Interesting article found on Pininterest;
- Thread starter khanjar
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Aniseteph
New member
If I never hear the word wiggle associated with belly dance again it will be too soon.
They quoted some good stuff and yay for Andrea Deagon saying it's a human experience thing, but there was a whiff of that old article Zorba loves so much (joke!) with the male and female movements.
So come on you lot, who's been holding out on me, when do I get to learn the dark art of knocking a man of his seat with my hip? Or the swoon move that is unfit for men to do - seriously, what is that? Turkish drop? I've seen Ozgen do that; extremely not girly IMHO.
Also I'm not sure about the bit about women not dancing for men in Muslim society. Not for religious types maybe, and not if they want to be thought of as nice girls, but I think it happens
Was that "our" Tarik they were talking about at the end?
They quoted some good stuff and yay for Andrea Deagon saying it's a human experience thing, but there was a whiff of that old article Zorba loves so much (joke!) with the male and female movements.
So come on you lot, who's been holding out on me, when do I get to learn the dark art of knocking a man of his seat with my hip? Or the swoon move that is unfit for men to do - seriously, what is that? Turkish drop? I've seen Ozgen do that; extremely not girly IMHO.
Also I'm not sure about the bit about women not dancing for men in Muslim society. Not for religious types maybe, and not if they want to be thought of as nice girls, but I think it happens
Was that "our" Tarik they were talking about at the end?
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Pirika Repun
New member
Yes. That 10 years ago’s “OUR Tarik” he was talking about. Tarik still has the costume (gold-embroidered vest and crushed velvet baggy pants of forest green) and he can wear it, BUT no linger with "bare-chested”
Now he wears black mesh shirt, and doesn’t do Moroccan Tea tray dance but do “Shisha dance”Also he is no longer high school teacher in the Bronx or dance at “Ladies night” Yeah, things has been changing since 10 years ago....
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Duvet
Member
"To the casual observer, the mechanics of the dance for men and women are much the same..." They're much the same to the dancer as well. This was the only part of the article I didn't care for - defining certain moves as masculine/feminine, and confusing that with biology.
An interesting article. I've never heard of male belly-dance classes before.
An interesting article. I've never heard of male belly-dance classes before.
Tarik Sultan
New member
I remember this piece of crap. The reporter took hours of my time and totally ignored most of the cultural and historical information I gave him, not to mention the research video footage I shared with him. The one semi factual paragraph in the article he totally took from me, without giving me any credit and for all that time, all I got was a metion of dancing in a restaurant and the compliment of knowing how to shake. BUT I'M NOT BITTER!
Honestly, more often than not, this has been my experience with the media. 9 times out of 10 they come to you with preconceived notions which they refuse to part with despite the amount of evidence given with credible proof to back it up. I stated very clearly, repeatedly, that this dance is primarily a social dance done by both sexes and it's only the aspect of popular entertainment developed in the early 20th century that was exclusively female. I gave him detailed explanations, verbally and written, of how, where, and why men have begun to perform it professionally...... and this is what he came up with.
What I've learned subsequently, is that most news media exist primarily for the sake of advertising. Therefore, the space given to written material is severely limited, making it almost impossible to tell an accurate story. I take most of what I read with a gigantic grain of salt.
Honestly, more often than not, this has been my experience with the media. 9 times out of 10 they come to you with preconceived notions which they refuse to part with despite the amount of evidence given with credible proof to back it up. I stated very clearly, repeatedly, that this dance is primarily a social dance done by both sexes and it's only the aspect of popular entertainment developed in the early 20th century that was exclusively female. I gave him detailed explanations, verbally and written, of how, where, and why men have begun to perform it professionally...... and this is what he came up with.
What I've learned subsequently, is that most news media exist primarily for the sake of advertising. Therefore, the space given to written material is severely limited, making it almost impossible to tell an accurate story. I take most of what I read with a gigantic grain of salt.
Shanazel
Moderator
Hallelujah, brother Tarik, and a chorus of amens! I quit doing interviews re: belly dance. Any requests are now referred to a dancer/teacher who thrives on publicity and never mind the misrepresentations and misunderstandings.
That being said and in the interest of full disclosure, I write for the media as a freelancer. I owe Salome an article right now.
That being said and in the interest of full disclosure, I write for the media as a freelancer.
I owe Salome an article right now.
Darshiva
Moderator
I am really, incredibly, lucky. My dealings with the press have been positive. Either they just print what I send them or they write an article that coherently follows the information I gave them in the interview.
I guess today's a day for counting my blessings - so far this is the second time I've realised how lucky I am with my dance and I've only been up for half an hour!
I guess today's a day for counting my blessings - so far this is the second time I've realised how lucky I am with my dance and I've only been up for half an hour!
Kashmir
New member
Yes, I remember a particularly annoying inteviewer with a bug in her bonnet. She kept trying to lead us into saying what she wanted to hear on camera. No-one bit - not even to say "it is not so that ..." - being aware the context could be removed. So she did it as a voice over. Grrr.
Tarik Sultan
New member
Hallelujah, brother Tarik, and a chorus of amens! I quit doing interviews re: belly dance. Any requests are now referred to a dancer/teacher who thrives on publicity and never mind the misrepresentations and misunderstandings.
That being said and in the interest of full disclosure, I write for the media as a freelancer.
So you ever find yourself in the situation where you're forced into editing your articles down to practically nothing?
Tarik Sultan
New member
Now that's sinking to a new low! That tops all the **cktarded nonsense I've had to deal with and then some!
Shanazel
Moderator
My articles have always been printed exactly as written because I do good research, edit my work judiciously, and present the buyer with exactly the word count desired.
Re: the voice over. Unprofessional, unethical, and indefensible.
Sophia Maria
New member
I KNOW! Enough with the wiggling midriff!
But in all seriousness, it wasn't a terrible article...just kind of stereotypical and not innovative. And then the feminine/masculine movements got brought up again. Men and women may tend to look different in the dance because of their different body structures, not because they should differentiate their dance. "Strong" hand movements? I'm a woman and I will sure as heck use "strong" hand positions if the music calls for it!
Sophia Maria
New member
Oh noooo! :naghty:
