Is fusion dancing bad, or is is good as long as I am honest about it?

[IsisAQ]

Very true. I understand the part about hiring and even a spectators expectations. But in those cases the venue should audition the dancers first to make sure their performance is appropriate. I also agree that like with anything you take on, you should learn the fundamentals so you have a strong foundation and better knowledge of the dance. But I still think sometimes people may have a difficult time accepting the evolution of art, especially if it's very different than what they know.

Sherri Tribal Fusion Bellydance - YouTube

I adore this piece by Sherri Wheatley but it appears to be highly fused with hip hop/locking. Still she has strong technique and the belly moves are there. So do you guy consider it belly dance? I do. But again I'm new so excuse my greenness. :redface:

 

[Ariadne]

IMHO it's a good example of Tribal Fusion but it's one of those cases where she is dancing well in spite of the music and not because of it. I'm going to quote Tempest again if I may.


Tempest's Teapot: Yes you can, but SHOULD you? : Music

The songs definitely made me feel something - I could definitely move with them and translate the energy and feel of the song through my body, but the movement language it required was definitely not bellydance.
...
Other pieces, I am just dumbfounded at how I thought I could bellydance to it in the first place - danceable, yes, bellydanceable, not so much, or at all.

In your video example Sherri Wheatley dances beautifully and in time to the music but she doesn't express the music. Dance, any dance, is meant to be an expression or extension of the music and when they don't match it falls flat. That same performance to music with the right tempo and styling for BD would have been magical instead of just "strong technique" with some music thrown in.

 

[Empyreus]

That makes perfect sense. I wonder if there is other music out there, similar to beats antique where there is an infusion of ME elements combined with a modern eclectic approach?

 

[Ariadne]

You might like Natacha Atlas, she does a wide variety of world fusion music.

Natacha Atlas (official site) | Free Music, Tour Dates, Photos, Videos

 

[Yame]

That makes perfect sense. I wonder if there is other music out there, similar to beats antique where there is an infusion of ME elements combined with a modern eclectic approach?

There are a lot of bands that are a fusion of Middle Eastern elements with something else. A lot of fusion dancers use music by such bands, like Djinn, Beatbox Guitar, Copal, Ishtar, Raquy and the Cavemen, etc. These are all bands that are a part of the belly dance community (play at belly dance events, have their CDs sold there, etc). Some sound more Middle Eastern than others... most of them are a bit far off, but it's good music.

Outside the belly dance community there are plenty of bands that fuse Middle Eastern elements, too. After all, the Middle East is a big place and there are people there who listen to all kinds of music and who make all kinds of music there. There is rock, there is metal, there is techno and rap and everything in between... and sometimes they might choose to throw in some nods to their own culture. I don't know about other genres of music because I don't listen to them, but I know a few Middle Eastern rock and metal bands. Some just sound like regular rock and regular metal bands, but others will sometimes feature Middle Eastern instruments or rhythms or melodies or cover well-known classics and folk songs.