Belly Dance Forums - View Single Post - what do you consider to be damaging to the future of Middle Eastern dance?

adiemus · 07-09-2008, 07:07 PM

in a word: fusion.
To expand on that: fusion that calls itself 'bellydance fusion' as everyone else has said above.
This loses the variety of different styles that are part of MED/bellydance, and so we end up with a middle of the road bland sort of dance that leaves out so much.
I'd love to see more of the really early versions of folkloric styles that are lost now like haggala, sai'di, melaya, khalegi, ghawazee and so on.
I think the music style changes are also a real risk - most of the more complex rhythms are being lost out to the simple 4/4 timing of the modern shaabi, which is fine - but we do lose those incredibly intricate beats that make the music and dance so unique.
Another part of the musical threat is the loss of the structure of middle eastern music - the call and response, not having harmonies (just building on melodies) - this means that the music is more palatable to european/western ears, but lacks the layers that is characteristic of middle eastern music.

Oh yes, and the loss of the freedom to dance in Egypt itself is a threat - without egyptians dancing, the authenticity of what people like me learn third hand is very diluted.

07-09-2008, 07:07 PM	#5 (permalink)
adiemus Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Christchurch, New Zealand Posts: 977	in a word: fusion. To expand on that: fusion that calls itself 'bellydance fusion' as everyone else has said above. This loses the variety of different styles that are part of MED/bellydance, and so we end up with a middle of the road bland sort of dance that leaves out so much. I'd love to see more of the really early versions of folkloric styles that are lost now like haggala, sai'di, melaya, khalegi, ghawazee and so on. I think the music style changes are also a real risk - most of the more complex rhythms are being lost out to the simple 4/4 timing of the modern shaabi, which is fine - but we do lose those incredibly intricate beats that make the music and dance so unique. Another part of the musical threat is the loss of the structure of middle eastern music - the call and response, not having harmonies (just building on melodies) - this means that the music is more palatable to european/western ears, but lacks the layers that is characteristic of middle eastern music. Oh yes, and the loss of the freedom to dance in Egypt itself is a threat - without egyptians dancing, the authenticity of what people like me learn third hand is very diluted. __________________ He wahine, he taonga- Every woman is a treasure(Maori proverb)