galadhir

Well, I didn't expect getting a sword for sword dancing to be so hard.

I really wanted a sword like this A sword that looked like a sword - like you could sharpen it and then it would be a weapon.

Unfortunately the only sword that was in my price range and was available in the UK is aluminium with a paint coating. But I thought I could live with it, and the lightness of aluminium was a bonus considering my fibromyalgia. See the grey sword here.

So I ordered it and waited what felt like months for it to arrive. The receipt said that within 3-4 days I would get an email with a tracking code, but I did not get such an email. I waited for ten days, then I went on the website to see if there was a contact number and found their chat.

Someone on the chat told me that he would find my tracking number and that the sword would undoubtedly be with me soon. I waited a couple of days to see if it would arrive.

Then I checked the tracking code and found that the tracking number was linked to a Mr Ahmed Hussain in an entirely different county from me.

I tried to get back on the chat only to find that the chat box had disappeared.

This was beginning to feel suspicious.

Then I went on holiday with my family, and my son - on hearing the saga so far - dug around in the trustpilot ratings for this website (the only one that still had swords available out of every other sword retailer I had found.) He said that their ratings were abysmal and most people reported either getting broken swords or not receiving anything at all.

He then found a new sword on a site I had not discovered. It was 40" long and made of iron, which would have been very long and heavy, but what was I to do?

Their website said it would arrive in 3-4 days, and by now I was desperate. I figured I could stop the payment on the first sword, so I bought the new sword.

I got home from the holiday and the first sword was there on the doorstep.

Two swords! I thought. I suppose I can sell one of them on Ebay. Other belly dancers must also be desperate in the face of this sword shortage.

Then - while I waited for the real sword to arrive - I practiced with my horrible grey sword and developed something of an emotional bond to it.

It is in fact exactly the right size for me, and easy to balance, and relatively light on the head. I liked it, apart from the paint job.

So, more than four days passed. Eventually I began to wonder where the other sword was, and I went to look on the receipt for that too. With a more careful reading, I realized that it said that it would arrive 3-4 days after posting - with no promises about how long it would take them to post it. The receipt also said that they would send me an email to confirm when they sent it.

They had not sent me an email. Therefore they had not even put it in the post yet.

I leapt to my computer and sent them an email asking if I could cancel the order, and they replied the same day, re-listed the sword on their website and refunded me the price.

Good! I finally had a sword, and only one sword.

But the more I practiced with it, the more I came to hate the fact that it was silver like a silver car. There were even metallic sparkles in the paint just like metallic-finish auto paint. And the hilt was the same colour as the blade, as though the blade was part of the hilt fittings.

I wondered if I could paint over the blade with chrome effect paint, but further research suggested that there just isn't a paint that looks like metal. It's all going to be disappointingly matte.

Time to break out the gold leaf

I bought a gilding kit, a book of gold leaf and a book of silver leaf and did a hack job of covering both blade and hilt with thin layers of metal.

Result - behold the shiny sword!

This will certainly catch the light and flash as I dance. It isn't the sword that I wanted, but it is now a sword that I think I can love. And I bet no one else will have one like this :)

I have also been reading up on the history of belly dance, and it turns out that traditionally it's a type of dance that was done in the household - not for public performance - and that originally people would just wear their regular clothes, with a scarf tied around the hips so you could see what they were doing.

For our performance we were directed to wear something "appropriate for your style," which is interesting, as I do not know what is appropriate for which style. Nor do I know what style I'm even doing, or how to tell the difference. Googling is no help in this.

So I've decided to go back to the root. 'Baladi' belly dance is essentially the folk dance of large parts of the Middle East, and Baladi itself means 'country' - the dance of my country. And if it was originally done in normal clothes, I figured I would just wear something that I might wear normally.

With this in mind, I was just browsing as you do, when I saw this skirt

and I thought 'oh... that's very memento mori isn't it? Very appropriate for a song about failing to reconnect with old friends because time is slipping away from you both and there's so much else to do.'

So the skirt was a must. And I figured I could put a dark green strappy top under it, and top it with this nice crochet crop top. Which together would make an outfit I would totally wear in real life but I hope will look fancy enough to dance in.

One of the other dancers in my group has given me a hot pink belt with bead dangly bits, and I have a triangular scarf that will match the crop top, so I'll put that combination around my hips, and I think it will be a strong look.

Not quite sure what to do with my hair. I don't want to wear anything that looks like I have help in balancing this sword, but I do want some kind of headband to hold my hair out of my eyes. Some kind of silk flowers on a band?

Second Chorus

1. Snake arms - slow, quick,quick,
2. Step - slow, quick,quick w arms,
3. Step - slow, quick,quick w arms,
4. Step - slow, quick,quick w arms,

5. Mermaid arms - Camels while walking backward,
6. Camels while walking backward,
7. Camels while walking backward,
8. Camels while walking backward,

9. Large hip slide starting on the L,
10. Break R,
11. Shoulder shimmy,
12. Shoulder shimmy,

13. Circle right hip,
14. Circle left hip,
15. Lowering into a seat,
16. and arms spread as if to welcome a friend,

Figure Three

1. Circle whole body ninety degrees to the left,
2. Circle whole body ninety degrees to the left,

Now Facing away, Back to the audience

3. Vertical 8,
4. Shimmy,

5. L arms, right arm up - time to spin on the spot - turning,
6. Turning,
7. Turning,
8. Turning,

End turns facing audience again. Grab sword and prepare to launch into some sword swings

Third Chorus to End

1. Two handed sword swing,
2. Two handed sword swing,
3. Two handed sword swing,
4. Two handed sword swing,

5. Sword balanced on hand twirl around head,
6. Sword balanced on hand twirl around head,
7. Sword balanced on hand twirl around head,
8. Sword balanced on hand twirl around head,

9. Travelling to right using large circles while circling the sword in front,
10. Travelling to right using large circles while circling the sword in front,
11. Travelling to left using large circles while circling the sword in front,
12. Travelling to left using large circles while circling the sword in front, return to warm spot

13. Sword on shoulder like morris stick - right hip circles forward,
14. left hip circles forward,
15. Sinking into seat,
16. Left hand reaches out to audience then draws in to cover the heart,

(The friend never actually made it to the reunion, but they are being thought of until the next time.)

The End. Stand and bow. Walk off.

Oh, the sword is a representation of how as an adult you have to keep all the business of your life up, like spinning plates or balancing a sword on your head. And that's why you have such a hard time reconnecting with friends who you've fallen out of contact with!

It represents all the burdens and responsibilities of your life, under which you have to learn to dance with grace and smoothness.

Cool! This will not have any effect at all on what the dance looks like, but I do like to keep my story coherent ;)

So my Thursday class has ended for the summer holiday break, and due to the teacher's various commitments, it will not be starting again until November(!)

She told us that she wants to start again with a little showcase, in which each of us presents our own dance to an audience, in the hopes of attracting a few more people to join the class.

We are to choose our own music and choreograph our own dance from start to finish, and practice it enough so we can dance in front of an audience in the run up to Christmas.

This is probably not such a big deal for the rest of the class, who have been dancing for years and years. But I only started, from a basis of never having done it ever before, in September 2023, and given the huge gaps between terms I think I can only have done about 30 sessions.

Still, you've got to learn at some point, and what better way to learn than doing it, so time for me to write baby's first choreography, I guess.

I'm actually really excited at the thought, though who knows if I can keep that motivation up all the way to November.

I know that I want to do a sword dance. Which is another ridiculous choice given that I've only ever taken one single sword dance class. But hey - worst comes to the worst, I can just stick the sword on my head and do a basic belly dance while balancing it. The sword part doesn't have to be fancy.

So far, I've chosen my music, which has to be a good start!

Now I just have to think of some combinations to fit it, and work on my balance.