Hi Everyone, My thoghts on the topic pretty much revolves around the concept of belly dance as a woman's dance. If you think about it, how many times has this dance been described as "for all shapes, sizes and ages for women". Or good exercse to burn off unwanted pounds or better yet the concept of the "goddess dance" It's easy to subconsciously believe that there is no place for males. Belly dance as we know it today(and all of its permutations) is a performance art, complete with glittery /tribal costumes designed to fit the female form and please the audience eyes, the placement of males in this venue again seeems odd esp to Western cultural values.
IMO, the goddess concept is part of that Western fantasy we still hold on to when we see a bellydancer, I, personally don't suscribe to that theory, I see bellydance as the artistic expression of the folkloric traditions of the Middle East and North Africa, where there is a strong tradition of male dancers, using the exact movements we use today, Dancers such as Tarik,DaVid, Zorba, Rico,Jim Boz, John Compton etc, continue to carry on that tradition very well. Maybe for me my cultural background(African-American) can easily accept male dancers because dance is for everyone, males and females doing the same moves. I enjoy seeing my Brothers in Dance in exciting costumes, dancing with passion and precision.
Yasmine
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