{"id":4156,"date":"2012-06-15T09:59:21","date_gmt":"2012-06-15T16:59:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/?p=4156"},"modified":"2012-06-15T12:00:49","modified_gmt":"2012-06-15T19:00:49","slug":"mayada-thursday-ibcc-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/2012\/06\/15\/mayada-thursday-ibcc-2012\/","title":{"rendered":"My First Day at IBCC 2012!"},"content":{"rendered":"

The International Bellydance Conference of Canada held in Toronto<\/h2>\n

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by Meagan Mayada Hesham<\/a>
\nposted May 30, 2012<\/span><\/h3>\n

The first day of IBCC is always exciting – participants are full of pep, hungry to learn, and ready to try it all! Selecting which of the tempting workshops, lectures, discussion panels, and shows to attend is daunting. Like many others, I found it really difficult to decide what to go to and what I\u2019d have to miss; with so many things happening at the same – and overlapping times – not being able to take in everything you want is unfortunately inevitable. <\/p>\n

Mahmoud Reda\u2019s Workshop<\/p>\n

I arrived Thursday bright and early for a 9:30 workshop with the legendary Mahmoud Reda<\/a><\/span>. He was teaching the first part of an Andalusian choreography (the second part to be taught at his workshop later in the afternoon). He warned us that it was a challenging choreography and rhythm to dance to. The choreography wasn\u2019t so difficult if you just went through it in your own way, but if you actually took the time to listen to Mahmoud\u2019s direction and tried to capture the nuances he spoke of, it became very challenging! As he watched us throughout the workshop, his main note was \u201cslow down\u201d, something I personally have to remind myself of often! Sahra Saeeda<\/a><\/span> and Ranya Renee, two dancers very familiar with his style, were on stage with Reda helping to demonstrate all the movements and dance the choreography with us – an invaluable resource!<\/p>\n

Panel Discussion on Competitions<\/p>\n

Next, I checked out a panel discussion entitled \u201cBellydance Competitions: Pros vs Cons\u201d. Panelists included Cassandra Fox, Brigid Kelly<\/a>, Aurora Ongaro, Saqra Raybuck, Sahra Saeeda, Zahra Zuhair,<\/span> and DaVid<\/a><\/span>. As panelists introduced themselves, we learned this was a great mix of competitors, competition promoters, judges, and prep coaches. Some were totally for competing, while some thought competitions were a little harsh and led to dancers all dancing alike to please a judge\u2019s particular tastes. Much discussion centred around how judges need to be trained more on how to judge properly. A funny comment came from Saqra, the only panelist who actually hosts a competition, who said she hates competitions! Everyone seemed to agree that judges need more training and more time to judge, that competitors need to be prepared for the fact that they may not win (and not be crushed by the fact that they don\u2019t win), and that competitions definitely aren\u2019t for everyone. Cassandra and Aurora, who’ve had varied bellydance competition experience and enjoy the process, both come from competitive backgrounds (horses and ballroom dance); it was pointed out that competing might be more appealing and easier for them as they’re familiar with the requirements, stresses, and possible disappointments involved. On the other hand, the point was raised that if bellydancers have never competed at anything and have come to bellydance for the acceptance it gives, they may end up being crushed if they don\u2019t do as well as they wanted. I compete in fitness competitions and have always toyed with the idea of competing in bellydance as well, so this forum really resonated with me!<\/p>\n

\"Panel<\/p>\n

Tamallyn Dalal\u2019s Workshop<\/p>\n

After the panel, I was walking by the main hall and was drawn in by Tamalyn Dallal<\/a><\/span>\u2019s voice talking about ‘four musicians bellydancers need to know’. I strongly believe in this and am always trying to emphasize this fact to my students, so I slipped in and listened to the last half-hour of this totally interesting workshop. Tamalyn was going through the history and telling stories about the main four musicians a bellydancer should know: Mohamed Abdel Wahab, Oum Kalsoum<\/a>, Farid El Atrache<\/span>, and Abdel Halim Hafez<\/span>. Dancers should be familiar with dancing to their songs as well! I think this is such important information for bellydancers. I become concerned about the state of our art when I hear \u201cadvanced\u201d dancers tell me they have no idea who Oum Kalsoum is! <\/p>\n

Sahra\u2019s Workshop on Saidi Dance<\/p>\n

A quick lunch break, and then we were back. I chose to take Sahra Saeeda\u2019s \u201cSaidi Dance for Oriental Dancers\u201d workshop. I adore all Egyptian folkloric dances, so this was right up my alley and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was the perfect mix of history and information balanced with actual dance movements and combos. Sahra is a very clear teacher, sharing such a wealth of wisdom from her years of experience dancing in Egypt, blended with academic knowledge. She started the workshop by breaking Saidi dancers into three groups: <\/p>\n