It’s a Saturday night and I have just been at Tarboosh, a wonderful Lebanese restaurant in Penshurst Street, Willoughy. The ‘house’ was full . . . mostly groups of women having a great time . . . no idea where the men are tonight . . . probably being incredibly boring, staying at home watching the footie on tele . . . The drink and the food, glorious Lebanese delights, kept arriving.

Tonight it was a show as well as dinner. Onto the makeshift shift stage at the front came an exotic young woman, Farah, who went on to perform her belly dancing show for the patrons. Everyone was entranced as she works the room, getting young and old up and dancing.  It was easy to see that Farah was deriving a lot of pleasure from the experience.

As prearranged, she came and joined me after to share a meal and to tell me some of her story.

Our chat was as exciting and suprising as her performance. She came across as a very vibrant woman who has ‘packed’ a lot into her life.

Originally from Trinidad in the Carribean, she went to the States after graduating and completed a degree in Biology in the Ivy League at Columbia University.

It was whilst she was a student at Columbia, some ten years ago, that she took up bellydancing for exercise, which has now florished into a career that sees her traveling around Sydney to different venues. Some nights she can perform up to five shows.

Farah spoke about the original and meaning of bellydancing- ‘The term bellydance is a misnomer. The term ‘bellydance’ actually does not mean a dancer requires a belly. The artform was born in the Middle East as a fertility dance. Women danced to celebrate a woman’s pregnancy.’

Traveling is one of Farah’s grand passions. She is well traveled, including Europe and the Middle East, and as a matter of course she always takes her dancing accoutrements with her.

Farah shared some wonderful stories. She told how she was traveling solo in Tuscany in Italy when she decided to dine at an intimate local restaurant. The staff were a little shocked to see an attractive young woman dining alone.

A waiter brought a glass of wine over to her. No wallflower, Farah showed him some photos of her dancing. He insisted that she perform a routine for her. Farah slipped out the back to put on her gear and the restaurant was treated to an impromptu performance.

Farah said that it turned into a night out of a Hollywood movie . . . the patrons and the staff, including the manager and the chefs, came up and chatted to her.

The clock was ticking fast and Farah said that she would have to head off soon to her next gig. She did have another great story to tell.

I think it would be a reasonable enough thing to say that there aren’t too many bellydancers currently performing in Sydney who are qualified as lawyers. Farah was admitted to the Supreme Court in February this year. In the months before qualifying she worked as a Paralegal for a leading law firm in Circular Quay.

The firm had a happy hour every Friday night. Some of her colleagues in the firm had been making requests for her to put on her show for the office. One Friday night before Christmas she agreed.

Another Hollywood moment . . . The office was transfixed by her routine and impromptu dancing started around the office.

The following Monday morning she was typing away at her desk when the firm’s senior partner came up to her desk and started trying to do some of the moves. They both had a good laugh.

Farah said she was putting her law career on hold for the moment. ‘It’s very dry.’ She might come back to it later if she needs to.

‘I have to go now’, and with this, Farah signed off. She bid her farewells and flew off to her next engagement.

One impressive lady . . . Among her other talents she is also a painter and a classically trained piano player. She also  fancies herself as a chef and loves to host dinner parties.  ‘One of the things that I am thinking I might do in the future is open a restaurant.’

I took my time driving back home, over the Bridge, taking in Sydney’s beautiful nightscape. Writing about people in the entertainment industry can be an unsatisfying experience. This was a pleasure.

Farah’s official website is https://www.farahdance.com/