| January 07 - Belly Dancing Birthday! | |
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Local belly dance teacher, Maria Credali, and friends have been busy celebrating the Fifth Birthday of their Balliamo Belly Dance classes. The weekly classes began in January 2002 in the Guildhall in Lichfield, and since then Maria has introduced literally thousands of ladies across the region to the joys of Belly Dance. “ I had no idea that the classes would prove so popular or enduring when I went to teach that first lesson’, says Maria. “I had been dancing for many years before that, and wanted to pass on my love of the dance to others. Teaching the classes is great fun and very rewarding. I really enjoy helping the ladies to master the techniques of the dance and my favourite part is watching them perform for the first time in front of friends and families.” Over the course of the five years, Maria’s classes have increased from one to seven classes a week, and the groups have all helped to raise thousands of pounds for charities such as Acorns’ Children’s Hospice and St. Giles. The youngest member of the classes is 13 and the oldest is 81. “I particularly enjoy teaching older ladies – they really get into the swing of things and seem to enjoy every minute.”, says Maria. As for the next five years? Maria has begun passing on her successful teaching skills to other dance teachers across the UK who are delivering Balliamo Belly Dance classes as far a field as Sheffield. She is hoping to recruit more teachers to pass on the feel good factor to their students. “The women who come to my classes have such a great time, I thought it would be nice to spread the joy even further’, she smiles. |
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| November 06 - Boley Park | |
| The hafla at Boley park community centre was a great success with all manner of sparkling goods purchased from the Everything Egyptian Bazaar. We all tucked into some delicious food from the buffet, then burnt off all those calories with a great dance togtehr at the end of the night. |  |
| November 06 - Barton Under Needwood | |
| The ladies of Barton Under Needwood's womens institute enjoyed a great evening discovering the history behind modern belly dance. They were then mercilessly tricked into trying out some of the dance moves! The evening finished with everyone trying on some egyptian cabaret costuming and celebrating togetehr with a group dance. What a fantastic bunch of adventurous women! | |
| October 06 - Welcome! | |
| To Gilly Cotter who is undergoing her Balliamo Teacher Training and will be delivering classes in Burton upon Trent in Jan 07. Gilly is a talented and graceful dancer who brings a great element of fun to her teaching. | |
| October 06 - Beacon Park Retirement Village | |
| Congratulations to Lianne Hankin who has recently completed her Initial Teacher Training in Arabic Dance and taught a very successful first class for Sheffield University on 25th September. Classes have proved very popular and the students have been very excited to begin learning a new dance form. |  |
| September 06 - Walmley Women's Institute | |
| Walmly Women's Institute. Its not all about making jam and embroidery! The ladies from Walmly were all very enthusiatic about learning lots of belly dance moves and joining in a dance session, complete with shimmy belts and veils. They also watched a performance by Maria Credali in full costume. Something a little bit different for a group of fascinating ladies. | |
| September 06 - Congratualtions! | |
| Congratulations to Lianne Hankin who has recently completed her Initial Teacher Training in Arabic Dance and taught a very successful first class for Sheffield University on 25th September. Classes have proved very popular and the students have been very excited to begin learning a new dance form. |  |
| September 06 - Welcome! | |
| Welcome to Alison Shaw who has recently enrolled on the Balliamo Teacher Training course and brings a wealth of dance experience and a healthy dose of Northern humour with her. Alison will begin delivering Balliamo classes in Tamworth in 2007. | |
| September 06 - Welcome! | |
| Welcome to Yasmine Larbi-Cheris who has also recently enrolled onto the Balliamo Teacher Training course. Dance has always been part of Yasmine’s life and she began dancing with the women in her family as a small child. Her performance style reflects her Algerian background and Yasmine brings a real sense of joy and celebration to the dance. Yasmine will be delivering Balliamo classes in Birmingham in 2007. | |
| September 06 - Their secret is out… | |
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The Secret Belly Dancer’s Ball in July raised over two hundred and twenty pounds for Acorn’s Children’s Hospice. Acorns have sent their sincere thanks and we can trust the money will be well spent, supporting the children and their families. The night was a huge success. A great time was had by all, with wonderful food, a great DJ who managed to keep us dancing all night long, and of course wonderful performances by Balliamo groups from Lichfield and Tamworth. A special congratulations goes out to all of you who had their performing debut in front of over 150 people! |
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| September 06 - Burton Debutantes… | |
| The Balliamo Burton group’s end of term Hafla was also a night to remember with a wonderful atmosphere. The air was filled with the cheers of friends and families who had come to watch our debut and join our celebration. A special thank you goes to Sue Walton and family for all of their help with the music. We raised just over two hundred pounds for the Burton JIGSAW charity, which provides one-to-one support for people 15 years and over to increase skills, confidence and capacity in order to improve their quality of life. A fantastic end to the term! | |
| September 06 - Bazaar | |
| There will be a traveling bazaar by Everything Egyptian visiting Balliamo classes in Lichfield on Tues … and Thursday… November. All manner of sparkly goodies will be available including hip scarves, head dresses, skirts, veils, music and DVDs. Bring your purses!!! | |
| September 06 - Hat-trick for Balliamo Tamworth group | |
| The ladies from the Tamworth have again been awarded First Prize for their Carnival float “The King and I” at the main Tamworth Carnival in August. They had already taken two cups for earlier carnivals, both of which featured Cleopatra and her troupe of Egyptian dancing girls. The day was completed with a very well received group performance in full costume in the Main Arena. Although preparing the float was very hard work, the ladies all enjoyed themselves so much that they are already plotting for next year’s season! |  |