Dubstep + belly dance

Trisha

New member
hah, i'm still here :D And I have read all your posts and I am very grateful for your opinion. At the start I just wanted to see more opinions about what Jane said, so I can get a bit wider view about that naming things issue, I guess that's just the way I do things - observing comes first :)
About those terms, I would say that it is, of course, important to not to forget about roots, but you know, times change and we all change along it, besides it doesn't matter if we put these new dance styles under belly dance or find a new term for it, as long as the meaning is the same. Well, everything I could say is already said by animadanza :)
Oh, and yes, I might be a little scared of jumping into discussion as I am not so good at English, so I can't express myself as much as I want
 

nightdancer

New member
"I also don't think I'd dance at a function called "exotic dance" anything. Exotic dance in my area implies dancing in underwear. I have issues with the name of the performance on several levels, it's in very poor taste."

Jane,

I thought the same thing, and added "...and who in the world would take children to something labeled 'exotic dance'?"

I checked out the website, and it's a language issue. The festival is a summer festival in Latvia. While there may be some performances of questionable taste, I doubt that it's anything on the same track that we were thinking.

About Us / International Exotic Dance Festival Caravan

The basic description is Sphere of activity of the theatre is very broad – this is not only organization of ferial and theatric programs, but also dance school for children and adults, fests scripts development and realization, creation of the decoration and stage design services, animation for events and parties!
 

nightdancer

New member
Trisha,

Your English is quite good and it's very easy to understand you. As I've said before, it takes a native speaker to really wreck it. Keep posting, you're doing well. :)
 

Trisha

New member
"I also don't think I'd dance at a function called "exotic dance" anything. Exotic dance in my area implies dancing in underwear. I have issues with the name of the performance on several levels, it's in very poor taste."

Jane,

I thought the same thing, and added "...and who in the world would take children to something labeled 'exotic dance'?"

I checked out the website, and it's a language issue. The festival is a summer festival in Latvia. While there may be some performances of questionable taste, I doubt that it's anything on the same track that we were thinking.

That's right, by exotic dance it is meant something not common, and all that is related to or comes from the East is usually called exotic here.
Thanks for the encouragement, nightdancer! :)
 
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Jane

New member
Lost in translation :lol: Exotic dance literally does mean dance from somewhere else, or some thing unusual. In the United States it has an underlying meaning of "naughty dance". Your English is great!
 

Kashmir

New member
About those terms, I would say that it is, of course, important to not to forget about roots, but you know, times change and we all change along it, besides it doesn't matter if we put these new dance styles under belly dance or find a new term for it, as long as the meaning is the same.
Okay - generally your English is very good (good idea to fill in your country on your profile and people will cut you more slack - and understand better (I hope) where you are coming from) - but this confuses me. If you put new dances under the belly dance label the meaning is not the same. Belly dance is ..... belly dance. If you add stuff that doesn't belong is may cease to be belly dance (I'm using the most common term for the dance well aware that many people dislike the term). If you want to call Salsa "belly dance" does that then mean Salsa is belly dance? Because that is what your sentence says. Does that mean we can now call belly dance "Salsa" and start teaching Salsa - after all it uses hips?

The reason why this is ridiculous is because the terms (belly dance - or Salsa or Irish Step) imply movement vocab with music and culture. Remove the music and culture and the movement vocab is irrelevant. (I used a sports analogy once before in why-did-i-get-jumped-talking-about-shakira.html#post193509)

Similarly with terms like "exotic dance" - yes, "exotic" on its own means "introduced from abroad, strange" but add "dance" and it means "strip-tease" (Oxford Dictionary)

Sorry, this is not Alice in Wonderland and you cannot make a word mean whatever you want it to mean. Choosing the right words can make a big difference to how your communication is received.
 

Shanazel

Moderator
I'll just put an arrow ^ pointing to Kashmir's last comments since she said essentially what I planned to say.

Your English is fine, Trisha, and it will improve with use on the forum. Where do you live?
 

khanjar

New member
Cool, I love it, and that is the second time I have come across Dubstep this week, the first time was when I was showing a Zambian friend the latest music I had found of which I have thought of the movement to it already, because it inspires it, to me at least anyway. My Zambian friend called it 'like' Dubstep and the music is Rachid Taha's; Barra Barra ;

rachid taha - barra barra - YouTube

Edited to add, searching the tube, I notice belly dancers are already dancing to it, but why swords, when the song I believe is an anti war song ?
 
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mahsati_janan

New member
Cool, I love it, and that is the second time I have come across Dubstep this week, the first time was when I was showing a Zambian friend the latest music I had found of which I have thought of the movement to it already, because it inspires it, to me at least anyway. My Zambian friend called it 'like' Dubstep and the music is Rachid Taha's; Barra Barra ;

rachid taha - barra barra - YouTube

Edited to add, searching the tube, I notice belly dancers are already dancing to it, but why swords, when the song I believe is an anti war song ?

Technically, Barra Barra is a very deep/painful anti-war song. I have a translation I found on tribe at one point here:

BARRA BARRA:
barra = out side
....sadness and dislike
....sadness sadness there is no safe
....thirst and the people unlucky
....forbiddingness and unfair and servitude
....the valleyes have been dry and the seas have been finished
....stars have been switched off ,and the sun finished
....there is no fine ,happy,and flwoers
....there is no birds sound ,the birds pause in singing
....there is no light just the dark
....obyes there is no nice
....the time go on ,and there is nothing forbiddend
....sadness and right and the blood flew
....just the walls r standing up
....the scare and the people r silent
.........the same repite again in the song.

The song is also relatively old. I think it came out around 10 years ago if I am remembering correctly. I always find it an odd choice for people to use in performance, but I can see why people find it attractive. I would not personally perform to it or similar songs, but no judgment on those who do. It just isn't something I am comfortable with myself.
 

Sophia Maria

New member
Edited to add, searching the tube, I notice belly dancers are already dancing to it, but why swords, when the song I believe is an anti war song ?

I had the same problem--I've known the song for a very long time, a couple years ago I looked up the lyrics so I could know what it was about. It's very sad, but also somewhat political. I'm a fan of Rachid Taha but I've watched interviews with him so I know he frequently tries to send a political message in his songs. That's why even if I find one of his songs catchy I wouldn't perform to one. For example, Voila Voila (about racism) or Menfi (about a political prisoner during the French occupation of Algeria, the lyrics describe prison life and being brought before the tribunal).

Again, know what you are dancing...there is so much history you must respect...
 

khanjar

New member
Algerian, so Rai, yet a lot of Rai is danced to, but then many musicians put their politics into their music, many western musicians even, as that was what my understanding of what songs are; communication, the artist communicating to others via their music. But then dance is communication too.
 

Jane

New member
It's a good thing to do a socially challenging or controversial piece on purpose, it's a bad thing to do it by accident.
 

peter.200285

New member
I like this dance and just want to one thing, people love and enjoy new things, so keep it up. What you people think, am i right?
 

Rania

New member
Technically, Barra Barra is a very deep/painful anti-war song. I have a translation I found on tribe at one point here:

Barra Barra, is an amazing song.

As far as belly-step lol belly dance and dub step, i could imagine it being done with tribal fusion. Correct me if Im wrong.
 

Afrit

New member
I like this dance and just want to one thing, people love and enjoy new things, so keep it up. What you people think, am i right?
No - I love this dance. And it is belly dance that I love - that is dance that can be recognized as belly dance to belly dance music. I would be extremely disappointed to attend something advertised as "belly dance" and get dubstep - no matter how good the dancing is - it isn't belly dance.
 
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