For the second year running we were sponsored by the Istanbul BBQ, a Turkish restaurant in Brook Street, so we set up our little home from home outside their restaurant. This was our base for some impromptu performances and for some henna.
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| Meroe, Phoenece, Kebi, Mish Mish, Naima, Tameri and Aisha perform a Tunisian dance |
Our first set of the day was a Tunisan routine - which gave us the chance to wear all of our bling - followed by a Moroccan scarf dance. This was a new routine with lots of formation changes in it - we were in and out of formation like the red arrows! We were warmly welcomed at the old folk’s home for a private performance for them and even managed to get some of the staff to join in.
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| Moroccan scarf dance |
One of our “missions” for the event was to try and get the crowd to join us as we performed a fun Lebanese line dance – a debke. We didn’t quite manage the cast of thousands we hoped for, but Meroe said that next year we aim to have a line running the full length of Brook Street.
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| Debke outside the Istanbul BBQ |
Our day was finished of nicely with a fantastic meal at the Istanbul BBQ. Our thanks to the organisers of the Carnival for inviting us; to our sponsors the fabulous Istanbul BBQ; and especially to Betty - who gave us the run of her flat in Brook Street to use as our dressing room. Thank you Betty - and we apologise in advance for the fact that you’ll probably be finding sequins and glitter in your flat for weeks to come!
