IsmailaGodHasHeard
New member
I do not want to make anyone mad.
Please don't think me rude for asking, but why on earth would you want to learn floorwork if you're so concerned about modesty that it affects your costume choice?
I personally don't teach OR perform floorwork because I feel it ties in too quickly to the bellydancer=hooker trope.
Just... ask? I mean, don't blurt it out in the middle of class, but pull her aside before or after class, or email her, and let her know you'd love to learn floorwork more often. This isn't *telling* her what to do, but letting her know what's on your mind and planting a seed. Then she can decide whether or not to go along with your suggestion.
Most teachers who are worth their salt would be thrilled to know their students have specific topics of interest. Maybe this particular topic isn't a part of her expertise so she may not be able to offer much of it, but you don't have anything to lose by letting her know you are interested.
Just ask. However, ... once when I decided to add some floorwork into my classes I had a mutiny. They all thought it was a great idea - until we had to do it. None of my students had the fitness to repeatedly lower and raise themselves - let alone doing anything "exciting". Floorwork takes strong quads, abs and glutes, reasonable flexibility, and good knees and hips and only then can you start layering in the control for graceful presentation.
Just ask. However, ... once when I decided to add some floorwork into my classes I had a mutiny. They all thought it was a great idea - until we had to do it. None of my students had the fitness to repeatedly lower and raise themselves - let alone doing anything "exciting". Floorwork takes strong quads, abs and glutes, reasonable flexibility, and good knees and hips and only then can you start layering in the control for graceful presentation.
Maybe this particular topic isn't a part of her expertise so she may not be able to offer much of it,
Floorwork in a mixed level class can be a nightmare. It takes a while to build up the strength for even the most basic of movements, and the teacher has to rely upon the students to practice and condition routinely AT HOME, which some will and some won't. For safety reasons, a lot of ACE and AFAA certified instructors won't even attempt teaching floorwork in their once-weekly classes. It's too easy for students to get hurt.
I haven't yet met an Egyptian style instructor who put the focus on floorwork. So if your teacher is primarily teaching Egyptian, don't count on her having a thorough knowledge enough of it to teach it -- or if she feels it's not an integral part of the dance, she may not want to spend the class time addressing it. Private lessons may be an option, or she may refer you to videos or another instructor.
The only floorwork I've done with Egyptian teachers has been in folkloric styles rather than Orientale - khaleegy, shammadan, awalim. It is quite different from what I think of as American floorwork - ie sometimes it is just a descent to the floor for a short time then back up (the exception being Aida's awalim bum shuffle shimmy)Is floorwork commonly taught in the Egyptian style? I thought that, given it's still banned in Egypt, it would not be a particularly prominent aspect of the style
The only floorwork I've done with Egyptian teachers has been in folkloric styles rather than Orientale - khaleegy, shammadan, awalim.
Floorwork in a mixed level class can be a nightmare. It takes a while to build up the strength for even the most basic of movements, and the teacher has to rely upon the students to practice and condition routinely AT HOME, which some will and some won't. For safety reasons, a lot of ACE and AFAA certified instructors won't even attempt teaching floorwork in their once-weekly classes. It's too easy for students to get hurt.
I haven't yet met an Egyptian style instructor who put the focus on floorwork. So if your teacher is primarily teaching Egyptian, don't count on her having a thorough knowledge enough of it to teach it -- or if she feels it's not an integral part of the dance, she may not want to spend the class time addressing it. Private lessons may be an option, or she may refer you to videos or another instructor.
Yes. Not all teachers are qualified to teach everything, and certain things don't work well in certain classes as you and others above have pointed out.
Correct me if I'm wrong, Aziyade. Floorwork in Egyptian style is like veil work, right? Neither are a part of authentic Egyptian, but when an Egyptian dancer does either one, it's only for a brief moment?
Correct me if I'm wrong, Aziyade. Floorwork in Egyptian style is like veil work, right? Neither are a part of authentic Egyptian, but when an Egyptian dancer does either one, it's only for a brief moment?
Please don't think me rude for asking, but why on earth would you want to learn floorwork if you're so concerned about modesty that it affects your costume choice?
I personally don't teach OR perform floorwork because I feel it ties in too quickly to the bellydancer=hooker trope.
Correct me if I'm wrong, Aziyade. Floorwork in Egyptian style is like veil work, right? Neither are a part of authentic Egyptian, but when an Egyptian dancer does either one, it's only for a brief moment?
Basically, yeah I think so -- but also, there's what was done THEN and what was done NOW. My own teacher is quite the veil fanatic and uses it a LOT -- a lot more than you ever saw Egyptians using in the 90s. I haven't seen any of the Raqia generation (or her students) take to veil quite so much, and I don't see the Aida group pushing it. But that's just my limited observation.
I think SOME floorwork (as evidenced by shamadan and the awalim stuff -- and old Fifi Abdo video - lol) is certainly authentic to Egyptian dance, but like other people have said, the kind of floorwork I personally think of (cause I'm American) is the American style, where the dancer would wear the big circle skirt and could literally crawl around the floor, unhindered by her costume. The modern Egyptian costuming really doesn't allow for that kind of movement -- and it does seem to be "looked down upon" by many of the Egyptian instructors I've worked with. But not all.
Is it still illegal? I don't know -- but floorwork requires a venue that can really show that off, like an elevated stage, and most of the performance video coming from Egypt now does not show a venue where floorwork would be appreciated.
There were a lot of things that were "illegal" in Egypt at one time or another, but various famous dancers were able to get away with. Morocco's location videos show I think Aza Sharif doing a whole routine based on the "dance hall girl" and she is able to get away with more because she's playing a character. Technically Dina's belly chain constituted a covered navel -- simply because she was Dina. lol.
Floor work used to be part of authentic Egyptian style, but it was banned in the 1950's when the government was trying to clean up the nightclubs.