I love this photo of Dave Sanger and his travelling show, it really captures the spirit of Glastonbury. I can’t wait to tell you about the time I got to join his cast! But first I want to tell you about how Belly Dance and live music and shows came together in the melting pot of Glastonbury. In short I want to tell you about Glastobelly!
Glastobelly is a belly dance Festival with a live music heartbeat. A place where Middle Eastern Musicians vibe with the magic of Glastonbury to take your dancing to another level. This new Festival has a long history of working with musicians and dancers in Glastonbury.
The first musicians arrived on the last horse drawn travelling show in the Country! Showman Dave Sanger lives in a traditional Gypsy bow wagon and his Gypsy Vanner horses pull the show wagon behind his home. Glastobelly Festival Director Oona dances Vintage Belly Dance on this tiny special stage from a bygone era at the Glastonbury Frost Fayre! Musicians and dancers are drawn from all over the UK year after year to perform at The Frost Fayre at the seat of the Tor.
Oona was generous enough to share this special experience with me and one chilly afternoon at the end of November, I found myself stood in the crowd, listening to Dave cussing in frustration at the stage electrics! Oona put a reassuring arm on me and said “don’t worry this always happens” and then as if by magic, the whole stage light up in fairy lights and the amps and mics came to life. All types of musicians and singers took turns to delight the crowd and then suddenly it was our turn. We improvised to an ensemble of musicians and the crowd erupted, it was such a special moment!
More musicians came to Glastonbury in 2015 in response to Oona’s call, to raise funds for the Syrian Refugee crisis. Belly Dancers packed the Assembly Rooms in Glastonbury and shimmied their coins into the charity bucket.
Oona’s collaboration with Bubamara began online in the lockdown2020. They met through a mutual friend and their work blossomed from there with video collaboration and fully flourished when they met in person and performed at the Stonehenge Free Festival. After that the Durham based band Bubamara just had to play here in Glastonbury and be part of the magic. They travel many miles to bring their unique blend of Middle Eastern vibes to Oona’s dance events. Glastobelly is the jewel in the crown of the Glastonbury Belly Dance and live music scene. You can’t miss this 3rd & 4th June find out more here; https://buytickets.at/glastobelly/837008
I will be teaching my infamous Belly Queens Signature moves from the last 100years, workshop on the Sunday so you can bag a ticket just for my class or for the whole weekend. If you can’t wait till then you can buy my online courses Part one with Badia Masabni in the 19-naughties, Josephine Baker 1920s &30s and Samia Gamal 1940s & 50s. And Part two with Nagwa Fouad in the 1960s & 70s, Fifi Abdou 1970s, 80s & 90s and Dina 1990s – 2020s! These are such good value and will really improve your dancing!
