Hadassah
New member
My first experience on a personal level with a male dancer was with Raffa last month. I took a workshop with him, and found him to be very affable and a good teacher. His movements were quite masculine, but still the same basic movements of bellydance. He didn't "try" to masculinize them, they just appeared different on his body. His undulations were the same as ours, just not as soft.
Speaking for myself, when I saw him dance, I much preferred his Saidi cane number over his cabaret number. I like to see more folkloric dances with the guys, I don't know why, it just appeals to me. On every DVD I own with male dancers, it's the debkes, shaabi numbers, and cane numbers that I love. Call it prejudice, but I just prefer Raqs Sharki danced by a woman. I think there are some very fine dancers out there who are male, and I have seen some very beautiful movements on the male form. To all you fellas out there, keep dancing. After all, this is America, and if you want to bellydance, you should.
I do agree with A'isha that the majority of Arabs dislike seeing a man dance sharki. One of my dancer friends is married to a Lebanese man, and every time a man gets on stage at a show, he gets upset. I don't now why it's this way, but it is. The last workshop I was at, There were two Saudi men in the audience at the show. They were laughing at a lot, but especially at the men. I know it's not nice, but in their culture men don't "belly-dance" per se - they do folkloric or just celebratory dances. I'm sure there are male dancers in Egypt who do cabaret, and there might be an underground movement toward that, but I think A'isha's right about the Arabs seeing it as "shameful."
Speaking for myself, when I saw him dance, I much preferred his Saidi cane number over his cabaret number. I like to see more folkloric dances with the guys, I don't know why, it just appeals to me. On every DVD I own with male dancers, it's the debkes, shaabi numbers, and cane numbers that I love. Call it prejudice, but I just prefer Raqs Sharki danced by a woman. I think there are some very fine dancers out there who are male, and I have seen some very beautiful movements on the male form. To all you fellas out there, keep dancing. After all, this is America, and if you want to bellydance, you should.
I do agree with A'isha that the majority of Arabs dislike seeing a man dance sharki. One of my dancer friends is married to a Lebanese man, and every time a man gets on stage at a show, he gets upset. I don't now why it's this way, but it is. The last workshop I was at, There were two Saudi men in the audience at the show. They were laughing at a lot, but especially at the men. I know it's not nice, but in their culture men don't "belly-dance" per se - they do folkloric or just celebratory dances. I'm sure there are male dancers in Egypt who do cabaret, and there might be an underground movement toward that, but I think A'isha's right about the Arabs seeing it as "shameful."