The story takes us on a journey to Cairo following numerous female characters performing and learning the art of bellydance. The show is beautifully presented and it is nice to see an accordion and table playing live Arabic music rather than having a pre recorded CD. Arabic music is often best heard live and these musicians give a lovely performance.
The dancing may disappoint those who know the dance as some of the grounding leaves a little to be desired but the show is still fun and worth a watch. Daphne is still full of confidence and her shimmies are to die for. She leads us into a comical dance lesson involving the whole audience and shows the dance with some beautiful and intriguing props like the poi and golden veil wings. Her stick dance is shows some skill and the outfits are just amazing.
Daphne is a stunning woman and presents each character well, including a long suffering vodka swilling Russian dancer married to an Egyptian man and a rather interesting Egyptian dance teacher whom we cannot understand but follow easily with gestures. The script manages to pull of the plight of women in an Arabic country with sensitivity and accuracy.
Overall this show is definitely worth a look.
3/5
Anna Harpur
