I arrived in Brisbane after catching a chill in Toowoomba, feeling rather run down, armed with herbal remedies from my friend Jacinta who is a Herbalist in Mullumbimby .

This was my first winter warm up. On day one I arrive bright and early. As we went through exercises with the physiotherapist, there are hugs and kisses everywhere, old friends and colleagues reunite. I had my turn when the Alice Springs mob arrived.

I knew that the week was going to be extremely challenging. Learning choreographies quickly is not my forte at the best of times. I like time to become the dance, but knowing that this is what was in store for me I was willing to be challenged. I decided that I would work at my own pace, accept my limitations, do the best that I could do.

I can’t remember any one of the 14 or so choreographies, (an average of 2 a day) right through, some I didn’t attempt at all. Aida is a very strong woman and strong accomplished dancer with years of experiences. She was in the Reda Dance Troupe, choreographies are in her blood like Raqs Sharqi, that is her heritage. What interested me the most was her Sharqi way.

What I remember is the ease of Aida’s arms and her posture, the shape of her back and her Egyptian/African bum. I remember the expression, ease and passion in her dance especially when she performed for us at the concert. She was all the Great Egyptian dancers I love, Sohiar Zaki, Fiffi Abdo and Suraya Hilal to name a few. The way they present the bodies and the sense of internal stillness.

The most important things I learnt was the feeling in my body on a cellular level. Watching the details of how she used her weight, her belly and centre. Choreography gets in my way. Nevertheless as I said before I did take on the challenge. I loved a couple of the pieces very much, especially the Nubian Bird dance. I found the steps in some of the dances really confusing, mostly because there was very little time taken to explain anything, but by the end of the week I acutely got it. There is nothing like repetition.

Generally I don’t like this obsession with choreography. They say this is what people want when they attend a workshop. I understand why a beginner would want a choreography, it gives them a tangible sense of achieving something, rather than the complexities, the essence of the spirit of the dance, which are a lot to see or understand. But this was a room full of predominantly professional dancers. Is it really what they want or could it be a convenient way for a teacher to avoid teaching the complexities of Raqs Sharqi technique? It is much harder to teach technique than it is to teach a choreography. With a choreography you can go into automatic pilot and avoid getting really close to any one, with technique there is the challenge of explaining the very complex dance form and it is hard work.

I was disappointed that she valued the skills of those who were able to master the choreographies, above any other skill, and that she failed to see people doing their personal best. I was also disappointed that Aida introduced a competition. At the end of the last day she gave 3 prizes, the winners all came from the front row. I was told she has poor vision and could possibly only see the girl in the front row. I am sure she had good intentions. There is a place for competition, but not in a workshop were all participants pay the same good money to be there, it is out of context. We are there to learn as much as we can in a non competitive way. I am glad I did not witness this as it would have spoilt my day. We had a lovely farewell presentation at the lunch break. I am happy to say that I had left by then and spent the afternoon in the bosom of Madonna’s family in a back yard of a Brisbane suburb not far away at a family function. In a few hours I would be on a plane going home.

I am not sure if I would go to a workshop with such a focus on choreography again. It was fantastic to be around this very skilled dancer Aida Nour, who in her essence is what Egyptian dance - Raqs Sharqi is.

I would go to the Winter Warm up again though, and on that note I would like to thank Maria Massellos for giving us the opportunity to work with great a Egyptian Dancer. I would also like to thank Maria and her team of workers, for the hard work, attention to detail and respect given to all participants and at making sure that the week went as smoothly as possible.