Aniseteph
New member
Out of interest and with the "history of BD in the UK" thread in my mind, what was the date on that article?
Yep. And supposedly grown up, thinking adults can't think beyond this paradigm. Its *ALL* artificial, SOMEONE MADE THIS STUFF UP! It has no bearing whatsoever on absolute reality. None. Zip. Zero.
Out of interest and with the "history of BD in the UK" thread in my mind, what was the date on that article?
This ain't Tango...It seems the majority seem to be against a sexual dynamic in a duet? Is this necessarily a bad thing though? The Tango is basically two people coming as close as they can to making love on a dance floor without actually doing it, and that can be a great duet to watch...
Nuts - it would have been a good idea at the time, huh? Its probably about 5 years old now...Out of interest and with the "history of BD in the UK" thread in my mind, what was the date on that article?
I didn't mean sexual in the pant-pant-pout-pout way. Rather the emphasis is moved from playing with the music and to playing with your partner. (I have not seen this shift in same sex duets)As for the statement a few people made about sexual dynamic in male/female duets, I have to say I honestly have not seen much of that at all in any of the many partner belly dance performances I have seen. Perhaps I am naive and my idea of "sexual dynamic" is different from other people's, but I've always found these performances to be fun and playful, sometimes maybe a little flirtacious but almost never sexual. I can only think of one or two that crossed into that realm.
I didn't mean sexual in the pant-pant-pout-pout way. Rather the emphasis is moved from playing with the music and to playing with your partner. (I have not seen this shift in same sex duets)
This ain't Tango...
I don't like seeing sexuality in dance - my dance or anyone else's. That's just "my thing".
This ain't Tango...
I don't like seeing sexuality in dance - my dance or anyone else's. That's just "my thing".
Tango is very different from bellydance as well. I love tango. It's my other passion in life and it's all about the sensuality, intimacy and closeness and the feeling of your partner in your arms and the feeling that the world could end and you wouldn't even notice.
Bellydance "feels" different for want of a better word.
The words "mental prison" have been mentioned a lot here, and I think that's spot-on. So many guys (and this may be cultural because I find this especially with American caucasian guys that I know)...so many guys I know really, really have this entrenched thought that dancing, unless one is dancing sexy with a girl or unless it's REALLY manly aggressive dance, is just plain "gay".
This is a HUGE debate in our community. I don't like it, myself. It cheapens our dance and confuses it with other dance forms.Having that preference is fine, but surely it's equally fine to like it?
I like a good Tango I think I might enjoy seeing a belly dance duet that was "sexy" in a similar way...
It actually hooks into a number of discussions we have had about what exactly is belly dance. Traditionally it is Solo Improvised with Torso Articulations. Most people are happy to include group dances which are choreographed in the style. That is, with the movement vocabulary and musicality associated with its countries of origin. Another test is would a person from, say, Egypt recognize the dance as belly dance, or raqs sharqi or raqs beledi?I guess it just sounded like you guys were shutting a potential area of belly dance down because of your personal preference, which seems ironically similar to, say, not allowing men to belly dance because some people have a preference against that...
If someone wanted to do it, they should be free to do it. And of course, you would all be free to not like it.
When you get into a steamy pas de deux where the sexual tension overpowers the music then, no, it ceases to be belly dance (that is not to say you cannot have a mixed sex duet doing belly dance just the particular one in my head doesn't deserve the name). This isn't a question of preference but definition.
L42yB said:And so now I have this irrational fear about dancing. Especially in front of someone else. The mere thought terrifies me. And since my upbringing is probably not entirely dissimilar to a lot of other men, I can only assume that I'm not alone in feeling like this. It's much easier to hide behind the excuse that men shouldn't dance, than it is to face that fear.
I went to an all boys school where anyone who did any kind of dancing was guaranteed to get the s*** kicked out of him on a regular basis. I played music, did drama and acting and only just managed to get away with that because I was also captain of the rugby team.
But dancing would have been a social death sentence. For just the reason you said. You would be labelled as "gay" and the environment was ridiculously homophobic. Probably a bunch of repressed closet cases ruining it for everyone else.
I ended up protesting to my parents until the eventually agreed to send me to a coed school, but I guess the damage was done because I've never been able to dance. I've tried, at times in the past, but all attempts have gone badly and only served to emphasize and support my belief that dancing = social suicide, at least for me.
And so now I have this irrational fear about dancing. Especially in front of someone else. The mere thought terrifies me. And since my upbringing is probably not entirely dissimilar to a lot of other men, I can only assume that I'm not alone in feeling like this. It's much easier to hide behind the excuse that men shouldn't dance, than it is to face that fear.
Nuts - it would have been a good idea at the time, huh? Its probably about 5 years old now...