I have just read this
wonderful review by Trish on the LBD website and thought I would include it
here with a link for you to read the remainder! Thank You Trish!! If anyone
else has any thoughts or reviews on the evening please let me know.
The Money raised on 14th
July 2007 was £206.80. The Grand Total to be forwarded to Air Ambulance
included monies from 28th October 2006 Hafla is now £378.80!!!
Well done to everyone involved however small you feel your
part was, without you all, including the audience, it couldn't have
happened..............!!
A brief review
of the Westwoodside Hafla(28.10.07).
"We went to a Hafla at
Westwoodside in aid of the air ambulance and thought you'd like our thoughts on
the evening.
The Arabian Party was organised by Donna Conway using all her talents for fun,
professionalism and detail. Donna's Westwoodside ladies have only been
learning for 6/7 months and continue to improve in ability and confidence. The
children, however, stole the whole evening with their performances and
apparently they have only been learning for 20 weeks (only 5 months).
The children really made the night a family friendly occasion - the atmosphere
was fantastic and the music brilliant.
The whole layout of the evening’s programme was different from any I’ve been to
before with performances intermittently from local dancers and the chance to get
up and boogie ourselves in between. It opened with the children on the stage who
were the cutest little girls looking drop dead gorgeous in their handmade
costumes and glowing smiles. They brought the house down and for each of the
dancers, including the guest performers, they were presented with a single rose
as personal thank you. It was a lovely and most unusual and unexpected touch,
which all the dancers obviously appreciated.
As for the food one lady said it ‘was the best (she) had ever seen at any hafla'.
The authentic cuisine was so popular the platters were left absolutely empty!!
We obviously just couldn’t get enough of it!!
The soft drinks were all free of charge with people taking with them whatever
alcohol they wanted - it made the evening more cost effective for the families
and brought people together in a true party atmosphere. This also meant
that when the two ladies dancing went around collecting money for Air Ambulance
everyone was very generous and dipped deep into their pockets.
At the end of the evening the unanimous comment from everyone we spoke to was "
fantastic - when's the next one!"……….Well done to all those involved you should
be very proud of yourselves!!
Jeff, Debby, Dan and Sarah
The Duggies...."
14th July 2007 by Donna Conway
I am exhausted, but thrilled as once more my ladies were there with smiles
and encouragement all the way. The girls are turning out to be fabulous
dancers and some have real talent. Watch these little ones as they have the
potential to go along way in the dance world!!
Fereshteh was as fabulous as she is gorgeous, with her obvious Persian
roots shining through every move that she made. Her professionalism is an
asset rarely seen these days, with her costume shrouded until the very last
second that she performs. She has an ability to command both her audience
and class' attention with no words and yet still be warm and very genuine.
She will spend time breaking down and repeating steps and combinations
provided the student can be bothered to ask!! Those of you that missed her
this time, don't fret I have made her promise to come back very soon! She is
everything this dance form should be................sensual, fun and
appreciative of the music. I'm very pleased to say she is so skilled and
professional there is none of this overcompensation with sexual overtones
for poor technique or lack of skill, as we see so often!
The turn out for the Hafla was well attended by many locals and our
lovely resident 'Daniels' family again. Not many of us can say we have
danced for Paul & Martin Daniels family can we?! Even Fereshteh was thrilled
at the thought.
The crockery was kindly given to us by the the local wine bar 'The Loco'
who also cooked and supplied free of charge, some 60 onion bhajis, many
thanks Zagheer (Ziggy) for that.
A very generous sum of cash was donated by Mrs P Chipp which went along
way to making the days events a make or break situation financially, for
this I am exceptionally grateful.
I would also like to acknowledge all the dancers, you all earned your
roses! My lovely Chef's you all earned your sprays of carnations &
especially Siobhan who having lived in the Arabic countries for a time is a
real perfectionist with her cuisine as we all sampled. Not to forget our DJ
who lived and worked in Iran some years ago so also has a real feel for the
music. Thank You!!! (And don't worry, I always pay for the flowers that I
give and I don't take it out of the Air Ambulance profit!!)
Love as always and Thanks to all involved
Donna
Saturday 28th October 2006
At Westwoodside Village Hall
Profits
to Air Ambulance (£172 to date)
For
another fantastic Review of this evening
please
read this!
"I
attended my first Haflah on Saturday evening and have to say I had the
best
time.
It was a lovely family evening out, and I am very proud to say that three
generations of my family performed (some a little better then others).
Both my
girls (aged 5 and 3) danced and perhaps with a little bias I
thought
they were wonderful, but more importantly they had a great time.
In this age of emaciated role models for women, and young girls
developing eating disorders younger and younger in an effort to emulate
the
painfully thin women portrayed in the media, it was refreshing to see
ladies
of all ages and sizes celebrate their sensuality and bodies through
the
media of dance.
With the exception of my wonderful children, there were two others that
were completely spellbinding and their names were Connie and Siobhan.
If
everyone else there saw a little of the magic that these two created,
then
the evening should be hailed as a resounding success.
It was also nice to see ladies from different classes/groups dancing
together
and the spirit of the whole night was one of fun and for the
children it portrayed glamour and excitement.
I hope my children grow with these experiences and learn to appreciate
themselves and their bodies for what they are. What wonderful role models
the
ladies on Saturday are for girls the world over!
Congratulations to Donna for a fabulous night and to all the ladies who took
part,
you are helping to inspire my children!
Kindest Regards
Emma"
