History and teaching

[Duvet]

How often do you bring in the subject of history when you are teaching bellydance? Not your own personal history, but the theories about bellydance origins and development, and the known details about historical or cultural changes, dancers or promoters?

Do you think it should be left out entirely (this is a dance class not a educational session) or do you think its important to know something about the dance background? If you do incorporate it, is it as an occasional aside in response to student questions or as throw away comments, or do you devote a formal set time to talk about it, or do you give a few notes out with weblinks that students can investigate further if they want to.

Is there a tendency for teachers who do include history as an important part of the dance 'knowledge' to be pushing their own agendas? - 'x' is a goddess dance and I'm being really spiritual; I'm the one who does the purest form of 'y'; those people who dance 'q' don't know the truth like what I'm telling you; etc...?

Teachers will and do run classes however they want to, and however works best for the clientele they want or manage to keep. Few of my teachers gave me any historical information that I found plausible to believe, so maybe its best just to keep stum, but if you do make a comment to be clear that its your own opinion/perspective which might not agree with what others say and the student is best advised to do their own research and make their own minds up about it.

 

[Daimona]

Whenever I've been teaching, I've brought up the subject.


Because if you don't bring it up, you'll end up with students who mix and (mis)match everything because they don't know what it really is about and the prejudice, myths and wishtory will keep on living. In my experience students seeking true knowledge outside (dance) classes are few (at least before they've reached a certain level), but if I tell a little about the history while we are dancing and drilling, they have a better place to start searching for themselves as well as search in the right directions if they are interested in learning more. This being said, I do like a good fusion, but as many have said before me - you need to know the boundaries before you can break them successfully.


Yes, I admit have brought misknowledge to a few many, many years ago when I really was a baby dancer because I didn't know better myself (not many sources around when I started apart from my first teacher and I wasn't really mature enough for teaching when I started), but at least I've done my best since then as I've learnt more and more myself (including referencing my sources in case I've misunderstood anything).

Occasionally I've set up lectures and video sessions, but I've mostly done it in class while dancing. If you put in a few minutes every class, you'll come quite far during a term. Other than that I've organized various events locally such as more lectures with various topics given by various people, studying performance videos, how to make costumes etc as well as recommending books, videos and DVDs as well as websites, having the local library to buy books and good instructional DVDs and so on.


My personal agenda is rather clear. Being a scientist in my mundane and grown-up life, I prefer facts over myths and wishtory. Fantasy and wishtory makes bad science.
1. Know what you know and what you don't know.
2. Know your sources, make references and know where to get the knowledge you don't know.

 

[Shanazel]

I include history in a brief introduction for beginning dancers and bring it up as needed when someone drags in a serious need-to-know-better comment or video. Got a student right now who is bent on relating it to goddess worship but he's about to have to give in and admit there is no evidence for the same.

 

[Roshanna]

When I'm teaching (I'm taking a bit of a sabbatical at the moment), I include historical and cultural background as I go along, like a 'drip drip' of information. Most of the time it'll be more recent history, e.g. mentioning variations on a movement that were popular in a certain era, discussing the evolution of a particular style, or mentioning the great dancers of the 20th century. However, I also try to constantly reinforce the point that it's a social/folk dance of everyday people (with a more elaborate professional version), rooted in people's real lives, in the hope that this will inoculate my students against falling for any of the more fanciful origin myths.

 

[Darshiva]

I usually have it as part of the after class chatter. I provide books & other resources to my (in-person) students and I provide links to online resources in the class groups online. Some students are interested, some students aren't. I see no point in pushing the issue although I do always correct wishtory where I have better research, regardless of how interested a student is in the truth.

 

[Kashmir]

In my beginner course I set aside 15 minutes of the 75 for history and cultural background; my studio includes posters showing major historical dancers, maps, traditional clothing and costumes, timelines etc - along with orientalist paintings and contemporary posters. I also show videos and give educational hand outs. I firmly believe it is never to early to get accurate information.

In other classes I occasionally do short sessions on traditional dance - context, history, moves, music, and costuming. But mostly information is dropped in as a few sentences here or there.

Outside dance classes I have given lectures (ranging from 1-6 hours) throughout New Zealand. Sadly most people would rather indulge in fantasies about carefree gypsies, tribes of matrilineal women, or confuse belly dance with burlesque than look at facts.

 

[Zumarrad]

A dance class IS an educational session. I like to incorporate bits and pieces of information as and when they arise. You teach a particular step/rhythm/whatever, you give it some context.

 

[Duvet]

Thanks for your answers. I'm actually surprised so many do include history as an important aspect of the dance classes.

 

[Shanazel]

Why does that surprise you?

 

[Roshanna]

Thanks for your answers. I'm actually surprised so many do include history as an important aspect of the dance classes.

We are probably an unrepresentative sample, by virtue of being obsessive enough about dance to actually be on forums discussing it

 

[Shanazel]

Unrepresentative but cute and cuddly.

 

[Duvet]

Why does that surprise you?

Probably because it goes against most of my experience with bellydance teachers.

Does presenting the history change how bellydance is meant to be experienced? Is there some sense that it helps the student 'think into' the role of being a more 'authentic' bellydancer - providing context, motivation and method? Or does it enhance the exoticness of the dance by giving it a past (as a dance of 'the other' its given an-other place, and an-other time to exist in)?

 

[Shanazel]

I include belly dance history because it's interesting and relevant- the same reasons I include history when teaching ethnic embroidery or endangered species ecology. The effect of being presented with historical information likely varies from person to person, with one student totally blanking it out from boredom to another painstakingly recreating dances from films made in the so-called Golden Era.

 

[Roshanna]

Does presenting the history change how bellydance is meant to be experienced? Is there some sense that it helps the student 'think into' the role of being a more 'authentic' bellydancer - providing context, motivation and method? Or does it enhance the exoticness of the dance by giving it a past (as a dance of 'the other' its given an-other place, and an-other time to exist in)?

I see teaching history and cultural context as giving credit where it is due. Both to creative pioneers of dance and music, and to Middle Eastern cultures in a more general sense.

What I want for my students is for them to see themselves as participating in a complex continuous tradition, which has been developed by real people over a long period of time, and which is still alive today independently of us. I want them to acknowledge, respect and appreciate the contributions of those who came before, and not to write them out of history by resorting to fantasies. I want them to understand and respect the various roles the dance has had in people's lives, in the past and today, and to keep this as a reference point for their own dance.

 

[Duvet]

Thank you for your responses.