The best and the worst bellydance ever

Aniseteph

New member
:) What is the best bellydance performance you ever saw, and what made it so great?

:( And/or what is the worst you ever saw, and why was it so bad? (no identification of the perpetrators please... And student performances/ informal making-idiots-of selves at haflas etc. don't count!)
 

Yshka

New member
Nice question.
For live performance I'd have to think, I haven't seen many perform yet, but honestly Serpil Murtezaoglu made quite an impression on me. She was in the Netherlands for Turkish Rom classes a while ago and performed here too. This woman is so much fun, she was amazing. Second is a performance by Amir Thaleb I saw some time ago.

Then again I must also say it's magic watching my teacher dance...:cool:

For video footage I'd say I don't really have a favourite, but I'd go for one of the older Naima Akef or Fifi Abdo performances. Those old videos still make me smile.

Worst performance: this year I went to see a dancer perform in Belgium. let's say this: claw hands, super-UBDC and most un-elegant performance I've ever witnessed:eek: Couldn't enjoy the dancing, hands freaked me out.

How about you Aniseteph?
 
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Aniseteph

New member
Well I suppose it's only fair I answer my own question... and I haven't a huge selection to choose from either.

Live performances: Best so far is Khaled Mahmood - for awesome skill and artistry.

Worst... (oh dear why did I ask this?)... I think it has to be a troupe doing genuine Ghawazee which for all I know might well have been genuine but went on and on and on, with very odd costumes (like a sequin explosion in a kilt factory). I just got bored...

I don't think I've seen anything in a show where the technique has been terrible enough for me to notice (yet!). Some have been a bit dodgy in places but are excused on grounds of enthusiasm, attitude and being nice to watch. Others may have been wiped from my memory on grounds of dullness; the Ghawazee one stuck on account of those kilts!

As for video, too much dodgy stuff on YouTube to mention and often its student stuff which I don't like to cast stones at. I don't know if I have a favourite, but here's a couple that are contenders:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BpwDsJVgk0 (classic)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BocUtLTpu5M (hope to move Orit to my performers-I've-seen-live list very soon. Yay! :D)

(and what IS the music on the last one? I love it and it's really familiar and I don't know where from; don't you just hate it when that happens? :mad: )
 

Amulya

Moderator
The best must have been the BDSS show in The Netherlands, but I have seen Sharazad perform and that was impressive as well. And many many others.

Worst, also countless. But yes, I saw quite many so called teachers who couldn't even dance. Or people with escaping boobs...
 

da Sage

New member
The most incredible dance performance I've seen was by Toha (Sarah Jones-Larson). This woman has incredible stage presence, and is spot-on with every move. I'm not a dippy hippy, but it was as though she was raising huge amounts of energy on-stage with her dance. I felt all prickly like when I hear an amazing aria, or intricate harmony.:D

The worst dance performance was one which I *thought* was a comedy act. One dancer was so bad, I thought she was flubbing the moves and choreography on purpose (like a Gilbert and Sullivan chorus line, where a single actor is comically out of step in every routine). Unfortunately, I was wrong.:(
 

Kiraze

New member
I love dramatic performances where dance, music, costume, lighting etc work together to create a magical storyline to the stage - some impressive examples of this style have been Suraya Hilal´s interpretation of Khatwet Samar in her early 90´s show Return of the Spirit and almost anything by Shahrazad: one really memorable show by Shahrazad was her dancing as an Ice Queen... I have loved also Shakira (from Ohio, not the singer ;) ) dancing with sword and some tribal performances with darkly dramatic music and lights.

What I usually hate about performances is a combination of bland popmusic and too long performance with little changes... I have seen some technically talented pro performers who have bored me to sleep - something like this is far worse for me than technically bad amateur dancing which shows at least joy of dancing
 

Amulya

Moderator
The worst dance performance was one which I *thought* was a comedy act. One dancer was so bad, I thought she was flubbing the moves and choreography on purpose (like a Gilbert and Sullivan chorus line, where a single actor is comically out of step in every routine). Unfortunately, I was wrong.:(

I had that once too, a famous German dancer came to Holland and me and my friends thought he was hilarious, we nearly laughed our heads off, till we noticed no one else laughed.... shameful :eek:
 

Yshka

New member
da Sage said:
The worst dance performance was one which I *thought* was a comedy act. One dancer was so bad, I thought she was flubbing the moves and choreography on purpose (like a Gilbert and Sullivan chorus line, where a single actor is comically out of step in every routine). Unfortunately, I was wrong. :(

OMG da Sage and Amulya, this was exactly what happened in the performance in Belgium, we actually thought it was supposed to be a joke, but she was deadserious:eek:
 

chryssanthi sahar

New member
The best performance I've ever seen was Soheir Zaki (the great Egyptian dancer) live in Frankfurt/Germany, back in the early 90ies. She was breathtaking! Nothing can top this, although I have seen also other good performances.
As about the bad performances, I've seen so many of them, that I don't even want to think about them:eek: Altogether I've seen more bad than good performances (and I've seen lots lots of performances). Unfortunately:(
 

Zarina

New member
The best I've seen was Ariellah Aflalo, who I had the pleasure to see live at the Night of 1000 Goddesses in NYC. I'll admit to being so affected by her performance that I teared up. It was that beautiful.

The worst was a performance I just saw at the Cloisters festival, also in NYC. One of the dancers was a pretty good beginner/intermediate. The other was performing some sort of stripper-like act that involved thrashing, whipping her hair back and forth, and flailing her arms about. To make things worse, her very fancy top was too big for her, so that I was afraid she'd pop out of it at any moment.
 

Maria_Aya

New member
I have many that i love, mostly in videos (the oldtime egyptian dancers, Fifi, Mona, Suheir, Nagua) live I've enjoyed very much Khaled Mahmoud :) and Serena Ramzy is joyable to see. I had the principal to watch Suha Azar to dance in my living room (she doesnt perfom ever), I will never ever ever forget it.

As for the worst, many many in the years, but I will always keep the vomiting memory of the Greek Raqs Sharqi contest 2006 (yes i did vomit twice for real)

Maria Aya
 

Gabi

New member
Why Shakira, of course :D

Sorry, couldn't help it. How 'bout the gal who was Vashti in Land of the Pharoahs, OK OK, I'll be serious.

The best I ever saw was ages ago and I don't even know her name but she was doing a gig in San Diego when we were vacationing - when she was done we heard some guys leaving mumbling "that was more muscle control than we'd see at the Olympics", I'd have to agree.

Worst - meh, I've never seen anyone that bad - just beginners who ain't there yet :D . I do tend to like it raw rather than slick.
 

Recnadocir

New member
Stay tuned...I'm dancing in a hafla the end of this month, and decided for one number I'm going to twirl a cane to the title song of the musical, "Cabaret." (the original stage version, not the Liza Minelli movie version). Gonna have high kicks towards the end, and of course a big layered shimmy finish.

Maybe I'll make the "worst" list, but I'm going to have fun doing it!
 

Yasmina

New member
Worst performance: this year I went to see a dancer perform in Belgium. let's say this: claw hands, super-UBDC and most un-elegant performance I've ever witnessed:eek: Couldn't enjoy the dancing, hands freaked me out.

Woow, Yshka, I know exactly what performance you are talking about and I couldn't have described it more properly. What about the eyes? Did you notice? She had the most freaky look in her eyes I had ever seen. The thing is, this performer is calling herself a professional and people are paying to see her performance, she has given herself the right to teach others, to pass on whatever I saw her doing and this is exactly what disturbs me. This isn't a student who is "just doing her best" nor someone who dances for fun. By calling herself a professional dancer and instructor, she states that she is a qualified representative of this art and that is just wrong. Same thing about the contest Maria Aya had described: people are claiming to put a mirror image (or expression) to the audience of a certain form of art and by qualifying this image as acceptable and appreciation-worthy, they teach the audience to identify this art with this image. For example: my mom who is a complete stranger in the world of oriental dance sees the performance of this dancer in Belgium and concludes that this is what I'm learning, because the dancer is putting the same lable on her performance as I do on the thing I'm trying to learn.
 

Dheisha

New member
What a great thread!

I haven`t seen so many dancers live yet, but Randa Kamel at Oslo Oriental Dance Festival this year absolutely blew me away. She is amaaaaaaaaazing!
I`m travelling to Cairo in January so hopefully I will see many more perfomances there :D

As for the worst...Impossible to pick just one, but what makes me crawl down under my seat is when dancers are trying to look sexy, sauntering around stage with half-closed eyelids brrrrrrr. Also, dancers with uncontrolled, jerky movements and those who dance way too fast for the music :protest:

Oh, and once I watched a very good dancer who didn`t smile ONCE during her whole performance and generally looked like it was really bothersome for her to have an attentive audience. I was smiling and clapping but she just danced straight past me and wiggled in front of my boyfriend instead. We never returned to that restaurant! :lol:
 

Yshka

New member
OMG Yasmina, so true! I'm wondering,:lol: If you saw the same performance, what did you think of the costume change halfway (well..costume change as in ripping away the dress and so on and ending up in a really unflattering costume and throwing herself onto the floor instead of lowering down slowly and elegantly...:shok:

Her make up was way wrong and her face looked scary:rolleyes:

My group really did think it was a comedy act...
 

Aniseteph

New member
... a very good dancer who didn`t smile ONCE during her whole performance ...

My teacher said she once danced at an event and two Turkish girls said that she danced very well but "smiled too much". :D. I don't know if it's a Turkish/Egyptian-style difference, but some of the dancers I've seen on YouTube have been very serious, like it's a serious business being so sexy. :rolleyes:
 

Mariesaffron

New member
bad and good performances

one of the most beautyfull was Aisha Ali in full Ghawazee Costume dancing "Banat Mazin" with the Abu Kharage Mizmar group. another one was Sahara Saeeda's Melaya Leff Mesmerazing. Morocco,s coreography to Efred of Hakim, ( I Cryed ). Hadia dancing Fadda of Hossam Ramzy breath taking. Tarik Sultan dancing Aho Aho of Hakim spell bounding. Hadia's Award wining Tale of the Sahara Coreography. Amaya dancing ' Ojos asi " of Shakira, beautyfull! so I guess that made up for all the bad performances. Mariesaffron
 

Ludmilla

New member
having just discovered Orit from Antiseteph's clip -- Here's another I really like!!



(can't really reply to best and worst - don't get to see much live BD and certainly not from Greats. SO, I rely on You Tube a lot -- I agree w/ Yska - if I had to choose one clip only - on a desert island etc etc etc - it would also be the Naima Akif clip of Original Azize-- that has it all, for me, although thank goodness there are 100000,00000,000000's to choose from (and on UTube)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHw8gTZsFaU&mode=related&search=

also this Saida clip is just one of my favorites -- I LOVE this song -- :)
 
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