Goth
Dear Pheonixavatar,
Actually, I have talked with Suhaila at some length and also have a Jareeda article where she says she is not doing so much belly dance as interpretive dance. When I took some workshops with her some 20 years ago, she was at the time saying she was doing "Egyptian", but even then one could see the very strong jazz influence.
For authentic ethnic belly dance, here in the States see Shareen El Safy and Sahra Saida for Egyptian, See Jennet and, if I remember correctly, Artemis Mourat for really good Turkish, and I am not sure who is doing really great Lebanese, but I am pretty sure someone on this forum knows someone. Suha Azar of Lebanon ( no relation) is teaching a Lebanese dance seminar here and she does not perform, but we hear great things about her classes. I think that most of the videos and DVDs of dancers from countries of origin are available through Dalal International and Saut Wa Soura.
I am not trying to be a snot here, but when you say "our very own truths" it sort of sounds a little as if the truth of the dance becomes secondary. In the end, should it really be about the dance and not our personal truths? Please no flaming becasue I do not mean this as derogatory in any way. It feels as if the actuality of the dance in its own right gets lost in all of the various "truths". I think is a valid and important question.
Regards,
A'isha
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