I just also wanted to say - about the youtube clip earlier in the thread - I do not consider that burlesque at all. That was musical theatre/stage dance. Burlesque to me is gypsy rose lee, sally rand, etc....nudity and all....but tasteful.
Not to be a brat but - next big thing or not - I think that lumping belly dance in with burlesque does a profound disservice to our community. There is a HUGE difference between both and we will never be taken seriously as a dance form if we start doing burlesque/stripping in tandem. I am very very very against it! And by the way....I am american and a friend of Farhana's. But I must say that it makes me extremely disappointed that dancers are championing this fusion. Burlesque - fine. But not together with belly dance. I can't tell you how wrong I feel this is.
As for history did anyone ever bother to think that it was as offensive back then as a fusion as it would be today?
By the way people in Los Angeles ask me all the time if I belly dance naked or half naked because guess what? They saw a burlesque/belly dance show and thought they went together!@&^^#%$@^#$@
Please!!!!!!!!! 3 steps forward and 2 steps back - that seems to be the way of it.
*WARNING* - this clip is rather more risque, despite being 50 years old next year!
Here's a clip from the 1959 English film "Beat Girl". What do we suppose we're seeing here? Hang on, isn't that what belly dancers wear? Or is that burlesque?
That was very interesting, A'isha. I didn't know that. It does appeal to me though because it goes along with how I view other art forms: as a carrier and communicater for culture, emotion, expression etc. Art created just for it's own sake is not as interesting to me.
I agree - I don't think that clip is burlesque, either. Dancing in a corset doesn't make a performance burlesque any more than dancing in a sequinned bra makes it belly dance.
Here's a clip from a UK talent show - these girls evidently think they're performing burlesque but all I see is a couple of young girls doing a slightly risque dance routine (tame by MTV standards) in their underwear:
Yeah, we had far raunchier dancing on TV in England 25 years ago from the Hot Gossip dance troupe, the used to wear similar...er...underwear!This clip was great. That is one of my all-time favorite songs (although I prefer the Dean Martin version) and I thought their dance was cute -- but for the US, this is NOTHING new and this is what you would see students doing at dance competitions. It's a leeetle more "sexed up" than what I've seen at competitions, but in a really nice way. I don't see it as Burlesque either, but I liked their dance and LOVED Simon's reaction.
...and I thought their dance was cute -- but for the US, this is NOTHING new and this is what you would see students doing at dance competitions. It's a leeetle more "sexed up" than what I've seen at competitions, but in a really nice way. I don't see it as Burlesque either, but I liked their dance and LOVED Simon's reaction.
Good GRIEF Suheir, that clip is so RUDE! :shok: That thing she did in the middle reminded me of a friends trick of folding a napkin into a shape that has no place on a respectable dinner table... :redface:
How did that get past the censors in 1959?!
*WARNING* - this clip is rather more risque, despite being 50 years old next year!
Here's a clip from the 1959 English film "Beat Girl". What do we suppose we're seeing here? Hang on, isn't that what belly dancers wear? Or is that burlesque?