Is Ballet Helpful

Duvet

Member
I often see professional bellydancers who I know, or guess from their performance, have ballet training. Does it help in the 'business', or can it get in the way of doing more earthy folkloric dances?

Sometimes I feel a dance looks too elitist or unattainable because of the formal dance trained background. I suspect that this is my own lack of confidence, rather than an objective view. I know ballet influenced the Reda Troupe and the cabaret style, and that ballet, tap and jazz are often pursuits of the young, who then grow up to participate in other dance forms. So is ballet seen as necessary for some people, and for that reason seen as an unfortunate lack in those who don't have that training?
 

Kashmir

New member
I often see professional bellydancers who I know, or guess from their performance, have ballet training. Does it help in the 'business', or can it get in the way of doing more earthy folkloric dances?

Sometimes I feel a dance looks too elitist or unattainable because of the formal dance trained background. I suspect that this is my own lack of confidence, rather than an objective view. I know ballet influenced the Reda Troupe and the cabaret style, and that ballet, tap and jazz are often pursuits of the young, who then grow up to participate in other dance forms. So is ballet seen as necessary for some people, and for that reason seen as an unfortunate lack in those who don't have that training?
If you want your performer's licence in Egypt I'm told it's a must :D

Denise Enan, started ballet at 4 - and 9 years later started folkloric. She continued taking ballet classes for years after that - but she has a very earthy feel when she does folklore. In fact even her Orientale, while elegant, is grounded.

So, it isn't the ballet that is the problem but the bleed through. A student of mine with lots of formal dance training will often object to this or that because it "doesn't look right" - actually it does for raqs sharqi but not for ballet. So you need to take the useful bits and toss those that doen't fit.

What is useful? Graceful arms, ability to use space and know where you are on stage, a few "moves" used rarely in some forms of Orientale (arabesques and pirouttes for instance), footwork patterns used in Reda & Firqa Kawmiyya style folkloric, brain development to help learn choreography, understanding of the need to practice!

Is it essential? Not at all.
 

Yame

New member
It's not always necessary but it's definitely helpful. It depends on who you are and what you need in your dancing. For someone who started belly dance (or almost any dance) as an adult, with no prior dance background, who has little coordination, bad lines and arms, etc, but who wants to belly dance professionally, could use an adult ballet class as a shortcut towards improving these things. They can be improved upon without ballet, but a ballet class is probably the quickest shortcut.
 

Aniseteph

New member
I started belly dancing in my forties and I think ballet dance when I was a child definitely helped. I'd quit by the time I was in my early teens but had a few years of classes, more serious than the skipping about playing fairies type, and it's got engrained way down in my muscle memory.

Obviously the strength and flexibility is not what it was :)rolleyes:), but I think it's left me with more body awareness and sense of poise and control than I would have had otherwise. And very likely musicality.

I completely agree about the bleed through though. It links in with the other thread about picking a style for me - it's fine to be learning more than one style of any dance, but you have to be aware enough of the differences to stop them contaminating each other along the way.
 
Top