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Aisha Azar · 01-15-2008, 03:00 PM

Dear Gang,
After many years of sporadic study,inheriting a costume, and a lot of other stuff, I have decided to teach Tunisian dance, both modern and traditional styles. One of the things that has stopped me all these years, even though I have been able to dance the dance for ages, was that I felt that I lacked background knowledge on the dance form. After searching the net and other sources for some time now, I am beginning to feel like I am not the only one.
I have info on costuming, music, dance movement, but there seems to be very little out there about the origins of the dance, specific locations for styles, specifics on musical choices for said styles, and other such info about the dance, Does anyone know of a good, accessible source or sources for this kind of info? I have studied the dance style now with three people, including Aisha Ali, and while they give little snippets of info, but nothing like what I have been able to gather for other dances styles. I usually like to start any class with information so that students have a good cultural background against which to begin their studies in the dance. Right now I feel unprepared to give them the best information about the dance itself, though other types of historical info abound.
Also, does anyone know of an American source for fibulae and the ankle bracelets with the bead inside?
Regards,
A'isha

PS: OH, and the most info I have found is on Habiba's site, where she tells about the origins of the pot dance and the scarf dance. Can anyone lead me to sources that substantiate that info?

01-15-2008, 03:00 PM	#1 (permalink)
Aisha Azar V.I.P. Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Pacific Northwest USA Posts: 4,768	Anyone for Tunisian? Dear Gang, After many years of sporadic study,inheriting a costume, and a lot of other stuff, I have decided to teach Tunisian dance, both modern and traditional styles. One of the things that has stopped me all these years, even though I have been able to dance the dance for ages, was that I felt that I lacked background knowledge on the dance form. After searching the net and other sources for some time now, I am beginning to feel like I am not the only one. I have info on costuming, music, dance movement, but there seems to be very little out there about the origins of the dance, specific locations for styles, specifics on musical choices for said styles, and other such info about the dance, Does anyone know of a good, accessible source or sources for this kind of info? I have studied the dance style now with three people, including Aisha Ali, and while they give little snippets of info, but nothing like what I have been able to gather for other dances styles. I usually like to start any class with information so that students have a good cultural background against which to begin their studies in the dance. Right now I feel unprepared to give them the best information about the dance itself, though other types of historical info abound. Also, does anyone know of an American source for fibulae and the ankle bracelets with the bead inside? Regards, A'isha PS: OH, and the most info I have found is on Habiba's site, where she tells about the origins of the pot dance and the scarf dance. Can anyone lead me to sources that substantiate that info? Last edited by Aisha Azar; 01-15-2008 at 03:26 PM.