Males, etc.
Dear Sherif,
It is my opinion and the opinion of the people who developed the dance. Since it is their dance, could we please give them credit for having some depth of understanding about what it is? It strikes me as particularly haughty on the part of western dancers when we try to deny what the people of the countries of origin say about their own dances.
Also, Aziz, who is the best professional male dancer that I have ever seen, readily acknowledged that the dance is femenine in essence. He was not afraid of that statement in any way and did not feel that being a belly dancer threatened him as a human being on any level. Which is one of the things that made him so amazing. He was totally fearless and completely in sync about the dance being feminine essenced. He understood that it took nothing away from him.
Regards,
A'isha
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