Copyright 2008 © North Walsham Dance. 
Nikki Livermore and John Sleiman in North Walsham, Norfolk 10 June 2006

By Dianne Davies
We at North Walsham Dance were very pleased to be joined by Nikki and John, who work together as a team to provide a whole Egyptian experience consisting of drumming and dance workshop, hafla and souk.
He has an impish charm and an amusingly frank manner, and put across the principles of the different Egyptian rhythms with the aid of sheet music for each rhythm.  We all became pretty proficient in reading the drum music towards the end, to Johns amusement, and were drumming up a storm.  He stunned us with some excellent Egyptian drumming, elaborating over our simple backing rhythms.  As we became more confident John added another dimension with his keyboard accompaniment.  It certainly made me think more about drumming and rhythms and maybe I would consider taking it up - if for any reason I couldn’t dance.  John also provides instructional videos and CDs to follow up the workshops..
Nikki followed on with a dance workshop based on dancing to the very drum rhythms we had learned from John.  Originally from the North East, she is now based in the Cotswolds.  Whilst very precise in what she wanted from us, she has a very sweet and friendly personality which comes across well in a workshop environment. 
 
Immediately that was over, she and John had to pack the car and move on quickly to the second venue, North Walsham Community Centre.  On arrival, with a little help from her new friends, she set up her “Simply Shimmy” bazaar with some truly gorgeous classwear and outfits, and started the Hafla in the way all Haflas should begin: she encouraged everyone, whatever their experience, to get up and do a congenial circle-dance style warm-up.  Nikki obviously finds it easy to create a relaxed, fun atmosphere and I really appreciated this inclusivity which ensured everyone felt comfortable getting up to dance later.
Interestingly, the husband of one of our North Walsham Dance dancers had previously thought that this bellydancing thing was all a bit “low”!  Like many men with little personal experience of Egyptian dance, I wonder if he equated it with pole or lap dancing?  The good news is that after being dragged along to this Hafla he has since been seen watching bellydance instruction DVDs with almost academic interest in “how it’s done” and is telling other reluctant men off, admonishing them that “you should see this - it is an art form you know!”  Don’t know if Nikki can hold herself personally responsible for this epiphany, but I’m sure her beautiful solos really helped!
John drummed throughout the first part of the evening and played his keyboard to great effect.  Nikki treated us to various solo performances including an intriguing and skilled sword dance.  These two really worked at it, and again achieved a difficult balance - making a hugely positive contribution to the hafla without totally dominating it.  They must have been very tired by the end of the evening as they had endured a nightmare journey getting to us, but their hard-working spirit and twinkling smiles didn’t let up.  I would recommend this pair to anyone wanting to host a day of dance and drumming.
Click on the following link for more past North Norfolk Egyptian Dance events.
Nikki and john Good
Firstly we very much enjoyed John’s drumming workshop.  John is a talented Lebonese musician based in Swindon.  He brought along enough beautiful drums so that everyone got the chance to play a genuine Egyptian Tabla.
nicky john at keyboard
Like John she came very well prepared with choreography sheets and a huge banner which she put on the wall in front of the class, illustrating the structure of the dance and the transitions between the various rhythms.  She was wearing a very spectacular pants-suit costume, (especially for a workshop!) which was just a foretaste of the fabulous outfits that were to come when she performed in the evening.  What particularly impressed me was that she was working with a totally mixed ability group, from absolute beginner up to teacher level.  She managed to pull off that most difficult of tricks - ensuring that everyone got the maximum out of it and nobody felt patronised.
N&J good
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