Dondi

First published in Taqasim Spring 2005 Issue 49

On a Monday night in October Dondi presented a 2.5 hour workshop on Zambra Mora, aka Moorish Flamenco, arranged by Afra Al-Kahira. After the Belly Dance Superstars had hit London in a big way the previous weekend, everyone had mixed expectations of what Dondi could offer as the only exposure we had had of her was doing a belly dancing Marilyn Monroe. However we were not disappointed. Even after a 20 minute delay as we waited for the halls’ previous occupants to finish their class Dondi was still in an excellent mood and we started off with a warm up whilst Dondi explained the history behind Zambra Mora.

We learnt that modern flamenco has some of its roots embedded in this dance form but that Zambra has faded almost to nothing within Spain whilst Flamenco now takes all the glory of being the traditional Spanish dance. This was an excellent way of introducing us to the passion of the dance, and Dondi explained how it is quite draining to perform as you have to give it your whole emotional feeling as well as quite a lot of physical work too.

It is a very sexy dance incorporating spins, swishy skirts and many shimmies! She taught a choreography to Hanina (Steve Stevens and Faudel) from the album Desert Roses 3 and was a very attentive workshop teacher. She was happy to answer any questions about history, moves and terminology and made sure everyone got equal attention throughout and after the end of the class had some albums to sell and would happily autograph them for us. She also hosted a short question and answer question, which mainly involved answering questions about the Belly Dance Superstars rather than Zambra Mora!

I thoroughly enjoyed the chance to learn about a different dance form that is rarely taught, and especially by someone who had spent a long time in Andalusia learning about the dance so that she could present it authentically. And look forward to studying with Dondi again when she returns to the UK in October to teach at Celebrating Dance.