belly dance club?

Hi everyone :D

hope you all are having a good day.

so my question is....

i want to start a belly dance club at my school

paractices
history
choreography
that kind of thing

and my counselor (hes a guy) said "oh i dont know about that."
i asked him why
and he said "well just think about it. its not appropriate"
my aunt says its no different than the cheerleaders at our school

should a i go for a second opinion?
how would you have reacted to that situation?

thanks,
Morgan
 

Amanda (was Aziyade)

Well-known member
Well, you don't say how old you are, but there have been other high school students post here with a similar problem.

This could be a great opportunity for you to really open some eyes, but it's going to be some work. I'm an old coot, so I'd tell the guy to get his mind out of the gutter and get a clue. You're probably going to have to approach it in a different way. :)

Can you arrange a meeting with the counselor and maybe your parents, and show them video footage of somebody like Sohair Zaki, and explain that BD is a cultural practice of the peoples in many regions in the Middle East and North Africa, and explain a little about the history of how it landed on the stage. ??? You might mention that schools are supposed to be promoting CULTURAL DIVERSITY these days, and having a club like this would be an excellent way to expose your fellow students to Arab and Turkish music, AND bring about discussion of the differences between western dance forms like ballet and the eastern way of moving -- or discussion about how dance should best be taught -- all the same stuff we argue about here.

Tell him having a club like this would "open up a dialogue" about the cultures of the Middle East, and help dispell some post 9-11 prejudices about Arab culture in general.

Like I said, it's a lot of work, but if you state your case in a professional manner, and provide him with video, you might not only be able to get the club going, but also get this dance a little respect in your school.

That said, YOU need to have a very professional and realistic attitude about what bellydance is and isn't. Make sure that YOU don't have the attitude that bellydance is just about shaking your tail, and if you don't know it already, learn the difference between what Shakira does and what a real bellydancer does! (I don't mean to be condescending, but I don't know you, and I don't know what YOU know about the dance.) :)
 
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da Sage

New member
should a i go for a second opinion?
how would you have reacted to that situation?

You can always have an unofficial group that meets at your home, with friends, but if you want to go the school route, you might want to check with a theater, music, history, debate, or English/literature teacher, and see if they would advise the club. If you are lucky enough to have a dance teacher, talk to them. Heck, maybe a P.E. teacher or the cheerleading coach could be a possibility.

Do expect some restrictions on your performance and costume content (you might not be allowed to show your midriffs, or do certain moves). And decide how you will handle it if boys want to join--if you do this through the school, you will probably have to let them in the club!
 

da Sage

New member
I actually think cheerleaders are far less apropriate :rolleyes:

Yeah, people from outside the USA really don't tend to "get" what cheerleaders do. :clap: :dance: :clap: Although I always thought our school's marching band was far more effective at getting the crowd excited.
 

Moon

New member
Ah well, I think cheerleading is good exercise for sure but the idea of "popular guys doing sports and popular girls cheering on them in shorts skirts" is what I don't like about it... Here in my country boys and girls have PE together.
 

da Sage

New member
Ah well, I think cheerleading is good exercise for sure but the idea of "popular guys doing sports and popular girls cheering on them in shorts skirts" is what I don't like about it... Here in my country boys and girls have PE together.


Yes, but that is a stereotype. Not all the guys who do sports are popular, and not all the girls who cheer are popular. There are lots of co-ed cheer teams, although you are right that the cheerleaders mostly perform at the big male sports events...(American) football, and sometimes basketball.

And many places, cheerleading has been replaced by (or coexists) with its younger, more artistic cousin - dance line, which has its own competitions, and is treated as a sport. Same thing with competitive marching bands, which used to just be game-time entertainment.

I'd love to do some research to see how cheerleading developed...I think it's an offshoot of the Glee Clubs popular early in the 20th century, but that's just a guess.

My problem with cheerleading is that the stunts and tricks can be very dangerous.

EDIT: and cheerleading has nothing to do with P.E.. It's extracurricular, while P.E. is usually required study (and usually co-ed, too).
 
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Moon

New member
Thanks for explaining da Sage :) I knew there had to be something wrong with those American high school movies we see around here... but a friend of mine who grew up in the US said football players and cheerleaders are really terrible people :lol:

We went a little off topic I'm affraid :redface:
 

da Sage

New member
Thanks for explaining da Sage :) I knew there had to be something wrong with those American high school movies we see around here... but a friend of mine who grew up in the US said football players and cheerleaders are really terrible people :lol:

I'm sure some of them are...but in my school that generally wasn't the case.

We went a little off topic I'm affraid :redface:
I'm afraid it's not going to be the last time for me. :lol: Hey, NOThislittleHAREMGIRL, be sure not to lord your position of head bellydancer over the other girls at school! Or you'll have to rename your club Drama Club!!
 

Aniseteph

New member
Do you suppose war shortages are responsible for the short-skirt costume, as well?:lol:

Yeah, that'll be it. :lol:

On topic, it'd depend on the club, wouldn't it? If it's going to be serious about studying belly dance and the cultural background there are lots of potential positives like Aziyade said, and maybe you could get your counselor's support.

IMO da Sage's point about getting some sort of appropriate teacher guidance is a very good one. If I was the counselor, even if you had told me about what belly dance is really about, I'd still be concerned that without proper leadership it would degenerate into all my worst fears (inappropriate moves and costumes and wannabe Shakira routines, parents mad at the school for allowing it, unlovely attitudes from the boys, etc etc. :().
 

Yshka

New member
Aniseteph said:
da Sage said:
Do you suppose war shortages are responsible for the short-skirt costume, as well?:lol:

Yeah that'll be it. :lol:

Well ofcourse, duh;) After they needed all that fabric to create uniforms for all the soldiers there wasn't enough left to create decent skirts for cheerleaders, poor girls!:lol: Boy, they must have had cold legs in the beginning:D

As for your question, I agree with things Aniseteph and Aziyade have said. If you indeed are true about Oriental dance and studying it's background, music and cultural heritage, you might be able to show the school that it is not at all wiggling about like Shakira or the cliche harem fantasy. You have to be realistic about the dance for certain, and a dance teachers guidance would be recommended. I've found that teaching dance is hard, even under the guidance of a qualified teacher. Not everyone can just teach dance. But, if everything is allright and you have it planned out professionally then that would be a good way to show the public what Oriental dance is about.
 
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janaki

New member
I am planning to start Belly dance club in HK in next couple of months too. It is definitely a great idea. Some of the members have given great advise here. Good luck.
 

KuteNurse

New member
Thanks for explaining da Sage :) I knew there had to be something wrong with those American high school movies we see around here... but a friend of mine who grew up in the US said football players and cheerleaders are really terrible people :lol:

We went a little off topic I'm affraid :redface:

Moonie,

I was a cheerleader in highschool and it was nothing more than a bunch of girls going to games and cheering on the guys who played sports. Part of being elected a cheerleader was someone with leadership qualities, good grades and a cheerful personality along with gymnastic abilities. So the stereotypes are also as incorrect as the belly dancing sterotypes. I was just at the Mall of America after Christmas and there was a cheerleading competition there. I ran into it by accident and I got to see my home town in the competition and my son's high school. I also ran into many people I knew. It was actually quite fun to see and there were many young men performing along with the young women:)
 

karena

New member
Now I'm going to be really obnoxious and post a couple links:

History of Cheerleading

WikiAnswers - Where was cheerleading invented

Apparently cheerleading was a men's-only thing until WWII caused a shortage of men, and the women stepped up. Do you suppose war shortages are responsible for the short-skirt costume, as well?:lol:

Reading the ancient Greeks references reminded me of the ancient Egypt and bellydance debates. I love the thought that somewhere there is a cheerleading forum which has parallel debates to here, about the history, being misunderstood and costume choices :lol: :lol: I bet it exists! I'm going looking...
 

karena

New member
Yay I found one, and bad reputation based on what it seen the movies is there, whether or not you can show your midriff, how often you practice, favourite music, copying other people's cheers, the words for cheers people need. It's like a parallel universe :lol: Alas nothing about the history. Maybe I should start it ;)
 

da Sage

New member
Ha ha! I wonder if Yello's "Oh Yeah" is one of their "classics"?

I always thought the cheering would be much improved if it were sung, operatic style. All that shouting is hard on the voice!:(
 
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Aniseteph

New member
What about for football in the UK - some of those football chants would be great done by a bunch of squeaky clean overenthusiastic cheerleaders.
 
Thanks guys!

Thanks for your posts

I am very serious about this dance.
I am a dancer on good days and bad days.
and i want to share this dance with people at my school.
Not just the health prospects, but also the sense of self awareness and happiness.

My aunt and I talked it out.

She said pretty much the same thing as everyone has said.

She thinks i should emphasize it as a form of fitness because our school is big on eating better and being healthier

Also, our school is all about diversity. Maybe ill see if i can go through our diversity club as kind of a twice a month thing to start out

thanks for giving me some feedback

:)
 
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