"Are you alright?" I ask.
"Yeah, yeah. I just get sick of having to deal with his type. They come to ogle the dancers while complaining about our morals."
"So why have you picked to dance in this style then?" I ask.
"Like you, I hope to become good enough to perform professionally. It's one of the few forms of dance that can be performed solo."
Our conversation is interrupted by the arrival of the academy's staff. Mademoiselle Serena, as she likes to be called, makes a short welcome speech before handing the proceedings over to an elderly woman who will soon become the bane of our lives. Madame Brigitte is the academy's house-mistress. Rumour soon spreads that she learned her role while working as a prison warder. Whether or not the rumour is true, the strict rules she imposes about cleanliness and behaviour soon make us feel as though we are in prison. Fortunately the tutors seem to be a much more approachable group.
We are shown to our sleeping quarters in the west wing of the château. Sixteen of our group have paid extra for private accommodation, which is provided on the second floor. For the remaining seventeen, the six-bed dormitories are located on the first floor. The five male students are assigned one dormitory, and the twelve female students are split between two rooms. Two more dormitories are left unused, although I later learn that one or both of them are occasionally used as a medical ward should there be an outbreak of infectious disease.
We don't get given a choice of dormitory, so I feel lucky that Yvonne and I are in the same room. One of the other women asked to be moved in order to be with a friend, but her request was flatly denied. Only later do I learn that we are grouped with others taking the same specialist discipline. Yvonne was correct in what she said earlier; of the thirty-three students, only Yvonne and I have enrolled to learn oriental style dance. The other four in our dormitory are part of a larger group learning modern dancing. Those in the next dormitory are specialising in folk dance or ballet. There are four students studying ballroom dancing, but they are all in private rooms.
It has been a long day for most of us, so there are no complaints when we are all ordered to bed at ten-thirty. Lights out are at ten-forty-five, and woe-betide anyone not in bed by then. From tomorrow our daily routine is mapped out with military precision. A six-thirty wake-up alarm, followed by a run around the grounds at ten minutes to seven. Then showers and ablutions before breakfast at eight. At eight-forty-five we report to our designated tutors for lessons. Tuition continues until four in the afternoon, with short rest breaks and lunch in between. At four o'clock, we report to the gymnasium in the basement where we exercise or engage in indoor sport. Our evening meal is at six-thirty for which we must be clean and smartly dressed. Failure to pass Madame Brigitte's inspection means a meal of bread and water in the kitchen annex. From the end of the evening meal until bedtime we have what the schedule refers to as 'own time'. In reality its the only time we get to do our laundry and other personal chores, so there is rarely more than a third of us congregating in the social room in the evenings.
The weekend routine is less structured, although we don't get extra time in bed in the morning. There's no tuition, but instead we are expected to spend long periods practising our dancing and undertaking physical exercise. It's difficult to imagine how we will all cope with such a gruelling routine for twelve months. However, if the photographs adorning the corridor walls are to be believed, then plenty of others have lasted the course before us.
Using phones, social media and computers isn't specifically banned, but the woeful WiFi connection available to students makes it a challenge to do more than send an occasional email. I receive a lengthy message from Georgina wishing me good fortune with my lessons, but essentially confirming my own impression that our aspirations are widely different and that our once-close friendship has had its time. I send a polite reply echoing her sentiments and wishing her success with her studies at university. I feel relieved that we are at least parting as friends.
By the start of the third week I feel more settled in the academy's routines. At weekends the academy employs local school kids to do some of the routine cleaning and laundry. My concerns that Mademoiselle Serena is exploiting local children are eased when Yvonne tells me that it is part of a work experience programme run by the schools. The academy provides one of the few opportunities for local youth employment. Some of the older children sometimes work mid-week evenings helping in the kitchen.
Each of us receives a medical check once a week to monitor his or her health and fitness. Adjustments to our individual diet or exercise regime are made as required, and we are expected to follow any instructions faithfully. Apart from Brigitte's draconian rule over the dormitories and other rooms, life at the academy is hard but fair, and I am pleased that I made the decision to accept Heidi's and Serana's offer.
Apart from my developing friendship with Yvonne, I'm usually included in a social group consisting of Hannah, Juanita and Banu. Yvonne occasionally joins us, but she generally prefers my company alone. Hannah shares the same dormitory as Yvonne and me, while Juanita and Banu are ballet students sharing the other female dormitory. We have little social contact with those in private rooms. Many of them tend to spend their free time in their rooms, and generally look down on those of us in dormitories as though we are inferior. As for those in the male dormitory, they have an unfortunate tendency to consider Yvonne and me as sexually available because of our chosen dance style. After a couple of abortive attempts at a platonic friendship with the men, Yvonne and I keep clear of them in social settings.
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Chapter 8: Sexual Overtures
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When I chose to specialise in oriental dance, I didn't fully appreciate the different styles, or the wide range of cultural significance, of such dances. Aaliyah is our main tutor for oriental dance. She spends the first few weeks of tuition highlighting the various styles and explaining the difference between ritual dances for special occasions and those for pure entertainment. Even belly dancing has different styles. The movements I've been performing have been a hodgepodge of styles. Yvonne has the same problem. Aaliyah insists Yvonne and I practise performing wholly in one style or another, and sets us the task of adapting our style to be purely Egyptian or purely Turkish. Although we could both have chosen the same style, Yvonne chooses to adapt to the lively Turkish style requiring bold body movements and intricate footwork, while I opt for the more fluid and subtle movements of the Egyptian style.
We practise seven days a week wearing a cotton halter top and a pair of loose fitting knee length trousers. The list of things to bring included three sets of practise clothing. For performances, I will need a full costume, but the academy instructed me to wait and purchase something suitable while I'm here. So far I'm not sure how I'm going to do that. We aren't allowed out of the château grounds. Aaliyah says that she will help us buy our costume using a special online application available in the academy office.
So far our tuition has focussed on movement rather than costume. While we are learning both traditional dances as well as more modern belly dances, in reality the dance movements are remarkably similar. A solemn temple dance can be adapted to a raunchy belly dance with relative ease. However, Aaliyah insists we learn the difference between the music and movements appropriate for celebrations such as weddings and birthdays, and those which are not.
"Demain, tu commenceras à t'entraîner en costume," says Aaliyah when we finish practise for the day.
By now my French has improved enough to understand that we will begin practising in costume from tomorrow.
"I don't have a costume," I say to Yvonne as we walk to the gymnasium.
"Nor do I," replies Yvonne. "I was told to purchase something when I arrived here, but I haven't had the chance to do so. I hope Aaliyah realises that. I don't fancy enduring another of Madame Brigitte's punishment duties."
By now our gruelling regime of dance practise and physical exercise has toned our muscles and made us much fitter. I find that I can now endure all the activity without suffering aching muscles or blisters in the process. Yvonne isn't quite so lucky. An old injury means her feet have a tendency to trouble her.
"Perhaps you should switch to the Egyptian style of dancing," I suggest. "There's no rapid footwork involved."
"I did consider that, but Aaliyah says the Egyptian style requires the dancer to improvise rather than follow a set routine. You're good at that. I'm not so sure I can do so well. Besides, we will almost certainly be required to practise the other style later on. We may even have to include some ballet movements as well."
