Natasa Kocar How big or small should a country be to host an independent Oriental
Dance festival? Well, I don´t know about that, but my country, Slovenia,
only has about 2 million inhabitants and we have our Oriental Dance
festival.
Slovenia, a tiny country in the Central – South Europe, at the gates of the Balkan
Peninsula, has a brand new Oriental Dance festival. The first release of the festival
was in March this year and the festival started off as Spring Oriental Bootcamp.
The first international star teacher was Catherine Derouet and she was the one who
suggested that it should be called Dreamcamp, instead of Bootcamp. And so it is.
The second release of the festival is going to be called Spring Oriental Dreamcamp.
This amazing, warm, and welcoming dance event was created by Mateja Mikulan, an
internationally renowned dancer, choreographer, and teacher of Oriental Dance. Do
you remember the Nawar International Oriental Dance Festival? Well, Mateja was the
main person behind it too and Nawar was one of the biggest Slovenian Oriental
Dance festival between 2010 and 2018.
Why Oriental Dance Dreamcamp and not Nawar anymore? Mateja, the director of the
festival answers: »Nawar finished in 2019 and it seemed to me that at that time it
was a nice ending of a certain era. It left many wonderful memories, even some
bitter ones, we brought excellent teachers and dancers from all over Europe and all
in all, it was one excellent school both for life (at least for me) as well as for many
different dance paths it inspired.« Soon after Nawar, she realized that dance is her
life and began to consider creating a new event. She loves creating events and she
learned a lot from Nawar. »I went into organizing Spring Orinetal Dreamcamp with
much more experience, more thoughtfully and more structured. And although the
organization is always stressful, it is different if you go into it with heart and
knowledge and a good plan.« She stresses the importance of a big support she has
from her fellow dancers, her partner, and her familly.
The first edition of Oriental Dance Dreamcamp (at the time it was still called
Bootcamp) was amazing. The Festival lasted three days. It started on Friday eve,
with a welcome dinner with the main teachers and guests of the festival. Saturday
and Sunday were filled with four workshops and three teachers: one international
(Cathrine Derouet) and two Slovenian teachers (Mateja Mikulan and myself - Natasa
Kocar).
All the participants felt welcomed, and cozy, with a strong social note and a non-
competitive atmosphere. I am sharing a few short statements of festival attendants
and guests from abroad:
»I am totally excited about Oriental Spring Bootcamp. All these small details,
attention, and gifts gave the feeling that the event was created with a lot of love for
Oriental dance«, Karolina Sharqi, a dancer from Croatia.
»The organization of this event was excellent and I am glad that I was able to
perform at the Gala show and feel and breathe a very friendly air, everyone was
happy to be there and share their love for Oriental dance«, said Claudia Maia from
Sardinia.
»Visiting Slovenia for the first time was such a beautiful experience, greatly
enhanced by the exceptional organization of my stay by Mateja Mikulan. The
warm reception and enthusiasm from both Slovenian and international
students made me feel incredibly welcomed and appreciated« said Kathreen
Derouet, the guest star teacher of the first edition.
Mateja Mikulan, the festival director of Oriental Spring Dreamcamp is already
working on the next edition of the festival. The festival is going to take place on the
third week of March 2025 (14th to 16th). The event will start on Friday afternoon
with a guided tour around the Slovenian capital, Ljubljana. Friday eve will be
dedicated to two lectures and a welcome hafla. Saturday and Sunday will be full of
workshops. Three workshops on Saturday during the day and a gala show in the
evening. There will be four more workshops on Sunday and a farewell dinner at the
end.
And who is going to be the main guest star this year?
Amazing Shahrzad from Egypt/USA. Shahrzad is going to teach three workshops
during the weekend and a lecture on Friday eve. On Saturday, she will start with the
Golden Era technique and combinations. She will be sharing her unique way of
recreating "golden era" Raqs Sharqi from the 1940s-1950s starting with detailed
technique breakdowns of arms, hips, and footwork and working into combinations to
a variety of songs. On Sunday Shahrzad will teach two workshops. The first one will
be Baladi. In this workshop, we will be examining baladi hip techniques, how to
separate your baladi style from the sharqi style, and how to connect your
movements with the music in an authentic way. The second Sunday workshop is
called Shimmies and Isolations. Shahrzad will be sharing her favorite isolations and
shimmies for hips, belly, and chest starting by breaking them down into their
smallest technical details and then using them to create challenging drills and
combinations.
Besides Shahrzad, the guest star of the 2025 Spring Oriental Dreamcamp,
participants will be able to learn from four more teachers: three from Slovenia, and
one from Italy. Claudia Maia, an excellent Sardinian dancer and teacher will be
sharing her knowledge of Dabke. Nika Mlakar, a Slovenian superstar, and amazing
dancer who won many international competitions around the world, will be teaching
her unique signature style. Mateja Mikulan, the festival´s director is preparing a
workshop called From the Gulf. Participants will dive into Khaleegy and a few other
dances of the Arabic Peninsula. And there will be me (the author of this article),
Natasa Kocar with my Back to Basics workshop, where we will repeat the basics of
our beautiful Raks Sharqi and upgrade them, trying to find our dance expression
within.
Oriental Spring Dreamcamp always offers so much more than just workshops,
lectures, and shows. There is a space and time for dancers to chat, exchange their
experiences, and hang out in a relaxed and friendly way. I hope to see you there!
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