Sophie Mei

A Midsummer’s Dream

Our fourth issue lands us into Midsummer when the sun shines by day, and sets by night as we swig our Cocktails – OK well that’s a dream but at least work should be a distant memory. If not, don’t fret as there is plenty to do before we buckle down and get back to school, University and your 9 – 5.

August

Kicking off in August is the new football season when United take on some of the big boys and we at Wednesday erm… well we’re off to Dagenham! Nonetheless, the Cyber geeks can test their PC’s against their Macs on 1^st August at Yorkshire’s Biggest Computer Fair. Not your cup of Tea? Well, then you can hop along to the Teatopia exhibition at the Millennium Gallery on 5^th August for a Curator’s tour of er… tea! You can even pop down to Weston Park Museum if you Fancie some cupcakes…

So you’re not a cake muncher or a cyber geek? Well then lads and ladies get your sen’ along to the Four Nations Challenge Boxing at English Insititute of Sport on 7 – 8^th August.

If you’re more of a culture vulture on the 8^th you can down your Boxing gloves and sample the Tomatoes and Chillies festival at Meersbrook Park – that’s what it says on the tin – then drink time as ever at Leopold Square to have your apperitif’s whilst listening to a bit of Dizzy Club (they’re Jazz not a Dizzee Rascal rip off, darlin’).

If you haven’t ousted the dust since your Spring clean, then do it now and uncover those unwanted gems such as Furniture because Summer’s a good time to share the love and all the other hippy dippy stuff. What’s more, our very own City Hearts charity who work to house and rehabilitate people with addiction problems, are in need of your furniture new and old (all in good nic) as they challenge us to deck out a whole house for some of their young ladies to live in.

The mission is possible… thanks to our friends at SBS removals who offer the best service in the city to help move your goods at reasonable prices. (They helped me move my Camel: No jokes – see the photo!)  Ooh we do like a good mover! …

Through the keyhole we go this summer as we have a special performance of The Secret Garden at the Botanical Gardens on 10^th August thanks to Heartbreak Productions.

If you’re more of a mover and shaker then strut your stuff down to Sheffield’s O2 Academy for a charity Shapa night on 11^th August in aid of One Song Foundation, you can see the likes of Liz Mclarnon and Lee Ryan… so All Rise.

After last month’s phenomenal Music City  – we continue to impress with our local talent so watch out for DarkeHorse’s gig on13^th August at The Boardwalk

Then if you are a singer yourself you best get yourself to the Sheffield auditions of OpenMic UK at the City Hall on 22^nd August. I rest my case.

Remember Harvest festival at school when people bring in fruits, grains and you can smell the fresh crop? OK, so I’ve been watching The Waltons a little too often… Well you can experience it all over again or for the first time at Weston Park Museum on 28^th August.

Ah the good old days… where summer lovin’ happens so fast… well you can have a blast at Sheffield’s Fayre at Norfolk Heritage Park from 29^th-30^th August – and strictly no leather please.

September

It’s like the worst Sunday feeling ever when September arrives, the kids are kitted up in their uniforms, the students have overloaded on their Tupperware and the rest of us are back into tour 9-5 slog before the bells ring at Christmas time!

Anyway, do you remember the Fun Lovin’ Criminals? Well they’re gigging at plug on 3^rd September. You then have enough time to recover for 5^th September as it’s the BUPA Yorkshire Run. You can join Dick (from Dick and Dom), Hugh Dennis (comedian) and Tony Audenshaw (Emmerdale) and of course me – Sophie Mei.

Two men who are definitely quick on their feet are Ricky Hatton and Frank Bruno as they host  “An audience with…” at Sheffield City Hall on 15^th September.

Where art thou this month? As Hamlet is on at Crucible Theatre from 16^th September – 23^rd October – I’m going to see Mr. Hamlet opposed to Michael Buble’s Concert which has already sold out at Hallam FM Arena.

E cosi … let’s finish this month off on a bella high as Fargate will be home to an Italian Market from 24^th – 28^th September:

By Sophie  Mei

www.sophiemei.co

MEI Motto: September’s the new New year for us big kids – so get your dancing shoes on – for a party workout in a Zumba (mixed) class or ladies can shake their bon bons at a Bellydance (women only) class with Sophie Mei Schools.

Check out:  www.sophiemeischools.com

We’re happy, we’re tired, we’re tanned and we’re back home now after a fabulous holiday in Tunisia. In 7 days we managed to cram in sight-seeing, camel riding, eating, dancing and even learning Arabic.

CULTURE/HISTORY

We were amazed at the amount of sights there were to see from Kathage – an ancient Roman ruin (almost as impressive as Rome itself) to El Gem’s ampitheatre.

We stayed in Port El Kantoui near to Sousse which is a large harbour (Medina) town with a large mosque and most importantly for me a large Souk (market).

FOOD

My food intake was limited as I’m a vegetarian but between us all and our individual idiosyncracies  we managed to try the Cous cous ( the traditional staple dish of Tunisian cuisine), a bric (Filo pastry stuffed with egg, cheese and any other ingredient) and my very favourite sauce ‘Harissa’ – a hot spicy red chilli sauce – yum!

DANCE

Typical Tunisian-style music is called ‘Malouf’ which includes instrumental sections and nine parts of vocal works. Like a lot of North Africa, I felt that dance was a natural part of life and celebrations.

We did have a ‘belly dancer’ of sort in our hotel but I don’t think she represented the true soul of Tunisian dance – more of a touristic showpiece than a folkloric dancer.

LANGUAGE

The national language is obviously Arabic but ‘educated’ people tend to have French as their second language.

All in all we got along just fine and were really looked after by the hotel’s animation team. It was by far one of the most friendly country’s I’ve been too and one of which enjoys the tourist trade.  You do get hassled especially if there are four girls on your own but we managed put up with it by exclaiming ‘la shukran’ (no thanks).

I would and am going to visit Tunisia again as you need more than a week to discover all the hidden gems, meet the people and there is definitely more shopping to be done!

An E-card from Tunisia…

Asalama!

Labes… actually we’re more than just Labes because it is barcha good here! We’ve arrived after a short flight from Leeds to Monastir on Sunday 4^th July (American Independence Day) and, into my kind of paradise…

Dates, Camels, Bellydancing, drumming, music and good coffee!

Our first day involved us wondering around the huge Spa Hotel where we’re staying and along the promenade until we reached the harbour which is spectaculr. Not only are there lots of Yachts and lovely people but tacky shops!  We have all bought a Camel (mine’s called Mei Mei) – well of the small furry variety – along with cowboy hats and plenty of tacky souvenirs. My next mission is to buy a bigger camel, Shisha Pipe and a bongo drum to bring back…

We ate our first meal by the harbour as the sunset and also as an attempt to lose our stalkers – 3 lovely young Tunisian men whom insist we are family or ‘Pussycat Dolls’ – almost guys… almost Inchallah!

After an early night (and a Baileys of course), we woke up this morning feeling refreshed and ready to take on our huge Buffet breakfast – Pastries, Omelettes, fresh fruit, Cheeses and I was even able to have a plate of stir-fried vegetables – my mum would be proud.

We’ve had a hard day on the beach sunning ourselves on the longer and swimming in the clear green sea as well as making lots of friends especially the Animation team at the hotel. This was after a classic Aqua gym session in the sea along with some cheesy dance routines – LOVE IT!  This shared love has then lead us to spending the whole day on the beach eating, drinking coffee’s and dancing on the sand to Arabi, Latino and R n B usic. We have even tried or hand at learning the language, drumming and a bit of authentic dancing.  I have found a new dance partner – a stunning Russian bellydancer – we don’t speak just dance.

All four of us (Louise – my agent/best friend, Ruth – my training partner and Rebecca – drinking uni buddy) have had a Camel of a time! I jetted off on a Pedalo after befriending the Manager’s family, Rebecca lay sunbathing, Lousie went jet skiing and Paragllding and Ruth remained at the bar playing some tunes on the beach with the DJ.

Ruth and I (training partners forever) have even found time for a run and toning session along the promenade whilst Louise had a walk and coffee – we are all quite simply HAPPY!

Day 2: Crowned Miss’ Vincci Hotel

I was fooled into believing at school that my 5 A-levels and 13 GCSE’s were essential for late life, when in fact, all I ever needed was a diploma as ‘Miss Vincci Hotel’ which I was crowned last night, in return for my dignity it has to be said.

Today was spent camel (Jamal) riding, cooking bread in a pottery oven and then nearly getting kidnapped on the camel as the owner took a shine to me. I had no defence other than that I would happily jump off the hump if he took me anywhere too weird.

Louise took the choo choo train to Souz whilst the rest of the girls danced on the beach and slept in the sun. We are being well and truly looked after by the staff at the hotel who won’t allow men to even talk to us in the sea.

That evening we went to the beautiful fountain square to watch a light and fountain display and then I ran off to the pub to watch Holland Vs Uruguay in the semi-finals – what a game! I did stand out a little in a crowded bar full of Arab men smoking and cheering on Uruguay whilst U

We then finished off another night in the hotel disco-theque dancing to a mix of Russian, Arabic and RnB music. With our funky dance routine, our animation friends and loud Yorkshire accents – we really are the talk of the hotel – y’luv us or ‘ate us!

Day 3: Louise’s Birthday!

This morning we made our hue buffet breakfast extra special with a sing song and Balloons for the Birthday Girl. We’re not off to the Ancient town of Carthage to see some Roman ruins and mosaics before having a Tunisian Folk night later on – and more suprises in stall for the Birthday Girl!

Off to get the Choo choo train now and get a Bric and café Turc for Lunch as well as a bowl of Tunisian salad for me…

Yalla – Basalama

Bousa Bousa xxxx

Swishing scarves, gold coins tinkling and drumming – you wouldn’t be stupid in thinking you were in Morocco. Yorkshire folk were shouting “Yalla” as three thousand  bellydancing beauties flocked to Sheffield to feed their love of Middle Eastern goods and dance.

Our Steel tarnished city in fact played host to Europe’s largest Bellydance festival – Raqs Britannia and with it came a Tunisian Market, a Moroccan Souk, dance workshops and a live performance from the Bellydance Superstars themselves – all at Sheffield City Hall.

The newly renovated venue managed to lure in the bellydance world and offered itself perfectly to the dynamic festival which is founded by Miles Copeland, former manager of Sting, Human League and the Police and, now the Bellydance Superstars!

Miles Copeland who introduced his Bellydance Superstars at their Saturday night show in the Oval hall, said;

“We’ve been all over the UK from London and Manchester and now Sheffield – and we love it. We are sure to be back here next year.”

The evening was perfectly finished off by a performance from Sonia who was one of the first ever Bellydance Superstars who formed eight years ago. She decided that the Sheffield gig was her final performance with the Superstars before embarking on a solo career.

Oh, and I haven’t even mentioned our main celebrity at the event – Niles the papermache camel. Our unfurry bigger than life sized friend made an appearance on BBC Look North and even on BBC Sheffield’s Breakfast show as unfortunately we have to flog him this year due to limited storage space – say if you know of anyone who can give a 9ft camel a loving home please contact: admin@raqsbritannia.co.uk

In brief, it was a spectacular weekend and I was truly proud to have helped it come to Sheffield as I really think we are the UK’s premier city of culture and a lot of the visitors over the weekend agreed!

Yalla next Raqs Britannia – let’s hope they bring it back to Sheffield!

For my video/photography diary please log on to: blog.sophie-mei.net  SOON