Good for a hafla but not for the general public?

Aniseteph

New member
Well I think that would really have to be battled out in the country of origin...

I do agree, and the impression (may be wrong) I have got hanging out here and going to workshops is that some Egyptian dancers just don't think about it the same way (using Egyptian as an example I'm most familiar with). maybe they'd think we were nuts to want to do it at all.

And if they don't think of it that way, IMO attempting to standardise moves and terminology would be Westernising belly dance at about as fundamental a level as you can get. Or maybe it's my inner 70's spirit talking (hi Shanazel! :D)

...some type of standardization and certification saying you have learned those standards could go a long way to raising bellydance teachers to a "professional" level.

Sooooo.... who's going to start the first school (as opposed to a class)?

We've got JWAAD and RSS already. :confused:
 
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Aniseteph

New member
I don't know how much JWAAD and RSS communicate... and both schools have their critics from what I've heard. Some people are extremely anti-...
 

Shanazel

Moderator
Announcing the Shanazel School of Belly Dance Arts! All your questions answered in unarguable phrases! Movement vocabulary carved on stone tablets harvested from the pyramids! Firm division lines for dance styles and fusions available for $10 a dozen. Certifications a specialty. Be the first in your neighborhood to receive the gospel from The High Grand Snickelfritz of Belly Dance herself, and amaze your friends with your expertise at your next hafla. Costumes, choreographies, and lattes also available. The first hundred dancers to sign up will receive their choice of a pink stuffed boa constrictor or a year's subscription to The High Grand Snickelfritz's newsletter, The Syncopated Dancer. All acolytes passing a series of arduous exams will be allowed to perform with Shanazel's troupe, The Belly Button Jewels of the North Platte.

The Belly Button Jewels relaxing in their private green room between performances

 

Corylus

New member
*Fusion of belly dance with burlesque

Now, one thing that occurs to me is that maybe certain dance types shouldn't be performed even at a 'belly dance" hafla. Why? Because a lot of the people who go to haflas are beginning students, their friends, their families, etc. I would consider a beginning student to be "general public" because they are new enough to our dance to not yet have much knowledge of what we're all about.

I think it's better if fusion performances are done at a theme event whose entire purpose is to allow for fusion and experimentation. And I think such a theme event shouldn't be called "belly dance", but rather "performance art" or "world dance fusion".

This is a really interesting thread - I am learning Belly dance, being taught at intermediate level, and I believe knowledge about the culture and history surrounding dancing is as important as the dancing itself so I strive to improve my dancing and my understanding of what Belly dancing is about.

I have been involved and interested in Burlesque for considerably longer and I also think that learning the history and essence of Burlesque is as important as dancing/performing; I have seen a lot of 'acts' who seem to believe all burlesque requires is modelling some of the Ann Summers (Underwear retailer for those of you not from UK!) catalogue who give out completely the wrong idea to the public.

With this in mind, I wanted to respond to this thread because I think the points raised by Shira are really interesting. I think the importance of knowledge about dancing is essential to ensure that people appreciate what it is about and with reference to beginners I think everybody needs at least a basic understanding of belly dancing history/culture. It is really important that the general public aren't misguided. I think Haflas, like Shira says, are mainly family/friend events which is fine for most beginners because (if they are anything like our Haflas) from what I understand most of them do dances choreographed by the teacher and I know ours certainly strives to teach people the background behind the dancing styles. If beginners go out into the general public and misrepresent the dancing then I think that is potentially damaging because it could taint the spectator's view of belly dancing.

I have less experience of Belly dance than I do Burlesque, but I have seen a few Burlesque acts who give no regard to what burlesque is really about and where it came from and it frustrates me greatly.

:think: This thread has certainly got me thinking!

But, and I know this is possibly somewhat controversial judging by some articles I have read about the argument concerning mixing Burlesque and belly dancing, I'm not sure that I like the idea of fusing them. Their origins are so very different and I know you can make something 'new' by fusing dance styles but I find the two quite contradictory in their culture.

Corylus xx
 
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PracticalDancer

New member
Announcing the Shanazel School of Belly Dance Arts! All your questions answered in unarguable phrases! Movement vocabulary carved on stone tablets harvested from the pyramids! Firm division lines for dance styles and fusions available for $10 a dozen. Certifications a specialty. Be the first in your neighborhood to receive the gospel from The High Grand Snickelfritz of Belly Dance herself, and amaze your friends with your expertise at your next hafla. Costumes, choreographies, and lattes also available. The first hundred dancers to sign up will receive their choice of a pink stuffed boa constrictor or a year's subscription to The High Grand Snickelfritz's newsletter, The Syncopated Dancer. All acolytes passing a series of arduous exams will be allowed to perform with Shanazel's troupe, The Belly Button Jewels of the North Platte.

The Belly Button Jewels relaxing in their private green room between performances


(bows deep, finishes laughing, coughs)

I can think of at least three of those "schools of thought", yet I dare not mention their names . . .
 

nightdancer

New member
Sweet!! Sign me up!!

Tossing my two cents in, and I know that I have said this before, I think a standardization of the basic moves terminology, the things you learn in your first 8 weeks of class, would be nice. I know that the last time we talked about this, one of the questions posed to me was about language. Whose language would we use to standardize that? Imposing English terms on AmCab, I dont see as out of the scope of vision. Now, please please please note I am not suggesting that we impose English terms on something more classically Egyptian. AmCab, as I understand it's evolution, is an American style, evolved through the nightclubs, etc, here. It is it's own style, as is ATS. I see a benefit here in two ways. One, if we standardize the very basics, it would help those that are very brand new navigate the waters. As dancers develop, and move beyond the basics, and the creativity and art comes, bringing one's own flavor to the dance becomes a more vital part. As a guitarist has to learn chords to be techinically proficient before s/he makes music, I see that platform as essential to the development of a dancer. Second, it would help teachers, as they get transplant dancers. Most teachers have a requirement of instructor approval before allowing a new dancer into their intermediate class. So when a dancer calls up and says, "I want to take your intermediate class", and you as the instructor says, "I want to see a hip drop, a knee shimmy, and undulation", as these are basic movements, you are going to get just that, instead of having to explain that "this" is a hip drop for you, which may be a "push-down" for someone else.

Now, I am not advocating past the standardization of the basics, though I think there is room to develop the idea. Last time, I used the Russian, French and American ballet systems. The major issue is that there is no recognized governing body, so anything would have to happen on the local level first.
 

amonjure

New member
I'm loving this thread! It greatly reinforces a recent experience I had and validates my reaction to it.

I was invited to dance at a local, casual outdoor venue. The teacher/dancer who organized it asked for my music, so I was under the impression I was going to perform to my music. Wouldn't that make sense to you?

Not in this case, lol. She played the music in no particular order, had her newbie students dressed up in hip scarves and bedazzled (yes, bedazzled) sports bras prance around the stage with no prior performance training. Needless to say it was a trainwreck. I found it even more interesting when my music began to play and she motioned for me to join them in the fiasco. I was having a hard time peeling my jaw off the ground, and politely declined. Not sure why she threw her students out there like that to the "general public", but it is most certainly not something I've ever seen before. So I thanked her for the opportunity then left.

Not exactly how I want my community to be represented.

Shanazel... lmao, you are hilarious!
 

Hecate

New member
I'm a little scared to post my two cents, but I'll give it a try.

Well from what I have read so far I can see there are a great many of you who are very well read and educated about your passion. Which is great! And while I do agree with certain things I also have my disagreements.

I do see this site as a great source to connect all of us belly dancers of all kinds and styles and I find that amazing, though I do tend to notice that the discussion on this thread was a bit one sided, or so it seemed to me.

I was a bit hurt to read some of the things said about Tribal Style and Tribal Fusion. Yes, I understand that it does differ a bit and sometimes Greatly from Middle Eastern dance, but even as a student now we are learning our roots from middle eastern influences. As my teacher explained it, "the basics are the basics." I interpreted that as when you get down to it, belly dance (whether tribal or not) all starts out as belly dance. Though I also do understand that there are just people who take the fusion part way too far. When fusion is used in our class context, often it's just bits and parts of other dance styles. One such example is when tribal dancers do floreos, a flemenco dance move. It's kinda like the egyptian hands. Small things like that add a bit of variety from the every day norm of the ME style. Don't get me wrong, it's a wonderful style and I won't detest that all styles of bellydance (fusion or other) have been birthed from it, but I don't think I could have portrayed it like the lovely ladies who have dedicated themselves to it. Other than that, I don't mean any offense but I don't think it's quiet the style for me either.

Another thing that didn't sit too well with me was the generalization that tribal fusion dancers are rachael brice wannabees, and if you didn't mean it like that then I'm sorry I interpreted it as such. Really why I value tribal fusion and ATS so much is that it values different dance styles and interpretations though all keeping it bellydance. I agree with you Shira when you say that it can't be bellydance when the dancers are mostly doing hip-hop or such.

Anywho's the last thing I agree with is that if all styles should be clarified. Like Tribal Fusion, ATS, Tribal burlesque, and so on. Honestly when it comes to a hafla I wouldn't allow tribal burlesque. Though tribal fusion and ATS in my opinion are clean dance forms that show the beauty of expression as well as it's caberet cousin.

I know I'm just a student but I figured I would just present my view from a tribal perspective, even if it's a novice one :)
 

Shanazel

Moderator
All viewpoints are welcome, sweetie. Don't let your feelings get hurt by someone else's opinion and you'll have a lot more fun. We can be a pretty rowdy bunch when we start disagreeing, but for the most part we are good friends despite our differences.
 

Hecate

New member
Thanks, Shanazel~ I've just seen some forums that well are... to be frank, quite frightening. Regardless I'm glad that this one is different ^ ^ I feel more comfy already :D
 

nightdancer

New member
Hecate,

First of all, I love your username. :)

Don't be scared to express your opinion. We on the forum usually dont bite, though we may be inclined to nibble a bit. Lord knows, I've been nibbled on but its always been by someone who knew what she was talking about more than I did, and saw it as a teaching opportunity. Sometimes, we get a little set in our ways, and need new people to remind us that there is more just just our viewpoint that can be right. Call it "hivemind" if you will. So please, dont hesitate to speak up.


One of the things I was wondering came from this story here.

I learned what the performer thinks they are doing and reality is not always the same thing. I felt as a dance promoter that I had helped spread dance misinformation to the public.

How can that be handled within the community? My teacher tells me that what I am studying is classic Egyptian and AmCab and I will believe her because she is my teacher with over 30 years of dance experience and study. She may firmly believe that, but were I to go to Madame X in another state, she may feel that there is not an ounce of classic Egyptian in there anywhere and her credentials are just as good as my teacher's. At what point do I, as a student, have the responsibility to go out and explore beyond what my teacher says? Do we as a community have the right to go and tell someone "No, I am sorry, that wasnt ghwazee at all and you have mis-represented yourself!" to someone that was taught "This is ghwazee and you are doing well enough to perform it."

I understand that all of these questions are rhetorical and dont have a clear answer. I'm just grouchy, and I ponder when I'm grouchy. (It is a good thing that I do not get grouchy often.)
 
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