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Tarik Sultan · 01-06-2008, 04:38 PM

As usual, not a very well researched article full of sterotypes and yet another confirmation of why I stay away from the term belly dance. As said before, for many people it is a generic term which does not differentiate between the professional and the social dance. The article is accurate in that male and female dancing have been around for a long time, however, its more like thousands rather than hundreds of years. If fails to mention that Baladi is a social dance that is done traditionally by both sexes, leading the reader to believe that a guy moving his hips in Egypt is something out of the ordinary, when in fact it isn't at all. The claim that it was outlawed by Nasser's government is just plain fiction.

Because they fail to mention that it is a social dance they over play the who issue of homosexuality. The word Khawal was not Arabic for "MAle Dancer" it's Egyptian Arabic slang for fagg. Its a term used to describe an effeminate homosexual. In the past, men who were overtly effeminate, who could not hide behind getting married and having kids were bared from "respectable" professions and society. The only work they could get was in entertainment, so a lot of them became dancers. It doesn't mean that all dancers were Khawals or that all khawals were dancers.

What this guy is doing is more in the Baladi style and has never gone out of style. I wasn't aware of it in Cairo, but it definately did and still does exist in the rural areas. This is local dance done by members of the community for the community, not for tourists or the entertainment industry.

Raks Sharki was developed from the social dance and it is a very recent innovation. It was created with the intention of providing eye candy for a male clientel, however, the dancers themselves were intent that it should have artistic standards and not just be a girlie show. They made it more dramatic, more dynamic and incorporated theatrical elements and use of space and a theatrical costume to create the form we are now familiar with.

I further object to the mentioning of homosexuality hassesh somoking and prostitution. Why was that neccessary? If he were writing about the ballet would he have found it neccessary to mention that ballarinas were associated with prostitution and charged male guests admission fees to their dressing rooms after the shows? You think that some of them still don't have relations with wealthy men for financial gain to this day? HELL YEAH THEY DO and we all know this sort of thing goes on, but we also recognize it has nothing to do with the art form. Or if they were doing an article about a male ballet dancer would they have found it neccessary to mention that most of them if not homosexual are perceived to be so by the general population? Do they mention that Nureyev was gay? I didn't even know he was untill he had dies of AIDS. So it its not neccesary to associate Western dance forms with a seamy past, why is it that so often when we see articles about our dance they have to go raking through the mud.

It just smacks of half assed journalism by someone either too lazy to do the work, or a publication that restricts the length of an article to the point where enough relevant details are not possible. Over all, I'm not impressed, in fact I'm underwhelmed.

01-06-2008, 04:38 PM	#23 (permalink)
Tarik Sultan V.I.P. Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Jersey City, New Jersey Posts: 1,453	So close but yet so far! As usual, not a very well researched article full of sterotypes and yet another confirmation of why I stay away from the term belly dance. As said before, for many people it is a generic term which does not differentiate between the professional and the social dance. The article is accurate in that male and female dancing have been around for a long time, however, its more like thousands rather than hundreds of years. If fails to mention that Baladi is a social dance that is done traditionally by both sexes, leading the reader to believe that a guy moving his hips in Egypt is something out of the ordinary, when in fact it isn't at all. The claim that it was outlawed by Nasser's government is just plain fiction. Because they fail to mention that it is a social dance they over play the who issue of homosexuality. The word Khawal was not Arabic for "MAle Dancer" it's Egyptian Arabic slang for fagg. Its a term used to describe an effeminate homosexual. In the past, men who were overtly effeminate, who could not hide behind getting married and having kids were bared from "respectable" professions and society. The only work they could get was in entertainment, so a lot of them became dancers. It doesn't mean that all dancers were Khawals or that all khawals were dancers. What this guy is doing is more in the Baladi style and has never gone out of style. I wasn't aware of it in Cairo, but it definately did and still does exist in the rural areas. This is local dance done by members of the community for the community, not for tourists or the entertainment industry. Raks Sharki was developed from the social dance and it is a very recent innovation. It was created with the intention of providing eye candy for a male clientel, however, the dancers themselves were intent that it should have artistic standards and not just be a girlie show. They made it more dramatic, more dynamic and incorporated theatrical elements and use of space and a theatrical costume to create the form we are now familiar with. I further object to the mentioning of homosexuality hassesh somoking and prostitution. Why was that neccessary? If he were writing about the ballet would he have found it neccessary to mention that ballarinas were associated with prostitution and charged male guests admission fees to their dressing rooms after the shows? You think that some of them still don't have relations with wealthy men for financial gain to this day? HELL YEAH THEY DO and we all know this sort of thing goes on, but we also recognize it has nothing to do with the art form. Or if they were doing an article about a male ballet dancer would they have found it neccessary to mention that most of them if not homosexual are perceived to be so by the general population? Do they mention that Nureyev was gay? I didn't even know he was untill he had dies of AIDS. So it its not neccesary to associate Western dance forms with a seamy past, why is it that so often when we see articles about our dance they have to go raking through the mud. It just smacks of half assed journalism by someone either too lazy to do the work, or a publication that restricts the length of an article to the point where enough relevant details are not possible. Over all, I'm not impressed, in fact I'm underwhelmed.