Quote:
Originally Posted by Brea
Tarik-
Yes, I did get your pm; sorry I have been away for Christmas!!
Re: the goddess theory. Being around the bellydance community on the Big Island of Hawai'i...that is ALL they teach. I know that it is not the end of the 'divine feminine' as being the reason for the dance. I was just mentioning it because for me, that inaccuracy in its history is what sticks in my craw the most.
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Perhaps if you make the Hula analogy people will get it. The Hula if I remember correctly was dedicated to Pele a female deity, however, you wouldn't consider Hula a woman's dance. At one time that was the perception, and a certain style of dance was created to entertain the tourists based on that perception, but the roots of the dance are much deeper. Just as people once misperceived Hula as a fertility ritual, so too is Oriental Dance perceived the same way and forr the same reasons. Perhaps if you explain it that way they will get it. Also, like elsewhere in the world, the fact that people just learn the dance without any input or experience with the native population means that more often than not, the dance is being done ouside of its cultural context, therefore the fantasy and speculation as to its origins.