Jamil is not a real Bellydancer

[Dev]

Hello Group
I am a member of a google group "Orkut" one of the popular members only group in India and Brazil. There are several forums for Belly dance that I'm involved in. recently i posted a video of Jamil a male dancer from Sydney. which hasn't got many positive responses and a Few members think its not Belly dancing, One of the poster writes

am so sorry to disappoint you, but I don't call this dance, .. he is just shaking his body... dance must be harmonious... it could be a belly dance for those who don't know what the belly dance is... but it's not belly dance from a middle eastern perspective... search for Tito in you tube... he is dancing... or a link from Google I left in this forum.. few messages below.. that would be called belly dance...
my sincere apologies!

I kinda liked his style of dance, I was always thinking he does Raqs Sarqi, but I could be wrong, what are your thoughts/

 

[Shanazel]

His arms and upper body are a disaster area, I don't care much for his wide stance, and he spends too long faced away from his audience, but I'd say at least parts of him were belly dancing.

 

[slinks]

Jamil is a member here too, I remember seeing his youtube posts awhile back

Threads started by Jamil http://forum.orientaldancer.net/search.php?searchid=88985

I liked him but as Shanazel says his arms a a bit lose but it could be a guy thing .. I did like him though

 

[perfumeshop]

I liked his dancing. he has a relaxed and easy way with great hip movements. I'm never a one for tummy tricks but he can do these and use his shoulders. No, he doesn't use the stage much but then it's drum solo and not a big stage anyway. And yes he dances like he doesn't quite know what to do with his hands and arms. He certainly isn't alone in that and we all know female dancers who could do with attention to arms. I wonder if we are sometimes more ready to fault men dancers that like women operating in a male dominated activity they have to do so much more to impress.:think:
I would suggest that his detractor a) doesn't rate belly dance or b) can't get their head around the gender issue.

 

[Safran]

I've always quite liked Jamil - his dancing seems easy-going and he responds to the music. And I would call it belly dance... It is a pity the poster didn't specify what bellydance is in his/her opinion. Just saying what its not...

 

[Aisha Azar]

Jamil

Dear Dipali,
He looks to me like a rather new dancer who just has not put all the pieces in his belly dance yet. He looks like a student rather than a profession, but he has the belly dance elements there. He look slike he will be very good one day.
Regards,
A'isha

 

[Mark_Balahadia]

Dear Dipali,
He looks to me like a rather new dancer who just has not put all the pieces in his belly dance yet. He looks like a student rather than a profession, but he has the belly dance elements there. He look slike he will be very good one day.
Regards,
A'isha

I've spoken to Jamil before and he is of Syrian origin so he's always known the "ra's beledi". However, I've always thought he looked a bit "raw around the edges". Sometimes his stance is too wide and it does look like he's not sure what to do with his arms/hands. I agree with A'isha that he has the potential to be a wonderful dancer.

I'm just surprised that being Arab, he's ok with showing that much skin...

 

[prince ali baba]

He's an Aussie

I've spoken to Jamil before and he is of Syrian origin so he's always known the "ra's beledi". However, I've always thought he looked a bit "raw around the edges". Sometimes his stance is too wide and it does look like he's not sure what to do with his arms/hands. I agree with A'isha that he has the potential to be a wonderful dancer.

I'm just surprised that being Arab, he's ok with showing that much skin...

Well he's a native Australian and only Arabian by descent. So that might be why it's not a big issue with him.

 

[LLAIMA]

Since this is my first time posting I would like to say that I've been reading you all for a while and think this is a great forum, now, in reference to dancer Jamil; I see his "belly" dancing, I think he is got talent and like that he has a masculine style; he would only need to work on stage energy.

 

[Mya]

i certainly enjoyed watching him dance...well maybe from the chest down...his arms were quite distracting.
i think he's rough around the edges but has great potential!

 

[flutter]

I think he is a great budding dancer with great potential. With the right teacher he could be a star. I agree he needs a lot of work but why bash the poor guy?

 

[janaki]

I liked his dance. Good hip work. Arms are just a little floppy. Over all, he is good at what he is doing and he can only get better. I wish him all the best.

 

[Sharif]

Jamil is definitely a belly dancer!

When I first saw an older clip of Jamil a year ago I was already impressed with his hip isolations (I was nowhere near there at the time...). This video is definitely even better, and he is doing a good show and has good rapport with the audience. His moves are on cue and he seems relaxed in his performance. :clap:

I am disappointed with the amount of the negativity in this thread - we all have our weak points, and the fact that a video is out doesn't mean the person claims to be competing for the world's best dancer. It seems that once somebody throws out a "weak arms" comment, everybody chimes in with total disregard of humility or compassion.

And the "this is not belly dance" meme is getting really old. There is no definition of belly dance other than what the dictionary and general audience say it is - and he certainly complies with that. I am sure the audience thought it was belly dance, it was entertaining and worthwhile. That's all that's there to it!

 

[Shanazel]

Sorry you are disappointed in us, Sharif. Seems to me the comments are more objective than negative, with a good number of encouraging words thrown in as well.

I learned more from a single comment from an informed on-looker ("you drop your chest when you dance") than I ever did from a slew of warm and fuzzy observations about my audience rapport and relaxed presentation. I suppose I could've chosen to feel bashed by the woman, but it made a lot more sense to look in the mirror and think, "Ah, nuts, she's right" and do something about it.

 

[Aisha Azar]

When I first saw an older clip of Jamil a year ago I was already impressed with his hip isolations (I was nowhere near there at the time...). This video is definitely even better, and he is doing a good show and has good rapport with the audience. His moves are on cue and he seems relaxed in his performance. :clap:

I am disappointed with the amount of the negativity in this thread - we all have our weak points, and the fact that a video is out doesn't mean the person claims to be competing for the world's best dancer. It seems that once somebody throws out a "weak arms" comment, everybody chimes in with total disregard of humility or compassion.

And the "this is not belly dance" meme is getting really old. There is no definition of belly dance other than what the dictionary and general audience say it is - and he certainly complies with that. I am sure the audience thought it was belly dance, it was entertaining and worthwhile. That's all that's there to it!

Dear Sharif,
I disagree. There IS a definition of belly dance, other than what the dictionary and the general audience says it is. The dictionary gives a very vague description that could fit any number of dances. It is not the job of the audience to know what belly dance is or is not. It is the job of the dancers who claim to be performing it to know what they are doing. By the way, I was one of those who did NOT criticize Jamil's dancing. Something can be entertaining and worthwhile without being belly dance in the least. Sorry, but there is much more to it than that.
Regards,
A'isha

 

[Mark_Balahadia]

I am disappointed with the amount of the negativity in this thread - we all have our weak points, and the fact that a video is out doesn't mean the person claims to be competing for the world's best dancer. It seems that once somebody throws out a "weak arms" comment, everybody chimes in with total disregard of humility or compassion.
it!

Sharif, an honest critique is an honest critique. To be fair, if someone puts a video of themselves on youtube (like youself or myself) then we are asking people to comment whether positive or negative.

 

[prince ali baba]

You Can Do This

Sharif, an honest critique is an honest critique. To be fair, if someone puts a video of themselves on youtube (like youself or myself) then we are asking people to comment whether positive or negative.

Not neccessarily you can do this instead:disable comments on your video's page or approve or disapprove of them before having them posted by people who come across the videos. Those settings existence on youtube. Tim Hayes

 

[Amulya]

He looks to me like a rather new dancer who just has not put all the pieces in his belly dance yet. He looks like a student rather than a profession, but he has the belly dance elements there. He look slike he will be very good one day.

Exactly. I think it's nonsense to say it's not belly dance. It is belly dance! But yes there are things he still has to work on.

 

[pearl]

On seeing the video clip the first time I was amazed by Jamil's talent. He seemed to me to be a professional dancer. After seeing the clip several times I too notice that the arms seem to 'hang' in a way that does not quite seem to belong to the technique of proper belly dancing. True I'm a beginner, but I've been watching quite a number of clips on You Tube and I've got a book about belly dancing too which gives a lot of instruction as to the shoulders/arms/hands technique.

Someone mentioned the small stage shown in the clip. I had the impression that Jamil is dancing in a small hotel or large private party.

Was surprised that he has been brought up in Australia and that he was a member of this forum too! :shok:

 

[chryssanthi sahar]

Hi folks.

I just discovered this thread about Jamil. First of all: JAMIL IS A BELLYDANCER and what he is doing is real belly dance. So whoever in Orkut said that he is not really belly dancing just knows nothing about belly dancing. O.k. Jamil may not be perfect, he surely has his week points (for example the arms), but he is still young and he will develop. I think that he is a very talented dancer and I'm sure that he will become very good, if he keeps on training and learning. His shimmies are great, he has a very nice aura and his dancing looks fluent (plus that he is cute:lol.