
for Workshop feedback and organisational
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| Bristol Observer | Egyptian Parties are belly good fun, say girls |  |
| 'Following the success of her Egyptian
dance classes in Yate and Bradley Stoke, Anna Povey has
teamed up with local businesswoman Samantha Meredith, to
form a company which should revolutionise nights in, writes
Viv Nichol. Egyptian Nights is a new entertainment concept whihch brings the magic of an Egyptian harem party to your home. If you love anything Egyptian, Anna and Sam will get your party going by showing you and your friends some authentic belly dance moves. The host of your party will be made up to look like the most famous of Egyptian queens - Cleopatra or Nefertiti - and be given a complimentary gift for hosting the evening. There is an opportunity to see a selection of traditional Egyptian artefacts, papyrus paintings, dance costumes and candles and to see how Egyptian women really party when the men aren't around. Egyptian Nights parties have already been such a success that the girls will shortly be advertising for distributors who are as passionate as they are about Egyptian goods and enjoy creating fun. "We are so excited about the opportunity to create really fun Egyptian parties and employment opportunities at the same time in our local area," said Sam. Anna's dance classes are going from strength to strength at Baileys Court Community Centre, Bradley Stoke on Thursday evening from 7-8pm and at Ridgeway Community Centre in Yate on Wednesday evenings from 7.30-9pm.' NB - Since this article was published, Sam has moved on and Anna is running Egyptian Nights, as well as continuing her dance classes. If you would like to host an Egyptian party or would like further information about dance classes follow the links. |
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