Review 
Salsa Passion and Eastern Promise Dance Weekend - Pontin's - Brean Sands. 
22-24 February 2002

Low grey scudding clouds were blasted across the sky by winds that just couldn't make up their minds which way to go. Dancers raced across the sodden grass and paths in their colourful costumes dodging the raindrops. 
The weather, with a brittle chill factor, made the temperature in the halls and rooms cold for the Tai Chi
at the start of the day but the temperature inside quickly rose as the heating got going and dancers moved to the rhythm of the music

One of the aspects of the weekend I particularly enjoyed were the workshops led by Amel Tafsout. Attending her classes was inspiring. She transported us to North Africa and I felt a long way away from the rain at Pontin's. She gave us a taste of Bedouin culture and we learned some lovely dances to her and husband Saleh's wonderful CD, 'Barbary Coast', sometimes accompanied by Saleh live on drums.
It was riveting to see and learn Algerian dance, with its tiny, continuous hand movements which caused great consternation and hilarity as we tried to imitate them. Amel seemed to be able to move her hands in ways that defied the laws of (my) nature. Add to this small chiffon scarves and the group erupted into a blaze of colour and movement. Amel's style of teaching was so friendly that you immediately felt at ease with whatever was asked of you and felt that she was giving you her individual attention even though the group was large. I was also very moved by Amel's ability to "touch the heart" and make us feel proud and confident as women - Jacqui Jamal does this too - it was lovely and upbeat and uplifting.

Much enjoyment was to be had at Jacqui's stick dancing workshop - a high energy session which Jacqui led with her usual sense of fun, mastery of technique and crowd control! Accompanied by John Sleiman and Chas Whitaker on drums, we learned a 101 ways to dance playfully with sticks. The final effect was beautifully illustrated by Yasmin (one of our mature and beloved companions) and an incredibly gorgeous young man from the Salsa group whose erotic performance had us all stopping to watch and cheer them on. This show was only surpassed by Jacqui's unruly brassiere coming adrift at the back, risking full exposure of the front. A true professional, she carried on with hardly a pause, nothing revealed on torso or expression, leaving the rest of us to panic for her.

Saleh Dawson-Miller and Chas Whitaker led the drumming workshops. I am already enjoying learning Arabic percussion from Chas (a great teacher, by the way) so opted for a session with Saleh. He gave us a brief but informative introduction to the different types of drums (he had several different types that I hadn't seen before), their origins and names. Then we learnt how to play and by the end of the session we were all able to perform the new rhythm. We were so absorbed the session flew by and felt like it was over before we'd begun. The drumming in particular was attended by various partners of dancers who welcomed the opportunity to join in a weekend of fun and learning. It was good to have them along, not only to keep company with Edwin Wood during frenzied shopping in the bazaar.

There was plenty of "cross-dancing", with Arabic and Latin American dancers trying out each other's workshops. It was interesting to watch a big group of young women from the Latin American camp (initially in shoes but continuing, following Jill Osborne's speedy request, barefoot and in jeans), managing to follow and enjoy Jill's moves, 'though still having a definite L A flavour about their hips. Those of us who crossed over to their workshops also had a good time learning from some equally mesmerising teachers.
I went to a Cuban salsa workshop with Yessica which was well suited for beginners with an Arabic background! Early queuing was vital and space was a bit of a problem. Yessica was bright, and her enthusiasm shone through her teaching. Everyone enjoyed her classes and came away inspired and energised. If only there'd been more time to do more workshops!

There was a great variety of entertainment and nicely arranged for interest. Jacqui organised dance parties as only she can with opportunities for participants to perform. It was great that non-professionals had a chance to perform and the commentaries from Jacqui with added praise from Amel made us feel like stars. There was much "engagement" with the audience and I was very impressed with Raheesha's sword dance. 

I am still reeling from the shock of walking into the Salsa room at 11.00pm on Friday night. It was a sea of writhing and gyrating bodies pulsating to the salsa beat. All the couples seemed to move together in perfect union, twisting, stepping, coupling and uncoupling in a seamless flow of dance. Particularly pleasing was the vision of perfectly toned male buttocks moving gracefully around in smartly pressed salsa pants! But there was more to come when the floor was cleared and we were treated to a wonderful variety of performances from obviously very experience dancers, including Jacqui and Amel. The salsa crowd were friendly and encouraged us to learn a few basic steps and soon we were away! 

The best supporting act to the dancing was - the shopping! Although I had taken a vow of abstinence, I had cracked within 10 minutes of entering the souk, provided by Aladdins Cave and Whirling Dervish. The choice was excellent, ranging from bargain jewellery for a couple of pounds to full cabaret costumes. In fact if you were "the person who left their costume behind" (Clare!) you could get fully kitted out in minutes. To complete your top to toe authentic Arabic look, Devy Patel provided her intricate and beautiful henna tattoos. Treat yourself next time!

I had arrived expecting very basic accommodation and was pleasantly surprised - our apartment would have been hell for a family of four but for two dancing girls it was just fine. A neighbour provided excellent foot rubs and it was only a small hop, skip and jump to the main Arab dance area. Pontin's catering was totally uninspiring, but after heading to the local Tesco for supplies, the communal feasts to be had in each others apartments were only a sheep's eyeball away from middle eastern banqueting at its finest. 

The whole event was well and unobtrusively organised, an amazing lack of problems for such a huge number of people going to dozens of different workshops, places and parties. For those used to pre-booking, the free & easy, turn up if you feel like it, arrangements were novel and generally worked well. The teachers all seemed to cope with not knowing whether they were going to get 8 or 80 students to work with. All who needed to for the big classes used the radio microphones very professionally so there were no problems for us in hearing or for them in losing their voices. Arabic dance students were very well served by Jacqui and Amel as is expected from their reputations. Less known to some was Jill Osborne who made up the trio; they all ran large, sometimes multi-level classes very professionally while generating enthusiasm and enjoyment with their own warm, generous styles and personalities. Jacqui managed the eastern promise content of the weekend and she made inspired choices in her teaching companions. Long may they go on working together - they really know how to give people a good time and enjoy a refreshing appreciation of each others talents. To use Amel's word, they gave us their 'sunshine' and we basked in its glow.

I finished my weekend with a Thai massage class. Working in pairs we relaxed and massaged one another until all ideas of strenuous exercise were banished and our legs felt a good inch longer (honest!). The relaxed feeling continued after the class but unfortunately the legs returned to their normal length.

Glynis, Pat, Anna, Kirsty, Babs, Glen, Clare, Sally and Patsi from
Bristol