"It's like stripping, right?"

[Sirène]

OMG -- I caught part of one of those shows and was APPALLED!!!!

One of the girls had an injury that was causing her pain. The "mother" kept telling the camera (and her child) that "professional dancers work with injuries all the time!" and pushed her to perform in whatever stupid competition it was they were dancing for.

What's truly appalling to me is that the chiropractor told the mom/child/camera she shouldn't be practicing or competing for that week. However, even though the young girl was in tears from the pain more often than not, the mother and the dance teacher brow-beat her into performing. The group placed first so I'm sure the mom and teacher feel vindicated.

 

[Darshiva]

Hell, if an adult turns up sick to my classes I'll watch & make sure they aren't overdoing it - I'm not afraid of making someone go sit down & watch if they aren't up to dancing.

Agree with the above posters - CPS should be having very strong words with 'mum' about her lack of parenting skills.

 

[Farasha Hanem]

OMG -- I caught part of one of those shows and was APPALLED!!!!

One of the girls had an injury that was causing her pain. The "mother" kept telling the camera (and her child) that "professional dancers work with injuries all the time!" and pushed her to perform in whatever stupid competition it was they were dancing for.

I was floored.

As a former pro, I can say YES, it's true that pros in some cities will definitely dance on injuries -- but NOT WHEN THEY ARE STILL FREAKING CHILDREN!!!!!

The ONLY reason dancers dance on injuries now is fear of losing the role or their job. Professional dance is extremely competitive and cut-throat, especially in the larger cities -- it was a little different for regional companies, and our companies around here would always pull you out of the lineup if the doc pink-slipped you -- and dancers will do anything to keep their roles.

But it is absolute BULLPOOP to encourage that kind of attitude with a CHILD still in training. If any of our apprentice dancers ever had a mom pushing them to dance through an injury, the dancer would be OUT, period. Possibly for the whole season.


As a soon-to-be mom, I'm absolutely disgusted by what some parents push their kids to do. "Oh I always wanted to be a dancer and be a star in the spotlight, so I think I'll live vicariously through my kids, risking their health and happiness for MY OWN dream." Disgusting. They should have their kids removed from them.

I tried to rep you in another thread and couldn't, and forgot and tried to rep you for this comment. You're absolutely right, though. This kind of thing MAKES MY BLOOD BOIL. Children should be children, and should choose their OWN path, not try and live out anyone else's dreams or expectations. To me, it's a form of child abuse.

 

[LadyLoba]

I used to know someone who just would not quit with the stripping wisecracks and comments. I finally told her "No. I've always thought belly dancing was sexy while stripping I just find vulgar." Of course then she moved on to constantly asking me if I was going to pop rubies out of my belly button....some people are just too busy spouting off and reveling in the love of their own words to pay attention to what anyone else has to say. Sometimes it's best to just quietly step back and let people like that make fools of themselves all by themselves...

 

[Starmouth]

Rar! Anger! One of my colleagues just looked over my shoulder at my screen whilst I was on my break at work. I was looking at the swapmeet pages on Ghuz and had a large picture of two women in beautiful costumes in front of me. She started laughing and said "Ooh, I say, look at those floozies!"

This woman is in her 50s, not her 90s! Who says 'floozies' anyway?

 

[LadyLoba]

That is a really goofy remark to make...sounds like something that person I mentioned would have said.

I was looking at videos of belly dance, and I actually came across a belly dance and stripping combo. Even from a purely dance style fusion perspective...it just didn't work. The woman wore a belly dance costume and started out belly dancing..then moved into stripping...and instead of looking sexy it just looked awkward. The bra sort of worked.though it looked like what I thought it was at first...an accident...because it slid off awkwardly.....but then she reached back and tried to strip out of that belt and skirt and the effect was more "plumber with a heavy tool belt." Belly dance costumes just aren't meant to be taken off while dancing. I didn't watch the whole thing...I turned it off once she took off all her clothes, not really wanting to see what all was next...but I saw enough to know that that was one awkward performance.

Adults are free to do whatever they want with/in front of other consenting adults...if they want to put belly dance or ballet or writing or ceramics together with stripping...fine...but belly dance and stripping are not only not the same, they don't even go to together well.

 

[Starmouth]

Now, ceramics/stripping fusion - that I would pay to see. :lol:

 

[Pleasant dancer]

Belly dance costumes just aren't meant to be taken off while dancing.


Yep, I just spent two whole hours adjusting hooks and bars so my new costume bra wouldn't move an inch, not to mention how we spend ages safety-pinning our belts to our skirts etc. No way is my costume going to be taken ( i.e. fall) off whilst dancing.... :lol:

 

[Greek Bonfire]

A million of us who dance correctly in order to dispel the stripping myth.

And then along comes the Dallas Observer. Also others on this forum who keep trying to fuse bellydance with stripping.

It's a constant uphill battle.

 

[ic3st0rmer]

for a beginner learner like me, i seriously don think bd & stripping works well, altough there are some moves which may be similar ie. hip drops, vertical figure 8, etc, but i think those moves are commonly used in other dances as well.

i've only heard about bd & stripping "fushion" from this forum, have yet to come across any videos or anything. i think e reason for having both together probably due to the mysterious feeling some people have for bd, so they want to "add" this mysterious feeling into stripping... *shrugs* no offence to bd, but that's e only reason i can think of.

personally, i do feel that bd has a sort of mysterious feeling to it, nothing sexual, just mysterious in a good way.

 

[walladah]

Well, i really wonder, Fotia,

whether the DO article, the rudeness of some people and the fusion attempts just prove how bellydance and stripping cannot go together.

They also prove that despite the free-nude, free-sex era we live in, stripping is not attracting attention if not mixed with elements that are far from it. THey also prove that some people, despite the free-nude, free-sex era they live in, keep needing to insult others, just to substitute their disatisfaction they get from the "free stuff" with the satisfaction of embarassing others [this is why bad comments, bad written articles reveal more than their authors might think].

Sometimes, i wonder whether we need to stop bothering ourselves with this and just stick with our art. On the other hand, people who insult others need some reply, because rudeness is infectious, esp. in the public space.