Hilal Dance Week 2007

Written by Verlie Anne Jones

No matter how much I look forward to Hilal Dance Week, the event itself somehow manages to exceed my expectations! It's a very magical moment of music and dance in which, through their teaching, Suraya Hilal and Alessandro el Bascioni share, not only their talent, but also immense joy and passion for the dance.

The extensive body work with its attention to breathing at the beginning of each day, the quality of the teaching, discussion about the dance, that help make us more conscious of the discipline that we're following, are constants in Hilal Dance Week. However what struck me particularly this year was the opportunity to feel the quality and rhythm of the music through the movements of the dance. By keeping the choreography relatively simple for the beginners Suraya and Alessandro gave us the space as well as the framework to feel the flow of the music, to experience the way that a certain sequence of steps is inspired by and reflects the music and how dance and music express feelings that unite us in our humanity and which reach beyond our common means of communication.

Of course this spirit was reinforced by the participation for part of the week of musicians who played live for us. Who can listen to the haunting beauty of Emile Bassili's violin or the marvellous rhythms of Ibrahim el Minyawi and not be moved to dance? The fact that this year these old masters were joined by a young composer musician, Abdullah Chhadeh, who played the qanun just beautifully, was a most welcome surprise for all of us.

As for the treats stored up for us for after the dance sessions, I find it impossible to say which I enjoyed most. Suraya's performances from the Hilal archives were immensely moving in their beauty of movement and expression; the performance of a part of Alessandro's choreography, El Saqqiyeh, was breath-taking and full of dynamism; the concert given by the musicians was simply an inspiration.

However there is yet another element that makes Hilal Dance Week so special. It somehow creates a very human environment in what often seems a very inhuman world. It's marked by a spirit of shared pleasure in the dance, of the capacity to learn and to grow - slowly for some of us, more quickly for others - it's a place where generosity, friendship and understanding are at home. It's very hard work but its rewarding.

I can only conclude by thanking Suraya, Alessandro and all my dance companions for making this Hilal Dance Week a really wonderful occasion.

Verlie Anne Jones