I actually ended up in Camilla Lombardi's tabla workshop because Mercedes Nieto's was full. I have no idea what I missed in Mercedes, but Camilla's workshop turned out to be my absolute favorite! For me it was the highlight of the Stockholm Belly Dance Festival.
The above picture of Camilla is actually somewhat deceiving. Yes, she is gorgeous, curvy, and red-haired. But you don't see a glimpse of her true energy in that tranquil shot! If I could describe her in two words I would probably say rambunctious and fun! She was downright silly, making jokes, faces, and random poses throughout the workshop, as well as the occasional hybrid oriental-Italian cat-call or a simple "Wooo!". She was encouraging, warm, funny, and a fabulous teacher. I even loved the warm-up!
The drum solo choreography was challenging, but fun and doable. A couple of the girls in class got it down right away. It'll take me another week before it's good enough for anyone to even see. Still, it feels attainable, and it was definitely a choreography I'd like to use in the future. It was short and sweet, about 2 minutes, but we made it through the whole thing in an hour and a half and still had time to drill it a bit. We got to film it at the end, and she was a total sweetheart and offered to send us all the music if we wrote down our emails.
This is the best video I could find of Camilla dancing, though I don't think it does her justice. But she's wonderful, and if you ever get a chance to take classes with her, do it! If Camilla returns to SBDF, I think I will, too!
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