Belly dance Competitions: Through the eyes of Ahava

Salome

Administrator
We used to post here when new articles were up on OD.net but have been slacking on that. Since I recently read comments from members like "we have a directory?" I thought I might go back to posting about new material for those who don't know about other things on our hub... So, without further adieu we just got an interview by John Clow with Ahava on competitions... Belly dance Competitions: Through the eyes of Ahava
 

Aisha Azar

New member
Ahava

Dear Gang,
My dance company sponsored Ahava about six months ago. I have to say she is one of my favorite of the new young and beautiful dancers. She is very, VERY skilled technically, very emotionally involved with the music, has a charming and open personality on stage and and is a total Sweetie back stage. I hope everyone who has a chance will either sponsor her or attend an event sponsoring her. She is one of the finest talents in the States!!
Regards,
A'isha
 

kayshier

New member
If i had the money and backing i'd definitely consider it.
nice interview nonetheless.

as an aside though, it would be nice for her to come to my country. apparently there is some misconception by the some of john public that its just middle eastern, indian and white women who are good at ME dance. strange but true.
 

Makeda Maysa

New member
as an aside though, it would be nice for her to come to my country. apparently there is some misconception by the some of john public that its just middle eastern, indian and white women who are good at ME dance. strange but true.

Oh, honey, I think that misconception is running rampant here in the States, too. At least, I've come across it many times.
 

Aisha Azar

New member
Race and dance

Dear Gang,
I knew that Mouna Said had to go outside of Egypt to get herself established asa ;egitimate dancer. Egyptians just sort of all seemed to think that the lighter skinned dancers were prettier. Mouna is so fabulous and beautiful that I could not believe it the first time I heard that. I did have it explained to me in depth at some point about light skin being considered more beautiful and I have since several times heard Arabs ask about the color of a baby's skin that they had not yet seen.
I feel that belly dancers as a general rule do not seem very prejudiced based on such issues as race and religion, sexuality etc. I could be wrong about this and maybe people just never say anything to me because I tend to not thunk in terms of those stereotypes.
But, it is highly possible that the general public does have a rather limited and stereotypical idea of just who dancers are. they certainly do not get to keep that impression in observing me and my company as we have performances including people of all races, colors, sexes. In any case, if they saw Ahava dance they would change their minds immediately!!
Regards,
A'isha
 

Makeda Maysa

New member
I think it's quite true that the general public has a limited vision of who and what a bellydancer is and 9 times out of 10, that does not include dark skin and/or hair that is not straight or in loose curls.

As for the bellydance community, we all have the same prejudices as everyone else in the world. I haven't really found our community to be all that more progressive and I have read quite a few shockingly ignorant and uneducated things in various forums and have experienced prejudice firsthand.
 

kayshier

New member
I think it's quite true that the general public has a limited vision of who and what a bellydancer is and 9 times out of 10, that does not include dark skin and/or hair that is not straight or in loose curls.

As for the bellydance community, we all have the same prejudices as everyone else in the world. I haven't really found our community to be all that more progressive and I have read quite a few shockingly ignorant and uneducated things in various forums and have experienced prejudice firsthand.

That is unfortunate, really it is.
 

Aisha Azar

New member
Dancers

I think it's quite true that the general public has a limited vision of who and what a bellydancer is and 9 times out of 10, that does not include dark skin and/or hair that is not straight or in loose curls.

As for the bellydance community, we all have the same prejudices as everyone else in the world. I haven't really found our community to be all that more progressive and I have read quite a few shockingly ignorant and uneducated things in various forums and have experienced prejudice firsthand.


Dear Makeda,
The biggest prejudices I have found among dancers are more aimed at weight and age as opposed to race. Of course, I do look like a white person, so I may have not been aware..... And a dance company that I belonged to some 30 years ago also had dancers that were not white. I may not have realized we were unique. Frankly, I can't imagine anyone not being inspired by Lotus and company. One of my favorite performances at the Fifi event in Texas!
Regards,
A'isha
 

Mya

New member
These issues of discrimination are definitely true - i remember at the company i used to dance with, one of the girls very rarely got to perform because she didn't have the right "image" and the director suggested she buy a wig. She did - it was long and straight as opposed to her short twisted natural hair.
I was not impressed. I was less impressed that she bought it.
 

Makeda Maysa

New member
Dear Makeda,
The biggest prejudices I have found among dancers are more aimed at weight and age as opposed to race. Of course, I do look like a white person, so I may have not been aware..... And a dance company that I belonged to some 30 years ago also had dancers that were not white. I may not have realized we were unique. Frankly, I can't imagine anyone not being inspired by Lotus and company. One of my favorite performances at the Fifi event in Texas!
Regards,
A'isha

Aw, thanks. But I'm sure there are plenty of folks who aren't particularly inspired by us. Which is just fine with me, actually.
 
That was a great article! I've seen some of Ahava's performances on youtube and I'm always blown away with her grace, beauty and style. She really does become the music!
I agree with her assessmant of entering competitions to learn more about the dance. I entered a contest last year and took Second Place out of four top quality dancers. It served as an objective appreciation of my contribution to the dance...but the commentary from the judges is the REAL award!! Just like Ahava, I spend a lot of time listening to the music..it guides my inner consciousness to choose the right costume and moves for the dance.

As an African-American dancer,I can say that I haven't dealt with hardly any bias when I've peformed privately or publicly. I think I fit right in with the 'exotic ideal' that the dance represents to Joe Public.
Although, like Ahava, I will choose costumes with vivid colors or white/silver because they are gorgeous against my skin. And on stage with dark lights and a dark backdrop, I want to be seen.
Yasmine
 
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