Well it’s Wednesday again (hey, perhaps Wednesday is my blogging day after a busy weekend of dancing!) and I’m mid-way through the week trying to concentrate at work and to ignore the musical earworms I've picked up from the weekend.
Last weekend was spent in London, with Sara Farouk and a great group of ladies, all learning and practicing for this weekend’s big show. Sara is holding her Last Stand at Chats Palace on Sunday evening and it is a celebration of her career in London as a dancer, performer and teacher.
When Sara first mentioned that she would be putting this how together, although I could feel my lips saying ‘YES, I WILL BE THERE!’, my inner scaredy cat was thinking ‘eeeeeek! A London based show, with London dancers! – will I be good enough?’
Since that initial discussion back in November 2012, I have had some really inspiring workshops in 2013 which has taught my inner scaredy cat to rephrase the statement to ‘Brilliant, a London based show with London dancers – I’m sure I will be fine and it will be great to meet new people and do something completely different’ I’m delighted to say that after a weekend with Team Farouk (as I have affectionately called us), that I was right – it was great, I was fine and I did meet some rather lovely women.
I travelled to London with Jude on Friday and rolled up at an old friends house in Bromley which would be our home for the weekend. After a settling in cuppa and sandwich, it was off to Hackney to see Sara for private lessons. London is an interesting place to drive around and it was rather cool to see landmarks such as the Olympic Stadium - being a country girl, it was all rather novel. The generous Eva Horsfield allowed us to use her studio in her rather lovely home and after a couple of really inspiring few hours (where both Jude and I had a private lesson each), we drove back to Bromley armed with new ideas and thoughts. Again, another example of honest but supportive teaching from Sara, as in the previous weekend at JoY (see earlier blog post)
Saturday and Sunday were day's of learning and understanding how Sara envisages the show. Team Farouk, from what I can gather, is a combination of some of Sara’s past students from her time in London and some of her other friends. After the initial shyness and awkwardness of not knowing each other, we were all dancing together firstly as a team, but also with glimmers of individuality. Well, you know the golden rules dancers – there is no hiding in a
group choreography – you need to be able to dance it as a solo!. There was no diva behaviour to speak of which was really refreshing (well if there was I was clearly oblivious to it) and it seemed that everyone grabbed the choreographies with both hands and got on with it, with lots of laughter along the way.
Now, I don’t want to give too much away about the show as you should really try and come to it, if you are in or around London. The show itself will be made up of solo performances and some rather lovely group choreographies and of course performances from Sara herself. There even promises to be a footy T-shirt in it – don’t ask me because I won't tell you – you will have to come and see for yourself.
It was a great experience spending time in London, dancing in different spaces, meeting new people, and although there were times when it all felt a little overwhelming (especially when I began to get tired and would forget the next move in a choreo), I'm really looking forward to getting back down this weekend and doing it all over again –but this time for real!
Six months ago, I would have run for the hills if someone has told me that I would be performing a solo in a London show. This year is definitely for me in terms of my dance journey and it feels really good to step away from the comfort blanket and just dance. After all, one of my dear teachers used to say to me in the past ‘Abi – its only dancing!’ She was right – it is only dancing and everyone has the right to participate, regardless of ability or experience. No-one is going to die or the world won't end if I forget a piece of technique, or put the wrong foot out. It's all about how to deal with it and having the confidence to just carry on.
In the words of Rasheed Ogunlaru “My advice for life: dance and sing your song while the party is still on.” This party is still on and I will be 'singing' on Sunday night in London –hope to see some of you there!
For more information about the show, visit the website
Photo by Mark Hurd Photography
Last weekend was spent in London, with Sara Farouk and a great group of ladies, all learning and practicing for this weekend’s big show. Sara is holding her Last Stand at Chats Palace on Sunday evening and it is a celebration of her career in London as a dancer, performer and teacher.
When Sara first mentioned that she would be putting this how together, although I could feel my lips saying ‘YES, I WILL BE THERE!’, my inner scaredy cat was thinking ‘eeeeeek! A London based show, with London dancers! – will I be good enough?’
Since that initial discussion back in November 2012, I have had some really inspiring workshops in 2013 which has taught my inner scaredy cat to rephrase the statement to ‘Brilliant, a London based show with London dancers – I’m sure I will be fine and it will be great to meet new people and do something completely different’ I’m delighted to say that after a weekend with Team Farouk (as I have affectionately called us), that I was right – it was great, I was fine and I did meet some rather lovely women.
I travelled to London with Jude on Friday and rolled up at an old friends house in Bromley which would be our home for the weekend. After a settling in cuppa and sandwich, it was off to Hackney to see Sara for private lessons. London is an interesting place to drive around and it was rather cool to see landmarks such as the Olympic Stadium - being a country girl, it was all rather novel. The generous Eva Horsfield allowed us to use her studio in her rather lovely home and after a couple of really inspiring few hours (where both Jude and I had a private lesson each), we drove back to Bromley armed with new ideas and thoughts. Again, another example of honest but supportive teaching from Sara, as in the previous weekend at JoY (see earlier blog post)
Saturday and Sunday were day's of learning and understanding how Sara envisages the show. Team Farouk, from what I can gather, is a combination of some of Sara’s past students from her time in London and some of her other friends. After the initial shyness and awkwardness of not knowing each other, we were all dancing together firstly as a team, but also with glimmers of individuality. Well, you know the golden rules dancers – there is no hiding in a
group choreography – you need to be able to dance it as a solo!. There was no diva behaviour to speak of which was really refreshing (well if there was I was clearly oblivious to it) and it seemed that everyone grabbed the choreographies with both hands and got on with it, with lots of laughter along the way.
Now, I don’t want to give too much away about the show as you should really try and come to it, if you are in or around London. The show itself will be made up of solo performances and some rather lovely group choreographies and of course performances from Sara herself. There even promises to be a footy T-shirt in it – don’t ask me because I won't tell you – you will have to come and see for yourself.
It was a great experience spending time in London, dancing in different spaces, meeting new people, and although there were times when it all felt a little overwhelming (especially when I began to get tired and would forget the next move in a choreo), I'm really looking forward to getting back down this weekend and doing it all over again –but this time for real!
Six months ago, I would have run for the hills if someone has told me that I would be performing a solo in a London show. This year is definitely for me in terms of my dance journey and it feels really good to step away from the comfort blanket and just dance. After all, one of my dear teachers used to say to me in the past ‘Abi – its only dancing!’ She was right – it is only dancing and everyone has the right to participate, regardless of ability or experience. No-one is going to die or the world won't end if I forget a piece of technique, or put the wrong foot out. It's all about how to deal with it and having the confidence to just carry on.
In the words of Rasheed Ogunlaru “My advice for life: dance and sing your song while the party is still on.” This party is still on and I will be 'singing' on Sunday night in London –hope to see some of you there!
For more information about the show, visit the website
Photo by Mark Hurd Photography