Churt WI

Report on February Monthly Meeting

There was a very good turnout of members for our latest monthly meeting, attracted perhaps by the opportunity to learn about belly dancing. Jill Powell, President, welcomed everyone, including four new members who have joined in 2010 - a good start to the New Year.

Future plans include the next WI walk on 23^rd February (meet at 10am at the Church Green). We have applied for tickets for the Annual Council Meeting in Dorking, on 22^nd March, when the speaker will be Simon Weston. An outing is planned in April to the Rural Life Centre in Tilford.

Our speaker was Beatrice Curtis, who entertained us with ‘The Story of Belly Dancing’, a traditional dance form which is popular in most of the Middle Eastern countries and had its heyday in the 1930’s. Her presentation started with a display of belly dancing, in the Egyptian style, remarkably energetic and complex. Then it was our turn! She taught us some of the basic steps and movements, which we were then able to put together to form a short dance – the highlight was the ‘shimmying’ (ask a WI member to explain … !) We not only learnt how perform a dance, but also a lot about the history, traditions, costumes and music. It was fascinating and great fun.

Afterwards we enjoyed a sumptuous tea, and time to socialise. Our raffle raised £50 for the Haiti earthquake appeal. The next meeting is on 9^th March at 2.30pm in the Village Hall, featuring ‘Wild India’ by Audrey Olley. Visitors are always welcome.