Bellydancing in SUBWAY STATION/METRO - dancethisweek 15

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lucamaria

New member
This should be required in all Metros!
I just received an e-mail from a friend with this video and i had to share !!!
I love the interactions and concept ... apparently she does a dance in a random place every week !! I don't think i would have the guts to do that !

Here is the website for more !! I also love week 7 and 8
www.dancethisweek.com
 
onela

onela

New member
Is that in Montreal? Look at all those dirty rotten Habs fans ;)

Seriously though that looks pretty fun.
 
Gia al Qamar

Gia al Qamar

New member
I have very mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I appreciate how much she loves this dance and what fun it must be to trot it out for the everyday person...but it also reinforces why no one takes "Belly Dance" as a serious art form when a full costumed trained dancer parades around a subway station shaking it for the general public who aren't looking at her as an artist, but as a half dressed woman shaking it for their amusement.
 
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onela

onela

New member
I'm not sure I follow you, Gia. I don't see anybody in the video treating her like a "half dressed woman they can grab and gyrate against" (why would she have made 15 of these videos if people treated her so poorly? I'd have packed it in half way through the first if that was the case). I see her trying to normalize what is, I think you and I do agree on, a generally misunderstood dance form. I see her engaging people in belly dance, reinforcing our much-touted belief that it's for everybody (and every belly).

I wonder if a single dancer in full costume in a public place is the most effective way to bring our art to the people- I wonder if this conversation in this thread would take a different turn had the video posted been the belly dance equivilant of, say, the T-Mobile spontaneous dance ad:



What I think is phenominal about the OP's video and the T-Mobile vid is that people obviously love spontaneous (performance) dance (more evident of the T-Mobile thing in the followup videos, like this one).
 
maylynn

maylynn

New member
I love this idea!

It is totally out of context, but looks like tons of fun and I think the dancer is lovely and her approach is very sweet and playful. She is also certainly creative for coming up with the idea and brave for carrying it out!

I think having someone with the camera there filming lends it legitimacy - I certainly would not don my costume and go dance in the London tube all by myself, for example. It's like performance art - the real joy in this is in the interactions with the audience, wherever they may be. Brilliant!
 
Pleasant dancer

Pleasant dancer

New member
I think her website should be required viewing for everyone who desires to dance in restaurants or other venues where the public might not be too keen, or very surprised, by the dancer.

Great for demonstrating the different types of response you can expect to received (totally ignore, pretend you're not there, engage in purposeful conversation with boyfriend to distract him etc) and how to turn this around so that people smile :D!
 
GypsyStacey

GypsyStacey

New member
I think this is a brillant idea. Her dancing is lovely. I've watched many though not all her vids. I love the interaction with the people. I think this is a positive thing for bellydance. she's dressed lovely (not half dressed) & she's acting very professional. I see this no different than a skilled musician in the metro playing an instrument. No wait I do she's not asking for ppl to tip her. those that see her as 'less than' are going to be the ppl that find the street musician 'noise,' the street mime 'annoying' & the atrist drawing with chalk on the sidewalk a 'vandal.' We can't control how others see us. What we can do is protray our art in a classy fashion which i think she does. she's just thinking outside of the box. Marketing for her classes. There actually a new dancer to this forum who is one of her students.
 
Nath

Nath

New member
If I were 30 years younger I'd so totally do this! What a great idea and love the idea she shows the people the moves and has so much fun with it. :clap:
 
Gia al Qamar

Gia al Qamar

New member
As I said, I have mixed feelings about it. She's obviously a lovely dancer who's enjoying what she's doing...but 'normalizing' it for the GP by dancing in the streets, subways and other assorted areas? Ya lost me there.
My feeling is that street dancing is meant for the streets...I have no problem with that...but having danced as long as I have and having to deal with the GP's sordid view of Middle Eastern dance as being a 'low brow' artform relegated to red-light districts in Egypt and burlesque in this country makes me sad to see a beautiful dancer dancing in the streets.
This isn't a matter for debate...it's just my personal feeling about seeing this dance performed in a subway...
 
Aniseteph

Aniseteph

New member
I have mixed thoughts about "normalizing" too. Some dancers wear coverups precisely NOT to normalize.

IMO the reason the T-mobile massed dance worked was the work that had obviously gone into such an apparently random daft thing. There's a whole different level of meaning in there than there is in one bellydancer and her camera person.

(And also everyone who has ever commuted through Liverpool Street Station with some fab music on their personal player has wished everyone would suddenly go into a mega choreographed dance routine... :confused: ... haven't they? Well I know I have. 20+ years ahead of you on the waltz, T-mobile ;)).
 
lizaj

lizaj

New member
I have mixed feelings on this.
I assume this is promotion and she is a tasteful looking dancer so the image is OK.I just have a problem with "cabaret" costumes as outdoor wear. They are evening entertainment wear. But maybe I am up my bum. I was the one who refused to WALK in carnivals and dance with the wind blowing my chiffon over my head on fun days. I don't find it appropriate and prefer to see dancers in folkloric or tribal dance gear when not under the cover of darkness.
I would hazard a guess that this has been one of those marketing ideas handed out like the 40 days on Youtube blog.She's raising her profile and that's how you get the work.
I don't have to like it though.
 
Amulya

Amulya

Moderator
I have done it once in public with a friend on 'Queen's Day' (Dutch thing), we were much more covered up, but that I won't ever do again. Was just not nice.
 
onela

onela

New member
Gia al Qamar said:
As I said, I have mixed feelings about it. She's obviously a lovely dancer who's enjoying what she's doing...but 'normalizing' it for the GP by dancing in the streets, subways and other assorted areas? Ya lost me there.
My feeling is that street dancing is meant for the streets...I have no problem with that...but having danced as long as I have and having to deal with the GP's sordid view of Middle Eastern dance as being a 'low brow' artform relegated to red-light districts in Egypt and burlesque in this country makes me sad to see a beautiful dancer dancing in the streets.
This isn't a matter for debate...it's just my personal feeling about seeing this dance performed in a subway...
Click to expand...

I can't stop thinking about this thread, this is some real 2.0 stuff right here in this series of videos. I love that she's challenging the way we think about presenting our dance to a non-enthusiast crowd, and what is and isn't a performance venue. Last night the gears were turning in my head thinking about this, it's a little embarssing as I am sure that, like mentioned elsewhere in this thread, this is in part about publicity and promoting her business rather than stimlating intellectual thought about performing dance!

Anyhow, one thing I wanted to further discuss from your most recent reply, Gia (quoted above) is that street dancing is meant for the streets. For better or for worse, many of us enthusiast (not professional) dancers don't necessarily have access to proper venues for performance opportunities. Personally, I don't feel that just because any dance is performed on the street, that makes it "street dancing". I feel that there's nothing wrong with dance and with it happening in unusual places. Obviously, this lass being a pro and not a hobbyist, it turns all of this on its ear.

Normally, I agree that performers should not mingle with the general public/audience in costume and stage makeup, but what makes all this very 2.0 is what happens when your performance space is so loosely defined, when there is no backstage to retreat to? How could or does one maintain mystique, or in what circumstances do we relax our standards? Should we even do that?

Anyhow kudos to lucamaria for blowing my mind, why I'm so preoccupied with this thread I will never know!
 
Amulya

Amulya

Moderator
And the lack of music, unless someone brings music for her, maybe the person who filmed it, but without music it wouldn't make sense.

Onela, what does 2.0 mean?
 
nouraki

nouraki

New member
I couldnt do that,noway!I dont know that to say.:think: Maybe,I know....but I cant express my words by a good way cause my english is awful.Anyway,I'll try. :(
This concept didnt impress me.She has courage but....Its not something soooo special for making people impressed or having fun....for street entertainment I think there are people who are specialized on this. :)
Of course,It's ok if she had fun with that.......:)
 
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Gia al Qamar

Gia al Qamar

New member
onela said:
Anyhow, one thing I wanted to further discuss from your most recent reply, Gia (quoted above) is that street dancing is meant for the streets. For better or for worse, many of us enthusiast (not professional) dancers don't necessarily have access to proper venues for performance opportunities.
Click to expand...

Happy to continue this chat!

I wish that everyone had a great stage on which to dance with an appreciative audience to boot. In the beginning, many do not have the best stages, or any stages, audiences etc...but that doesn't mean that we should make our own stage anywhere that amuses us...right?
I once visited a place where the assembled dancers swore that they had NO venue where they could present their dance. I had them fetch me a phone book...I called a home for the elderly and they JUMPED at the chance to book the group. Libraries often have theme months, parks and recreation have events, there are TONS of charitable organizations looking for dancers to donate their service...hobbyists have a wealth of places to dance...they just have to look!


Normally, I agree that performers should not mingle with the general public/audience in costume and stage makeup, but what makes all this very 2.0 is what happens when your performance space is so loosely defined, when there is no backstage to retreat to? How could or does one maintain mystique, or in what circumstances do we relax our standards? Should we even do that?
Click to expand...

MY OPINION? One should NEVER relax one's standards...ever...in any regard...and certainly never in her art. Ever.
If I performed in a venue with no backstage, I would turn my back to the audience once I was finished and slip my cover-up on. Once the cover-up is on, I visit with the GP.
I complete agree with the poster who mentioned being out in bedleh in daylight. No matter WHAT the occasion, my belly is COVERED if the show is before 5 p.m. Ditto with my troupe dancers who perform with me.
I didn't always do this...but have come to understand how important it is to convey the beauty of the dance in a respectable way rather than have it be misinterpreted by an group of people who are suddenly expected to be an audience.

BTW...I have danced at street fairs in more 'earthy' attire...cotton skirts and harem pants, gotten shoppers to put down their bags and dance with me...but it was a show with music and in a controlled setting...
 
onela

onela

New member
Amulya said:
And the lack of music, unless someone brings music for her, maybe the person who filmed it, but without music it wouldn't make sense.

Onela, what does 2.0 mean?
Click to expand...

(I wonder if she had music that we can't see the source of that's been lost in editing, too- I'm going to Montreal next month and I am so fascinated with her project's concept I'm determined to catch her in the act!)

Regarding 2.0- I struggle to verbalize what I'm getting at- think Web 2.0, or to put it in terms of my day job, museum2.0. I lazily just throw the term 2.0 at stuff that's sort of outside the conventional, particularly when it comes to participatory experiences. Think instead of a one-sided exchange (like reading info on a static web page or watching a show) participating in it (like contributing to wikipedia, or being in the show instead of watching it).

@Gia my last reply was not well worded so when I've got the chance I'm going to address your awesome reply- long story short is that on many points you are preaching to the choir :)
 
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