Bellydancing on chairs and table tops

[janaki]

Few months ago we had a famous bellydancer/instructor visiting from USA. In her honour we organised a performance in a cosy, upscale restaurent. In the first part of her performance, she pulled a chair near a table and she danced whole drum solo part on the chair. She did the same in the second part when she was doing the Tribaret (cabaret + tribal) sorry but:lol::lol::lol:. This was the reaction we got here in Hong Kong;

1.Most of the bellydancers/ bellydancing enthusiatics thought it made the dance and the dancer looked cheapish.

2. People that never saw bellydance before, droooled by the buckets!!!

3. Many men asked me if she is nightclub/exotic dancer. I thought this group were suppose to drool by the buckets

I thought it was not necessary to get up on the chair to show people how good you dance. ( I think this is waht she was trying to pull but I am not sure though).

What do you think??? Have you seen belly dancers get up and dance on chairs and table tops? Do you think this will make the dance and dancer not professional???

Love to hear your comments.

 

[Ariella]

It probably depends on the setting. If she's in a place where it's really really hard to see her, jumping on a chair to do a drum solo could be a good idea.

You can probably tell her motives from the way she danced. Was she just doing the drum solo from someplace high? Was she putting her leg around the chair and grinding with it? Would her drum solo have been different had she been standing on the ground?

 

[Shanazel]

People dance on everything from stages to crystal goblets, but dancing on restaurant chairs and tables has a "look at me, I'm more than slightly tipsy" aspect to it (thanks to old movies), and goes better with lampshades on the head than with belly dance.

 

[Lydia]

I dont know ...in the middle east it is very normal...even in weddings where dancers perform all the relativs will clear tables and beg you to dance on top of the table sometimes we go from table to table like that for 15 minutes...like in the maksoum part.....people love it...like its special that you picked that table and they are very proud that you danced on there table....sometimes this weddings have 2 or 3 tousand people so perhaps they like it to see better i dont know...even when it is a only lady wedding still they ask pleaeaeaese come on our table.....?????????????? my 2 cents Lydia

 

[Amulya]

I don't know how it is now, but it used to be common in restaurants in Holland as well that people asked dancers to dance on the table. Depending on the audience the dancer does it, or not, if it's a sleazy audience.

 

[Reen.Blom]

I agree that depends on what a dancer puts in it! It it looked sleazy then what more can you say???

 

[slinks]

that leaves me with not much to say .. I agree with all of the below !!

It probably depends on the setting. If she's in a place where it's really really hard to see her, jumping on a chair to do a drum solo could be a good idea.

and thanks to the ol' movies but prooves you're having a good time

People dance on everything from stages to crystal goblets, but dancing on restaurant chairs and tables has a "look at me, I'm more than slightly tipsy" aspect to it (thanks to old movies), and goes better with lampshades on the head than with belly dance.

If the atmosphere is all the rage and fun

...even in weddings where dancers perform all the relativs will clear tables and beg you to dance on top of the table sometimes we go from table to table like that for 15 minutes...like its special that you picked that table and they are very proud that you danced on there table...even when it is a only lady wedding still they ask pleaeaeaese come on our table.....?????????????? my 2 cents Lydia

So then you have if it looks sleazy

I agree that depends on what a dancer puts in it! It it looked sleazy then what more can you say???

So all in all if every one had fun and the dancer was a genuine dancer and no sleaze dance was danced .. I think that's all part of it, particually if it was so every-one could see .. and a drum dance is usually danced in one spot so yeah a chair is as good a place as any part of the floor to dance :clap: ...

 

[Yshka]

Hi, I kind of agree with all of you who have said it depends on the setting. I've seen dancers get up on chairs and/or tables as well here in the netherlands, and it doesn't always have to do with sleazyness, though IMHO I feel it does make a dancer look a bit cheap'ish.
I cannot dance on a table due to this feeling (that plus having a weird fear for even the smallest heights). I wouldn't ever make myself or the dance look cheap/sleazy, but I think as Lydia said in the Middle East it's quite normal, and honestly, I have danced on a chair before in ME/Turkish restaurants. Sometimes because people feel it is, as Lydia said, special for you to dance at people's table (I've noticed that Turkish people encourage you to get on the table, but usually don't understand why I don't do it), or just in a place that had practically no space to dance or move around in (and by dancing I mean really DANCING, wearing a non-see-through skirt, shorts underneath, and not grinding with my legs too far apart).

If situation calls, I think dancing on a chair with the appropriate approach CAN be alright. Though if I don't have to, I'd rather not do it.

 

[Shanazel]

One of the things I really value about this forum is reading aboutworldwide customs. What is slightly tawdry in one location is the height of class in another!

 

[Safran]

Yes, it very much depends... On whether the dancer does it just to show off or just to enjoy him/herself... whether they're doing it on their own or encouraging other to join (on or off the table) ... whether they are graceful or you constantly have to fear about wine glasses being broken and the dancer slipping over a tzatziki

 

[Lydia]

yes you have to make sure you look decent wheN doing that so no piekebooo LOL BUT I AM VEEEEEEEEERRYYYYY DECENT ALWAYS ON STAGE ...LOL....:dance::dance: love you al .......Lydia

 

[Tarik Sultan]

I dont know ...in the middle east it is very normal...even in weddings where dancers perform all the relativs will clear tables and beg you to dance on top of the table sometimes we go from table to table like that for 15 minutes...like in the maksoum part.....people love it...like its special that you picked that table and they are very proud that you danced on there table....sometimes this weddings have 2 or 3 tousand people so perhaps they like it to see better i dont know...even when it is a only lady wedding still they ask pleaeaeaese come on our table.....?????????????? my 2 cents Lydia

Exactly. That's my experience dancing in Egyptian and other Middle Eastern clubs and parties. Its a way of sharing with your audience. Remember that this dance is based on the social dancing, so things like this are connecting back to the informal roots of the dance where the audience and dancer are more intimate, and there's a symbiotic exchange of energy. Audience and dancer giving and receiving the energy and celebration. That's it, its really in a spirit of celebration and sharing with the audience.

 

[chryssanthi sahar]

As Lydia said, it is very normal in Middle East to dance on tables, especially at weddings. Especially if you are dancing at Turkish weddings, you have to go on the tables, if the audience is asking you to do so. If you don't, you will offend them and they won't understand why you don't want to do it.
In Greece it is very normal to dance on tables, not only for a belly dancer, but also for the normal people who go out to amuse themselves If you go to any night club in Athens, you'll see lots of people getting on tables and dancing (especially because the last years they don't have any dance floors in the bouzoukia clubs in Athens anymore:lol
But although it is normal for me as a Greek and as an dancer who is very experienced with dancing at Turkish, Arabian and generally Middle Eastern haflas to dance on tables and chairs, I would never step on a table or chair, if I have other than Middle Eastern (or Greek/Balkan) audience. And even at M.E. events I usually go on tables, only if the audience asks me for it.
Janaki, good that you started this thread:clap:. Now I know, what NOT TO DO, when I'll come to Hong Kong:lol:

 

[Hyacinth]

I don't think there's anything wrong with dancing on tables. I've done it at several turkish parties. Plus, I love to get the audience to stand on their chairs and dance!

 

[Aniseteph]

I think Maariku made an important point. Dancing on tables and chairs while getting the audience up and joining in lets everyone see the dancer and stay involved in the action. Standing on a chair in front of a passive audience just for the sake of it - I can see how that might be a bit . Or :shok:.

 

[flutter]

i would not be offended

I too understand this as a way to show how much fun you are having, your appreciation for a dancer, or a way to sieze the day/night.This happens a lot at a crowded club I perfom at. I also perform at a casino where there is plenty of room and still get requests to dance on chairs or tables. Its a compliment but I see it more as thier way of saying LOOK WE HAVE THE BELLY DANCER (at the casino).
Flutter

 

[perfumeshop]

I find there are sleazy and there are non sleazy belly dancers and the non sleazy dancers make dancing on tables seem absolutely normal. More people can see them and share their dance and the sleazy ones..say no more.

 

[Maria_Aya]

Yes, it very much depends... On whether the dancer does it just to show off or just to enjoy him/herself... whether they're doing it on their own or encouraging other to join (on or off the table) ... whether they are graceful or you constantly have to fear about wine glasses being broken and the dancer slipping over a tzatziki

And as tzatziki is mainly a greek recipe, yessssssssss we do dance on table's and chairs when we go out as customers, dancing greek tsifteteli, but watching a bellydancer doing it... well its not in our culture, yes cheaps a bit the dance.
So when i'm out as a customer and plays my fav song i'm on the top of the table lol, as a bellydancer NEVER.

Maria Aya

p.s. and if i do so, i got to wear pants lol