The workshop hosted by Yasmina Ramzy, a well-known teacher, chorographer and director of raqs sharqi. (Submitted photo/Christen Ross)

By Derek Cornet

raqs sharqi

La Ronge women travel to Toronto for intensive dance workshop

Aug 15, 2024 | 5:04 PM

Two women from La Ronge are back from Toronto after a four-day intensive Arabic and Egyptian dance workshop.

Charlene Bosiak and Christen Ross participated in the workshop hosted by Yasmina Ramzy, a well-known teacher, choreographer and director of raqs sharqi. The classes, which were held five hours per day, were attended by approximately 20 dancers from mostly across Canada.

“It’s just basically to kick start your practice, so there’s no performance or anything with this one, it’s basically technique,” Bosiak explained.

“Her classes are for people who want a more in depth. It’s kind of like a kick start from COVID to kind of get us going a little bit. It’s more intensive than regular classes. There’s choreography and there’s technique classes.”

Bosiak began studying under Ramzy in 2006 and, since then, she has travelled to Toronto approximately 15 times. She’s also taken professional courses with Ramzy in-person and online, as well as organized Ramzy’s visit to La Ronge in October 2023.

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The Toronto workshop occurred from Aug. 8 to 11 and Bosiak stayed an extra few days to complete a special project consisting of a choreographed video featuring a song written about her.

“We did some private lessons and tweaking of the choreography, and then we went to the location and the shoot was about three and a half hours long,” Bosiak said, adding the video will be released in about one month.

Bosiak was also happy to share the experience with Ross, who is a student of hers in La Ronge. She said Ross is new to the scene and was very hard-working.

Ross echoed that statement, noting she was the least experienced of the group. She mentioned it was intimidating at first, but Yazmina pulled her aside and told her to progress at her own pace.

“I feel I learned a lot of choreography very quickly,” Ross said.

“I was a month into belly dance when I met Yazmina for the first time and her approach is a lot different than Charlene’s approach. I wanted to learn from Yazmina because she has gone to Egypt, she’s experienced it.”

During her stay, which marked her first time in Toronto, Ross learned a lot of technique, nuances and different styles of raqs sharqi. In the coming years, Ross would like to transition into a professional dancer.

“Yazmina offers a pro course in July and that’s a week long,” she said. “It’s a bit more costly, but I believe it would be 100 per cent worth it, especially after taking a four-day course and realizing how in depth it was.”

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derek.cornet@pattisonmedia.com