Originally Posted by A'isha Azar

Dear Caroline,
I can not answer these questions for anyone else, but I can for myself.




Well again.... have you ever hung around with a lot of dancers who are not Middle East inspired, or any actors? Having been in the position to do both, and also having spent some time with models, I would have to say that Middle Eastern dance as a genre is no more full of ego maniacs than acting, other forms of dance, or modeling. I have spoken with painters and sculptors and other visual artists that say the same thing happens in their fields of endeavor. My favorite theory on this is that it takes an ego to be able to put oneself in front of the public, but that some people develop healthy egos and other develop unhealthy ones. Sometimes people can even have healthy egos under one set of circumstances and unhealthy egos in another set. I don't think our dance is any more ego driven than any other form of art. It's just that THIS is the one where we are constantly dealing with it.
Regards,
A'isha