China Report 2009

Last year, when the Chinese Olympic channel CCTV showed interest in broadcasting our Oriental Dance Festival to 20 million viewers in China, we were happy to accept the offer. We were surprised, as sometimes even here the German TV broadcasters have to be convinced to show interest in the oriental dance scene, and then suddenly "The Chinese were coming!" They even brought the Chinese star Guo Wei, who immediately knew how to impress the audience. After the positive impressions and experiences here in Duisburg, the initiator and Bellydancer Agent invited us to make a tour of China with some performances, workshops and instructional DVD productions. We were more than happy to accept this invitation. Yao is the owner of the largest bellydance club in China/Peking withover 500 students, and he regularly organises oriental dance events in cooperation with the state-owned TV company CCTV.

Roland and I were booked for two performances in the Gala Show and we were really pleased that other highly renowned dancers contributed to the sucess of the show, which was sold out, for example BDSS Kami Liddle & BDSS Adore, Mayodi (Paris), Aliya (Russia) and of course the celebrated Chinese Star Guo Wei. I was looking forward to seeing what genre the Chinese audience would like and how they would react. Alongside the specialist audience from all over China, there were other art and dance lovers, male and female, interested agencies and media, and also some specially invited VIP guests from the Government.

We hoped that we had chosen the right style for the Chinese audience and were soon exposed to their great enthusiasm. We were overwhelmed when they were so impressed that they honoured us with a standing ovation. We presented ourselves from the side of the Egyptian Raqs Sharki with Roland´s live drum accompaniment but also with a Balkan Gypsy dance. The Chinese audience is open to traditional dances as well as to innovative and modern performances.

The whole show was very diversified and many genres were presented, such as Tribal, Bollywood, classical and traditional Egyptian dances, as well as fantasy and acrobatic. Before and after the show we noticed and admired the hundreds of hard working helpers, which would not be financially possible in Germany.

Roland and I had an unforgettable time in China, it was even one of the best experiences as an artist. The generous Chinese hospitality that we were met with was uncomparable: we were assigned our own interpreter, a make-up artist, a masseur, and a chauffeur; and a week of well organised sightseeing tours to the Forbidden City, the Great Wall of China and everything else that Peking and its surroundings had to offer. Almost twice a day we were taken out to the most extraordinary and delicious restaurants, where we also tried extraordinary dishes even for us as Europeans, e.g. tasty organic vegetarian dishes made from tofu, which were not at all inferior to meat and fish in appearance and taste.
We were even offered the chance to taste jelly fish, stomach, 1000 year-old eggs and scorpions, etc. We'll leave it to your imagination whether we actually did eat them. And last but not least; we were presented with many gifts of Chinese souvenirs. We were speechless.

The Chinese proved to be very generous and very endearing people - a nation with a future and with perspectives, who haven't really been affected by the financial crisis, or have already gotten over it. Oriental dance is booming in China. In Yao's Club there was constantly a lot going on, there were people dancing in 7 fully packed roooms all at once. When Guo Wei held his workshop in a room that was full to the brim, he showed himself as a fascinating teacher and dancer, who was able to deal with large groups and he brought the huge crowd to raptures. To us, there was no doubt about his ability as a very good teacher. Therefore, we are glad to be able to welcome him as a special guest at our festival in November, as a member of the jury and also as a performing artist in the show and teaching workshops.

As it was our first trip to China, we were impressed to find our workshop fully booked with positive, talented and enthusiastic students, who enthusiastically sung and counted along. After the workshop we posed for photos with the students for about one and a half hours.

The Chinese were very positive and open to us Germans, and we were happy that for a change no prejudices were held against Germany - quite the opposite in fact, they like Germans and we were made to feel more than welcome.. We were pleased that we were able to contribute to the fact that the "affectionate German mentality" was admired, as well as our punctuality, competency and reliability.We also recognised these attributes in the Chinese. For Bellydancer Agent Yao, who is only 27 years old, commercial gain was not the most important aspect, but that the performers were made to feel as comfortable as possible. We have already had so many good experiences worldwide, but not every organiser has the means to accommodate this, and we by no means expect it. Nevertheless, it was a wonderful and unforgettable experience. We were faced with an expanding, flourishing and economically booming country with a remarkable amount of of young and ambitious, but warm-hearted and hospitable people. At this point we would like to say a big "thank you" to Yao and his team, and we are looking forward to teach and perform in China again next year!

Artikel @ Online-Magazine Hagalla

Videoreport CCTV International

China Tour 2010

China Tour 2011

China Tour 2012