Princess Farhana

da Sage

New member
I am not sure what your comment is. Good or bad?

Well, the documentary itself seems like it'll be either painfully embarrassing or outrageously amusing to watch. Everyone who knows Princess Farhana, knows she does both burlesque and bellydance, but if Joe Public watches this movie, I think he's likely to get the two entertainments mixed up.

Verdict? Probably good for Princess Farhana (hopefully she'll get some royalties or work out of it), probably bad for bellydancers in general.
 
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Maria_Aya

New member
I dont know her, and just saw her video's.
I really liked the bellydance parts, but since we are all having the problem with general public "thinking" that bellydance is just one step before "other" kinds of dances, dont know in reality how this mix works.
BTW seems a very interesting personality

Maria Aya
 

Suheir

New member
I am not sure what your comment is. Good or bad?
Well, what we hear in the commentary is bellydance...bellydance...bellydance and there she is, removing her underwear and presenting her backside to the camera in a porn pose - what would the casual observer make of that?
 

lizaj

New member
I like allof what she does and the way she does it. IN the correct time and place. Go to a night club venue and she can shake her ass at me all she wants - she does it well.
And I know that belly dance and "hoochie/coochie burlesque"has that blurring in origin in the States so I suppose I understand her
BUT it doesn't over here and it doesn't in the ME.
I approve on one level and frothe heart disapprove on another that it gives the false impression that the two are inevitably linked every belly dancer is a stripper.!.she removes clothes and I don't mean takes off a veil. i gasped as she turned to an audience and stuck her bum out, taking down her panties...no that is NOT belly dancing and the film did Not makethat clear To me, shesgreat at what she does both belly dancing and burley but the blurring is making life difficult and hazardous to the girl trying to make a living as a restaurant dancertothe promoter trying to put on tours with good MEdancers and getting belly dance into Arts Centres etc. How many times have I had to say Belly Dance is not what you think and you can see tastefull family shows that contain folkloric and other cultural aspects of the Arabic lands to the GP and venue directors. See that and they'll have all their worst ( or best!) fears reinforced.
I also do not want to see every student thinking she can go out and be entertaining in that manner. mmmmmm.aaarghhhhhh. I want knickers kept on at haflas please.:lol:
I also am wondering about this taking you clothes off and posing for an audience being so liberating. Of course many women chose to work in the sex industry, it's never gonna go away and many women are very good at controlling their sex lives but in the world there are too many women, not as strong and successful as the great showgirls and they eek out a very dangerous living.
We are never going to getover the fact that bdancing is so sensual and in many cases very sexy. I do not have a problem with that. But we are all struggling so hard to get the GP to see that it is also a respectable trade as well.
 

Moon

New member
Does she really mix bellydance and burlesque or does she perform both arts seperately? I have no problems with the latter, but it's not really clear from the video :think:
 

TribalDancer

New member
She does combine them at times, though labels it as such. And she has prformed burlesque at bellydance festivals, which I consider blending in a way.

I wish this were not called "A year in the life of a BELLYDANCER". Because it's not. It's a year in a life of a multi-faceted entertainer, and from the video, it seems about 50/50 split of belly and burly. Why did they have to put bellydance in the title if it was about all her performance styles?

I do both, so I will reiterate I am not a prude. But I am extremely sensitive to the blurred lines that can occur, and this is one big blur to me from the trailer. I will be curious what the video will reveal in its entirety!
 

Shanazel

Moderator
It's a year in a life of a multi-faceted entertainer,

Very true. I think "belly dancer" is a popular buzz term right now, guarenteed to grab attention, whereas "multi-faceted entertainer" is sort of blah. Would be nice if there was more truth in labeling.
 

Midoria

New member
Anala interviewed Princess Farhana on ShimmyCast and she discussed the fact that she also does burlesque, but how they are two different dance forms.

I understand people's concerns about what the general public thinks, but at the end of the day we have to do what makes us happy. I dealt with people's perception of me for years because I used to wear hijab. There were quite a few people who didn't like that and thought it was a backward practice (both Muslin and non), but it was something I was drawn to and wanted to do. I couldn't let people's misconceptions of it stop me. So it would be hypocritical of me to even think she shouldn't do both dance forms if that's what she so desires.
 

Midoria

New member
But your wearing hijab didn't hurt anyone else, damage their reputation, send misconceptions about other's careers... Not quite the same...


Actually, your assertion isn’t entirely correct.

There are many (MANY) Muslims who are embarrassed by practices that are not completely accepted by Western culture and/or non-Islamic societies. When I wore my scarf, certain people accused me of setting Islam and Muslims backwards. In their eyes, I was sending misconceptions about Islam and hurting it’s reputation. They had spent so much time and effort to tell people that Islam doesn’t require women to wear headgear, and that it was an old and outdated practice etc. and here I was: a walking contradiction to their statements.

So as I said before, I have no right to talk about Princess Farhana. I’ve done what she’s doing. It's not the exact same thing, but it's very similar. Some of the exact same phrases and attitudes used towards me have been used towards Princess F. in the dance community.
 

karena

New member
Actually, your assertion isn’t entirely correct.

There are many (MANY) Muslims who are embarrassed by practices that are not completely accepted by Western culture and/or non-Islamic societies. When I wore my scarf, certain people accused me of setting Islam and Muslims backwards. In their eyes, I was sending misconceptions about Islam and hurting it’s reputation. They had spent so much time and effort to tell people that Islam doesn’t require women to wear headgear, and that it was an old and outdated practice etc. and here I was: a walking contradiction to their statements.

So as I said before, I have no right to talk about Princess Farhana. I’ve done what she’s doing. It's not the exact same thing, but it's very similar. Some of the exact same phrases and attitudes used towards me have been used towards Princess F. in the dance community.

I can understand where you are coming from. Over here in Europe (I don't know what it is like in the USA), the headscarf issue seems to sometimes be used to embody a whole anti-Islam discourse. So yes it could be seen to damage the reputation of a whole faith.

Midoria, I find the whole headscarf thing very interesting. Could you recommend any books that give a balanced discussion of it? I have struggled to find anything that isn't totally onesided.
 

Midoria

New member
Midoria, I find the whole headscarf thing very interesting. Could you recommend any books that give a balanced discussion of it? I have struggled to find anything that isn't totally onesided.


It's very difficult to find information that is not biased when it comes to religious issues, especially Islam because it has not undergone any real reform like Judaism and Christianity.

I think I can dig up something suitable for you. PM and let me know exactly what about hijab you'd like to know, and I'll get back to you. Don't want to get too far off topic. ;)
 

Shanazel

Moderator
I think Princess Farhana is cool! Do your thing girl!!!
Yasmine

Me, too. She's straight forward and honest about her duel identity. Compared to what one can view on TV any time of day or night, burlesque is simply funny. The first definition of the word burlesque in Webster's is "ludicrous representation," and I appreciate Farhana's presentation of the joke.
 
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