Hathor

What with the all the travel chaos caused when the Icelandic volcano erupted we began to wonder if we would get away on our dance holiday to Turkey. We, that’s my sister Jill and I, had signed up for a dance holiday to Fethiye after attending workshops at Bellydance Congress with Leyla Jouvana. 

We were the only two dancers from the UK but language was no barrier as Leyla and her tabla playing husband Roland spoke excellent English.   There were ten dancers in all so classes had an intimate feel and we soon made friends, eating dinner together every evening in the restaurant of our 5 star resort before partying the night away! Classes followed a technique intensive/choreography/zill drill format every day and by the end of the week the choreography came together nicely and I’m sure even my zill playing improved!

Our group included several teachers and was made up of dancers from different ME dance disciplines and with varying levels of ability.  As we were such in a small group it meant that no-one got overlooked and everyone received lots of encouragement.  Leyla is a consummate teacher, cleverly gearing her classes in such a way that even advanced dancers were stretched and the more novice dancer did not feel daunted.   

Our all inclusive resort boasted a hammam, which we made full use of on our first and last days, four swimming pools, games rooms, water sports and a full entertainment programme including an amphitheatre.  In fact I couldn’t think of another thing they could have added which would have improved our stay.

Unfortunately Jill and I could only stay for one week of this two week holiday but we both felt that we had acquired not only new dance friends but a deeper knowledge of our lovely dance from Leyla.