Belly dancing while singing - how difficult is it?

[MariahK1993]

You seldom see bellydancers who sing and dance at the same time, but some do it. In this video from 2016, Syrena is performing at an event where she belly dances while singing a song. Is she really singing live there? If yes, it would be really impressive, because she sings and dances brilliantly.

 

[Shanazel]

Welcome to OD, MariahK. So happy to have you here. Do you dance yourself? Have a preferred style? Your new public wants to know.

Syrena isn't dancing; she's singing, posturing, and occasionally throwing in a shimmy or hip circle for special effect. Perhaps she's striving for 1990s Shakira, but she has a way to go yet.

Musical theater actors simultaneously dance and sing all the time. I think it was the late great Beverly Sills who sang a demanding operatic aria (in Aida, maybe?) from a reclining position- now that's hard! In another show, she sang and sliced potatoes in rhythm. Most of us would've lost fingers in that maneuver.

Aaaand, I drift off topic yet again...

A lot of belly dancers sing along to the music as they dance, but I've never seen one hold a microphone while she/he danced. Dina sang with the music frequently, though not loud enough to overwhelm the actual singer.

Dina dancing and singing

 

[Tourbeau]

It isn't uncommon for ME singers to do some moves during the instrumental parts of their songs, but generally, singing and dancing at the same time can degrade performance quality. The breathing required to dance energetically usually has a negative effect on one's singing, which is why most big Western pop stars who make dancing a major part of their concerts will lip sync or partially rely on a backing track. I have the impression that ME singers are still held to a fairly high live standard, though. Their audiences are paying for their vocal prowess, not a "visual entertainment extravaganza," but YMMV from singer to singer.

I also have the sense that there's a bit of a dynamic in conservative Muslim countries that a woman on stage to sing has already overstepped her social boundaries a little, so some female singers don't dance as much as they probably could.

Haifa Wehbe doesn't care if she offends anyone's delicate sensibilities. I'm pretty sure she's just pretending to sing here, but she's trying to look like she's doing both.

Haifa Wehbe "Ya Wad Ya Heliwa" (Cute Guy) English subtitles هيفاء يا واد يا حليوة

Boussy is definitely singing live here, and her dancing is scaled back.

المطربة بوسي , تبدع بغناء خسرت كل الناس , جورج وسوف

The guys will dance occasionally, too, but not usually "belly dancing."

Here's a clip of Assi al Hellani throwing down some dabke moves when he's not singing. I always get a kick out of that hold move he does.

عاصي الحلاني- دبكة و حنجلة على المسرح |Assi Hellani - Dabke on stage

And while Mohamed Ramadan is technically not a singer, here"s a concert clip where he's doing a big production number to his hit "Mafia" and he joins in the dancing for the signature gun move.

محمد رمضان.. مافيا .. الساحل لايف

P.S. I don't know how those old-school Broadway performers used to do it. All-out singing and dancing simultaneously seems like a lost art. I saw Madonna on her Blonde Ambition tour many, many years ago, and even she struggled to pull off both accomplishments.

 

[MariahK1993]

Thanks for the nice welcome, Shanazel. I'm not belly dancing myself, but I'm considering starting soon. I just hope that I'm not too old to start at 30. I prefer Turkish bellydance and Egyptian Raqs Sharqi. What is your preferred style?

I admire Syrena because she does it all: Singing, belly dancing, fire eating, snake charming. Really talented.

 

[MariahK1993]

Boussy is definitely singing live here, and her dancing is scaled back.

Thanks for the interesting reply, Tourbeau. Boussy really is a brilliant live singer. Do you think Syrena is also singing 100% live in her 2016 performance? I heard that she is a professional singer, belly dancer and fire eater. In this performance, she doesn't really dance much to be honest.

 

[Tourbeau]

Do you think Syrena is also singing 100% live in her 2016 performance?

I think she probably is singing live, since the audio quality is not consistently good, but there is always the possibility she tinkered with the audio to make it sound less polished or it was a recording of a live performance from somewhere else.

I heard that she is a professional singer, belly dancer and fire eater. In this performance, she doesn't really dance much to be honest.

There are quite a few videos on YouTube if you search on "Syrena Nikole," including one where she says she has been dancing since she was three because her mother was a belly dancer. It looks like most of her dance videos are a bit old, so I don't know how well they represent her current abilities.

 

[Shanazel]

Thanks for the nice welcome, Shanazel. I'm not belly dancing myself, but I'm considering starting soon. I just hope that I'm not too old to start at 30. I prefer Turkish bellydance and Egyptian Raqs Sharqi. What is your preferred style?

I admire Syrena because she does it all: Singing, belly dancing, fire eating, snake charming. Really talented.

Thirty? Nope. Not too old. I've had beginning students as young as eight and as old as mid-sixties. All did just fine and had a wonderful time. I started with AmCab. Despite branching out over the decades, that's always where my heart has been, even when folks started calling it American Oriental because "cabaret" is naughty in Europe (or some such thing).

 

[Zorba]

I didn't dance a step before I was 35, and didn't start Belly Dancing until I was 40. I'm now 62. I'm not the Goddess's gift to the artform for sure, but I have fun. AmCab dancer here with some Tribal, as well as being in a folkloric troupe for many years.

 

[Greek Bonfire]

30? Not at all! Like the others said, any age is a great time to begin!

 

[Ariadne]

Nope, 30's is definitely not to old to start.

Haifa Wehbe doesn't care if she offends anyone's delicate sensibilities. I'm pretty sure she's just pretending to sing here, but she's trying to look like she's doing both.

I think she is singing actually. She keeps the harder, more active, moves for when she isn't and sticks to subtler moves that can be done standing still for the most part when she is.

P.S. I don't know how those old-school Broadway performers used to do it. All-out singing and dancing simultaneously seems like a lost art. I saw Madonna on her Blonde Ambition tour many, many years ago, and even she struggled to pull off both accomplishments.

They did it by practicing 10 hours a day before ever stepping foot in front of the camera. I saw a behind the scenes of Singing in the Rain once and the actress that played the main role (it was her first big part) admitted to breaking down crying more then once from the pressure of trying to keep up with Gene Kelley's (and the others) work regiment. Those old school gentlemen (and ladies) had a work ethic like no other.

 

[Tourbeau]

I think she is singing actually. She keeps the harder, more active, moves for when she isn't and sticks to subtler moves that can be done standing still for the most part when she is.

Haifa has always been more of a spectacle than a singer, and it's a poorly kept secret how much she relies on Auto-Tune for her records. Listen to how pitchy her natural voice is here for comparison.*

I suppose it's also possible we're both right. She could be really singing and using a background track because the headset mike she's wearing isn't turned on in that first clip.

But it's a good observation that she adjusts her movement to be less demanding when she is supposed to be singing, especially when what's on YouTube can be sometimes slightly off sync between video and audio, and you can't always depend on mentally comparing their mouth to the sound to determine how well they line up. Other clues one might look for are whether you can hear the inhales between phrases or louder aspirations on some letters than others (usually it's the "popped 'p'" in English, but Arabic doesn't indigenously have that sound), if the singer is using a handheld or stand mike and the volume changes as they move, and whether they have audience engagement or extra spontaneous exclamations in the music.

It's also nearly impossible to lip sync a mawaal. The singers who sing them tend to be proud they can do them live, and trying to go through the motions of singing one almost always gives you away with the timing of your mouth position, breathing, and throat-muscle movement.

* Ugh. I used to remember how to disable embedding and put in a link so that posts wouldn't have the black box when a video didn't give linking permission, and I cannot find how to code that. Anybody know?

 

[Greek Bonfire]

You won't be able to share this video here or anywhere else. It's only available on the owner's YouTube channel.

 

[Zorba]

Direct Link to video on YooToob.

 

[Ariadne]

I suppose it's also possible we're both right. She could be really singing and using a background track because the headset mike she's wearing isn't turned on in that first clip.

I think that is it exactly. It would explain the discrepancies both ways.

 

[Greek Bonfire]

What boggles my mind is how many people are offended when dancers sing while dancing.

 

[Tourbeau]

Direct Link to video on YooToob.

Thanks, Zorba, that's what I wanted to do, but the reply feature doesn't show how you did it, just the QUOTE tag. What tags did you use?

 

[Zorba]

Thanks, Zorba, that's what I wanted to do, but the reply feature doesn't show how you did it, just the QUOTE tag. What tags did you use?

I used the little chain link icon, and filled out the dialog box. Silly new sub-page on Zorba's site.