Salem and the Belly Dancers

Xmas 2006

I was going through some more of my old photos and came across these.

Salem has always loved performing and used to perform with me and the other belly dancers when I was belly dancing.

Salem and his mum 2006

Salem joined in with a Christmas performance we did at the Southwards Xmas Variety Show for senior citizens in 2006.
He was only six years old.  The audience just loved him.
I had made him is own coin belt, it was made with fur and coins which he loved.
So he would wiggle his butt to make the coins jingle.
He was very cute.

Belly Dance Performers at Solway Show Grounds 2007

We did an out of town performance at the Solway Show Grounds in the Waiarapa with my Tribal Belly Dance group and Salem joined us as the sword boy.

We joined up with two other belly dancers who were from the Waiarapa.
He liked being part of everything and of course enjoyed performing with me.
He definitely had the cute factor.

Salem the Sword Boy

He thought the swords were so cool and had to look after them when they weren't in used.
Then he had to pass them to the dancers when they were needed.
They were nearly as big as he was!!!!

Judith Fuge Dance School Concert 2006

For his last concert with the Judith Fuge Dance School, one of the dances he was in was "Aladdin".
They looked sooo cute on stage.

I added a bit more detail to his costume so he really stood out from the girls since he was the only boy as usual.  The costume definitely came in handy for other performances over the years.

Some of the "The Two Sisters" cast 2006

Salem and his older brother also joined in with a production of "The Two Sisters", a belly dance fairy tale, which I was in in 2006.
He had his stage smile all sorted way back then!!!!!

The Royal New Zealand Ballet's Giselle

The Royal New Zealand Ballet has just released these beautiful photos from their upcoming ballet Giselle.

Salem and I will be going to see this.

The costumes look stunning as usual.  

The Story of Giselle

This is a tragic tale of disguise and revelation, love and jealousy.  It is a love story that unfolds against the ghostly backdrop of a Rhineland forest which is haunted by the fearful presence of the Wilis which are the vengeful spirits of abandoned brides. 

Giselle the beautiful peasant girl, falls in love with Albrecht who conceals his identity from her to win her heart. When Giselle discovers her lover's deception, it shatters her innocence and she dies of a broken heart.  

Albrecht is then thrown into the hands of the merciless Wilis, but Giselle cannot bear watching Albrecht die so returns as a ghost to save him.

The Royal New Zealand Ballet will be performing Giselle here in Wellington at the St James Theatre from the 7th to the 11th of  November 2012.  The Vector Wellington Orchestra will be performing the music.

We can't wait to see this!!!!!!!

Contemporary Exam Results

Salem got his Contemporary exam results today after his ballet class.  It was great to get the results so quickly.  We were very pleased with his results.

For his NZAMD Level One Contemporary exam he got High Honours which is a 90% - 94% pass.

His examiner made the following comments :  "A very promising dancer.  Contemporary style is developing.  Further study quaility of movement in Combinations.  A strong dance performance."

Going in to the Level One exam

For the NZAMD Contemporary Medal Award he was graded Excellence Plus.

The examiner made the following comments :  "Two strong performances.  Great dynamics developed in Dance 2 (Du Hast).  A very promising dancer."

Salem has done very well.  He should be proud of himself and the work he has put into his dancing.
I'm proud of my boy!!!!!!!

Today's Contemporary Exams Done and Dusted

Accepting his medal

The contemporary exams are over for another year.  Salem is very pleased with what he did today but has to wait a couple of weeks or so until we get his results.
At least with the medal test he gets his medal straight away.  The kids all line up when their group has finished and they each are presented with a medal.  This time it was his Silver NZAMD Contemporary Intermediate Medal.  But we still have to wait for his report.

Is No.5 for Level 1 Exam

First exam of the day was his Level 1 Contemporary Exam.  We had to be there over an hour earlier to make sure everyone had all the right gear, the girls had to have their hair done and they all had a good warm up.  They were in the exam room for about 45-50 minutes.  They all came out smiling so all must have gone well.

No.7 for Medal Test

Then it was off for a coffee (for me) and a hot chocolate for Salem.  He was able to relax a bit and he told me about the exam.  The examiner was really nice so made everyone feel at ease.  Then it was back to the studio and get ready for his medal test.

All ready for the Contemporary Level 1 Exam

With the medal test, the parents are allowed to go in and watch, as long as we are quiet.  The kids come in one at a time and then get to watch the dancers that come after them.  It was quite nice to watch them all.

During the Medal Test

Salem had to do two dances and did a very good job of them.  He seemed to have a good burst of energy and really put his all into the dances.  I was very proud of him.  I was filming his last dance and was so engrossed in watching him that I forgot to follow him with the camera near the end of his dance.  

Well done Salem!!!!
Then it was a quick bite to eat for dinner and he had a ballet class.  He was very tired after that.
He will sleep well tonight.

Contemporary Exams Tomorrow

Salem getting ready for his ballet exam 2006

Salem has his two contemporary exams tomorrow.  He has been doing a lot of practices at the studio at the gym.  He has also had some mock exams at his dance school.  We have been working on the polishing up on his dancing and he is quite confident.

Practicing his exam smile

Last night I found an old SD card I hadn't seen for years and it has some lovely photos of Salem's first ballet exam from 2006.  He was only six years old.  It was for RAD Pre-Primary.

Going in for their exam

He was so little then.  He was very serious about his exam and was very pleased with himself afterwards.  He's glad he doesn't have to wear those shorts anymore.  It was leggings straight after that except that he had to wear the shorts again for his Primary exam.

All very pleased with themselves afterwards

Well, he has one more Contemporary class today and then next term hopefully he will be starting the next level's syllabus.  The school holidays start at the end of next week so there will be no contemporary classes that week, just ballet.  But the second week of the holidays there will be Grade School in preparation for the Ballet exams in November.  No rest for the wicked!!!!!

Getting Ready for Contemporary Exams

Having fun at the gym

All the madness of the dance school concert is well behind us now and Salem has been back to working hard at the gym.  His personal trainer, Belinda has given him a new lot of exercises to do, all of them can be done at home which is good as some days we can't make it up there.

Salem's contemporary exam and his contemporary medal test are all coming up on the 20th September so we are making the most of the studio at the gym for him to practice all his contemporary exercises and dances.
He has been having the occasional audience now and then as other gym members see what he is up to and watches him for a dance or two.  The other day an elderly lady who used to be a ballet teacher watched him do some of his ballet and was very impressed with him.  She enjoyed watching him and he enjoyed having her watch him dance and listened to her comments about technique etc.

With Belinda, his trainer

But at the moment we are really concentrating on his contemporary.  These practices are going really well and he is really tidying up his technique.  For his medal test, he will have to do two dances so he will be doing half of his Du Hast dance and half of the Sh-Boom dance.  He knows these very, very well.

The dance school is having some extra lessons on the up-coming weekends before the exam so that every one will be ready and know what to expect.  And will be having a mock exam too.
He is quite confident that he will be ready and will do well.