My first introduction to Planet Egypt came in July 2006, when I was using Google to find belly dance shows in London.  At the time, I didn’t know how significant Planet Egypt Shows were to belly dancers countrywide.  I was only interested in watching a belly dance show!  Then, in early 2008, I was invited by a couple of acquaintances to attend a “monthly Belly Dance Show near Farringdon”.  We had arrived 15 minutes or so before the show was scheduled to start, which resulted in us having bad seats, meaning the visibility of the dancers was limited as there were so many people (audience) in front of us.  It was at this very show that I had seen the first Male Turkish Dancer – Ozgen.  I had also seen Eva Green perform – very graceful and poised. I was very impressed by the quality of the dancers whom had performed at the show that night.  So I attended the following month’s Planet Egypt show with a couple of friends!

It wasn’t until the summer of 2008, that I had become aware of Anne White.  Bizarrely, I didn’t know that she was the presenter and organizer of Planet Egypt Shows. It was at another belly dancing show that I had heard a mention of her.  I had then asked who this person was and the dancers had giggled, at my naivety, and said she is the lady who organizes the Planet Egypt Shows!  As I had become more and more involved in the belly dancing community, I had begun to hear more and more remarks about Anne White.  Some remarks were glowing and some not as complementary.  I had come to the opinion that dancers either ‘loved’ or ‘hated’ Anne White and there wasn’t much in the middle!  Those who ‘love’ her speak very highly of her work and her contribution to belly dance.  Those who ‘hate’ (or more likely are frustrated with) her feel that she is judgemental, difficult to speak to and intimidating.  All of these opinions and views are what initially sparked my curiosity and made me very intrigued to find out more about her.  I wanted to get to know more about who she really was and how she had become what she is today - her strong influence in London’s Belly Dance Community. 

In early 2009, I had contacted Anne via Facebook, subsequently resulting in several friendly email exchanges and an invite to attend March’s Planet Egypt Show.  Following on from that, we have sporadically kept in touch by email and recently Anne had very kindly agreed to be interviewed for this month’s issue of NAFOURA Magazine.  Now, due to unfortunate and sad personal circumstances, Anne and I have not been able to meet up to carry out this interview (with the only exception that I had attended August’s Planet Egypt Show).  So, what you will read is a collaboration and mixture of email and telephone discussions.  I hope that this article will shed light on the real Anne White.  Here goes. 

(Evete) How long have you been involved in Belly Dance?

(Anne) Since 1986 and no time off for good behaviour!

(Evete) What inspired you to get involved or even to take your first class?

(Anne) Living in Cyprus in the early 80’s, I was out every night at Bouzouki nightclubs.  At that time I could not speak Greek (but am now fluent), so I just used to listen to music, as it was very hard to actually have conversations when the music was so loud.  Many Arabs would be there and the clubs would incorporate Arabic music as part of the entertainment.  It was the music that got me first, but the Arab girls were beautiful dancers, feminine, strong, graceful. Really inspiring!

At that same time, in the UK, my twin was studying with Wendy Buonoventura and by the time I had returned from Cyprus she was very competent and had already been in shows. I wanted to study dance for my own pleasure as I had a good and very well paid job in television. It was a hobby for me - that’s all. I saw some shows and Suraya Hilal captivated me completely and I began learning with her, after I had completed my foundation course with Anne Ashcroft.

(Evete) How many years did you study to become a professional teacher and performer?

(Anne) Well we never stop learning and I still train with those that inspire me. I am inspired by many of the dancers that we feature at Planet Egypt and have used quite a few new ideas as a result! There was an understanding and acceptance in those days that you don’t perform without your Teacher’s permission / approval.  I reinforce this with fledgling dancers /students that approach me now, as etiquette is part of professional conduct. I was studying prodigiously for about 3 years before I did my first show. Many of the musicians from our classes and workshops offered me work at weddings and parties.  Suraya really nurtured me as a performer. I trained to be a Teacher under Suraya’s auspices for a few years. My training included 2 evenings a week at dance class (6 hours), private classes and workshops with musicians. Plus I practiced every night I was so besotted, and my neighbours actually asked me to turn the volume up so that they could hear better! At that stage my career was still going to be in television, this was a hobby, but I wanted to be the best I could be as I loved it so much. When I left television in 1991, or thereabouts, I began teaching actively.

(Evete) Do you believe that one day their will be a formal accredited certification program that is widely accepted by teachers, students and performers in the UK (or even worldwide)?

(Anne) I would like to think that would happen.  However, my main concern is the benchmark.  For example, how do you get dancers to agree on one set of dance movements?  Also, what’s happening in Egypt, in terms of dance technique and style, is evolving all the time.  Nothing in art stays static.  The hardest part to capture is the feeling in the dance.  You can’t codify this.  You can judge technique but feeling is very difficult to judge objectively and fairly.

In Egypt, there is a consensus on what is and what isn’t belly dancing.  The dance is so imbued with feminine beauty that this sometimes makes it difficult for the audience to differentiate or see anything else.  This was one of the reasons that I had created Planet Egypt – to focus on the dance.  The message of our shows is about spirit and soul and not necessarily just the stereotype of what a dancer should look like.

(Evete) What are your views about workshops and learning holidays?  How should these be used in terms of learning and development?

(Anne) I haven’t actually attended any learning holidays / workshops, so I can’t really comment.  What I do know is that many students have been and they have loved it.  My only advice to students is that they should research the topic and develop a rounded understanding of what it is they are trying to gain from the experience and what is realistic.  This will, at the very least, ensure that the experience meets their expectations. 

I am trying to teach my students to question what they see and what they do.  They need to be able to make their own way in this dance.  This is important for their own growth and development as artists.   Students need to develop a good solid understanding of the dance style, what ever that style is, i.e. Turkish or Egyptian based.  Once you have this basic understanding you can then identify similarities between belly dance styles and the differences.  All in all this gives the student, and anyone who is involved in belly dance, an appreciation of the different styles of the art. 

(Evete) Why should students learn belly dance with you?  What makes your curriculum stand out above the rest?

(Anne) Well this is an interesting question as the implication is that Teachers compete against each other. The reality is that many actually collaborate and hold each other in very high esteem. Many students are referred to me by other Teachers and vice versa. It is good for students to have a very rounded education and this means trying out many different Teachers and disciplines. In order for a Dancer‘s individual style to evolve they need this exposure.

Students’ needs vary enormously. What I offer is a good grounding in dance including technique, and interpretation, performance skills, rhythmic variations (as we work with drummers) and cultural awareness – and we also  incorporate Arabic language in our classes. All students from the very beginning get used to free style dance - it’s not just about churning out choreographies they have to be able to improvise as well. We also explore dance psychology in class as well.

When students evolve with me and they need different challenges because I don’t feel that they are growing enough individually, I refer them to other Teachers to help them individuate themselves.

What advice do you have for belly dance students to aid their development as performing artists?

(Anne) To be as fully informed as they can be.  Research what is out there.  Learn with different teachers.  This will enable them to find a way to develop and grow.

(Evete) So what inspired you to create Planet Egypt?

(Anne) In the 1980s, the Dance Scene in London was extremely polarized.  But I believe that if we love the dance then we are united as there is common ground. All my work with Arab bands and in the Arabic community was on recommendation and I never was in competition with any other dancers. I also did not work in restaurants either. So when I did meet other dancers I was curious and wanted to engage with them as we already had common interests and its good to meet colleagues and exchange advice and help, and of course make new friends. So my overriding experience was that we could collaborate. I believed that we could create a united community and that would serve the dance a lot better.  There were big staged collaborative belly dance events at that time in Covent Garden and also at the Rheingold Club. So the seeds had already been planted.

In the late 90s, I began networking a lot more with dancers from other disciplines and forged lasting friendships.  Planet Egypt was conceived in early 2001, when I began liaising and working even more with Yvette Cowles and Vashti and suggested an Official collaboration- uniting 3 different disciplines Yvette (Jo Wise trained), Vashti (independently trained and danced on the Arab nightclub circuit) and myself (Suraya Hilal trained) . In 2002, we started monthly events to showcase oriental dance in London.  I brought to this collaboration 10 years of Teaching practice (10 classes a week), a huge mailing list, 15 years of dance training and about 12 years of performance experience. Plus as an outgoing and very sociable person, it would be within my skills and capabilities to make it work.  It was very hard in the beginning as few trusted me as their experience of dance was that you don’t trust others, they were the competition. It took a long time to win people over, as there had never been such a concept before.

Tell me a bit about the shows and how you control the talent that is showcased at each show?

Not sure what you mean by control the talent! I schedule and programme shows according to the dancers being featured and to reflect our aims: to provide a live experience, showcasing the best UK / international dancers that we can find and to promote diversity of style and training. I use my own judgement and long experience to do all this.

(Evete) What are the criteria?

(Anne) In order to participate in our shows:

As a fledgling dancer – only with Teacher’s support and involvement. I always liaise with the Teacher involved. This is Professional courtesy.

As a Professional – I only feature people who are widely endorsed and well established or whom I have seen myself. That way I manage the staging and quality to the best of my ability.

(Evete) Why are the waiting lists so long?

(Anne) Yes, this is a source of frustration for those that want to dance for us. I appreciate that. Initially we held our events every week.  This nearly killed me especially as the first three years all our events were free.  We could not continue with weekly events so they became monthly.   Staging free events for so long was crucial in raising our awareness and building our trust and reputation. This also demonstrated that our desire to stage events was not a commercial venture, it was done out of love for the dance. This attracted even more people to us.  Awareness led to demand to participate in our events. Being featured in our events is seen as a strategic manoeuvre in raising dancer’s profiles as we are the number one at what we do.  Funnily enough, other events using our formulas have driven demand even higher. 

I participate in many national events and as a result of publicity, coach loads of dancers drive down from Leeds and elsewhere for our shows. The shows that we host stage dancers from all over the UK and beyond. Also, with celebrities in our audience: Natacha Atlas, Hossam and Serena Ramzy, Yasmina of Cairo, Aziza from Portland Oregon, as well as well known musicians Ooojami, Abdel Kader Sadoun, Aziz Chabdis, Sheikh Taha and many more, many high profile teachers, a large number of Arabs and an excited approving audience, mean that what we offer is unique.  This drives up demand even more.  Moreover, with so many Team members on hand, our performers are offered a well managed, well staged and slick operation that they relish being a part of. They know that they can relax and give their best performance.

As our events incorporate audiences joining in, we limit times of shows so that we can make our events a participatory experience. In addition, with audiences coming from the West Country, Cambridge and South Coast, we have to finish on time so that audiences and performers can travel home safely. This is a major factor. 

We also try and feature a performer every year or two so that they remain fresh and there is the promise of more for our audiences. Also, it’s fairer to others that want to dance for us as well.  Due to demand, I only perform once every year and a half or so. Many people don’t even know I perform as I so rarely do. 

Behind the scenes I am allocating performance spaces until 2013. I have been delayed considerably from accepting more dancers / allocating them as a result of completely re-writing the new website which has been a major time factor for me. There have also been issues in my personal life which have delayed me somewhat as well. I hope when we launch the new website to concentrate on attending to the long waiting list of those who want to dance for us.

(Evete) Is there any possibility that there will be another venue with another Planet Egypt show in the future?

(Anne) Oh yes…. I’m trying to dovetail this with the launch of the new website – around late September I hope! More details to follow later.  Watch this space!

(Evete) Can you tell me a bit about your team?

Without the Team there is no Planet Egypt. They are integral to it.  We all have forged deep and lasting relationships with each other. Mostly they are unassuming and like being low key.  I tend to get a lot of credit when really they are just as important as I am. The new website will inform our supporters about the individual members.

Many of the Team have skills to offer the Community.  I am galvanising them to get them out there and use Planet Egypt as a resource and stepping stone to do so. I have taken them to other events to encourage them to venture further a field.  Many of them have been with us for years. The longest serving member is Sabeena.  No get out of Jail card free for her!

(Evete) What has been your biggest challenge in terms of promoting belly dance as an art?

(Anne) Well this is a huge question and I hope I can do it justice.  Let’s answer it backward.  Now and for many years we are only featuring professionals who are dedicated to their craft, so we are already fulfilling our remit. I am very involved with Arab Culture, hence my opportunity to work with Egyptian Superstar Hakim.  I can rely on cultural endorsement for our name, brand and audience.

Moreover, the new website addresses any potential lack of knowledge for UK Teachers of the Dance.  We address professional standards and conduct, as well as basic information that they may find useful in their Teaching Practice.  This is because there are many teachers around who may not have had (or chosen to have) formal Teacher Training in this dance and may need some support to “raise their game”. I say this, as I receive swathes of emails from Teachers (especially those arriving in the UK) who want to teach, establish a teaching practice and then ask me things like: what is public insurance, PP1 and where can I get music?  I hope that this new information will be as warmly received as it is given.  Out of love and respect for this dance.

Finally, we all have to deal with negative perceptions of this dance. There have always been rogue operators. The more we aim to deliver the highest and best that we can, the more we self reflect on what we are delivering.  The more we work with integrity, the better we lead the way.

(Evete) Has belly dancing always been your full-time career?  What did you do before belly dance?

(Anne) No, previously I studied languages (French and Spanish) with Business Skills. I lived abroad, and I worked in PR, entertainment, advertising and finally television. Then I escaped!

(Evete) You have a child.  What is it like to be a single mum and to also be so deeply involved in belly dance?

(Anne) Well it’s been quite easy apart from childcare issues. My outgoing and sociable nature has enabled me to make friends very easily.  Most of my real friends come from the community.  I have been nourished enormously by them, and my daughter has benefited from some brilliant role models. I have received tremendous support and feel very privileged. My daughter is a great dancer and has honed her talents at many events hosted by musician friends and the Arab community that we socialise within. In fact, they may have encouraged her too much!

(Evete) Does work take up a lot of your time or do you find that it can take up on the time you spend with your child?

(Anne) Yes. Planet Egypt takes up a HUGE amount of my time, and it encroaches on quality time that I could spend with my daughter. Sometimes it’s been hard to make the right choice. I also have many esoteric interests and hobbies as well, but I can anticipate the time that I could explore other things, as she is growing up so fast now.

(Evete) How do you juggle everything?

(Anne) Well, I am a bit manic – and it helps!

About Planet Egypt

Planet Egypt is a consortium of acclaimed performers and highly skilled and experienced teachers of Raqs Sharqi, and other Oriental dance styles.  Founded in 2003, it draws on the best talent that professional Oriental dance in the UK has to offer.

Aims:

1. •Cultivate a deeper understanding and love of Oriental music and dance
   

2. •Promote high standards of Oriental dance education - see classes
   

3. •Support fledgling dance professionals - see showcases
   

4. •Work with and feature leading exponents of Oriental dance, see photos
   

5. •Produce and stage quality shows that are enjoyable, inclusive and successful
   

For more information about Planet Egypt visit: www.planetegypt.co.uk

© 2009 NAFOURA Magazine All rights reserved

Copying this article is not permitted unless with written permission by the Chief Editor.