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DANCING
IN THE UAE Following are
excerpts from a letter sent over by Lina Abuel who works in the UAE. Here's the score.
as of August 27, 1999. Do write Lina directly if you wish, to let her know how much you
appreciate her contribution. Lina writes:
"......What's really going on here? Well, the "Basic Dance Lessons" here in the UAE
are organized under the auspices of OWWA.
"The 'pioneers' who started it all taught the basic ballroom
dances, i.e. cha-cha, tango, swing and boogie, so all dancing enthusiasts
here will have the chance to learn.
Basically, those "D.I.'s" are all volunteers. I am one of the first batch
in 1998 in Sharjah Club. In Dubai, they started much earlier and is now in the
10th batch. We in Sharjah have 6 batches already.
"Once you graduate, you can be D.I. too, provided you will
volunteer to teach the next batch or you might as well just be a member of
the club (your choice). As a club member, you can be introduced to the advance
steps.
"We
can't say that we are really professional D.I.s because we only share
what we know or what we have seen from the videos, from TFC (The Filipino
Channel) which airs Keep on Dancing and Eezy Dancing. Like myself, I
volunteered to teach the charanga to the beginners. Ganoon lang iyon.
"The Basic Dance Lessons cover 10 weeks (once a week for 2-3
hours per session). Fees are really at a minimum (between P500.00 to P750.00 per
head). Upon graduation, OWWA issues out a certificate. Oh di ba sosy!!!
"As a DI, we get salaries, though we receive a sort of token of
appreciation. During graduation, the club also gives us too.
"By the way, tomorrow (August 28), another batch will graduate in Dubai, pang 10th batch na
yata (Sharjah's 6th batch will graduate in November). They said we will be
having a sort of bag like "excursion bag". Last time was a "his & her
watch". Umm..I am both DI to Sharjah and Dubai.. Walang magawa eh...
"Every enrollment, we get up to 100 students but the women usually
outnumber the men. Sometimes, I teach / dance the male step to with other lady
students.
"As you can see, we really get together so
much in dancing. Sharjah has Saturday session for basic and Tuesday is
there advance lesson. Dubai has Friday for their basic during 6:00 to 8:00
and 8:00 to 10:00 for advance lesson. Look how hectic I am. In between,
too, students request for a private lesson thinking that examination is
nearly approaching, because they will be evaluated in order to graduate.
Kabado kuno!! Wala ring bayad iyon...kain lang.... kuwentuhan...
PR....etc. But those other
nationals interested in these type of dancing.....nagpapaturo sila...this
time we are ask for payment. I have not tried yet, but other DIs, they do.
"Because ballroom dancing is very popular here, a lot of discos also play ballroom
music. Other clubs schedule ballroom nights. Kung saan ang ballroom night, nandoon and mga Pinoy.
These places also conduct a contest open to all
ballroom dancers.
Now, would you like to come here.....
LINA"
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Side Steps
