Dear Forum
I think Dina is also some how responsible for making Belly dance a controversial thing in Egypt. She loves controversy , that’s what I think after what I see and have read about her. At the moment many radical movements are on the rise in Egypt and other places that will attempt to impose pressure to cover up and stop anything that sounds or looks sensual , also as Tarik said economic meltdown is a big cause , I was watching an independent programme about the food crisis in Egypt and the current situation when an average person has to think twice before spending any money on daily life.
Re - Belly dance is still somehow an underground culture in Western countries. Although I see a rise of people wanting to do Belly dance or want to learn about the dance but it seems Belly Dance never presented itself as a brand in the mainstream culture. I know many people don’t want their art to be commercialised but to keep this art alive you just have to do what others are doing. A perfect example is Yoga from India, When Indian people presented that to the rest of the world they presented it as a brand , most of the time the spiritual aspect is missing which is one of the main elements in yoga , but you know what a new Yoga class gets more publicity than a new Belly Dance school , well at least in Australia. People show great interest and they don’t mind talking about it to their friends but When it comes to Belly dance , a lot of people don’t want other people to know that they are Belly Dancing. Maybe that’s one of the reasons its difficult to propel this art form forward in the West.
Regards
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