Originally Posted by A'isha Azar

Dear Kiraze,
What about that clip would lead you to believe it had anything at all to do with belly dance?? Frankly, I worked in theatre for 7 years and I did not find it even meaningful as theatre. Perhaps the clip was out of context.

Originally Posted by Venefica

Actualy why the lifestyle is called goth, I do actualy not know, what I have heard it is due to the dark arcitecture of the culture that A'isha Azar mention. But the modern Goth culture is a lifestyle that on the surface is aboute celebrating the strange and macabre, like the supernatrual, dark poetry and angst ridden dispair. But forther down it root out into a need to be one self, to be different from the masses of fashion slaves and whit picket fence crowd, and it is also aboute a deep seethed wish the world was more romantic, more deep. That the ting and emotions from such fictional works like Dracula or the romance of forgone times was real.

A'isha writes- Again...what in heck does this have to do with belly dance? How does this correlate in any way to belly dance?? It is like trying to mix peanuts with cement. They are NOT in any way connected. They do not belong together. They have different goals and meanings. I have had this out with the Goth community before and I expect that pretty soon I will once again receive scads of hate mail from this "loving community".



The beauty and mystery of the middle east and of bellydance easy fasitates goths, including myself, and the fircely independant goth comunity seam to take anything we like and make it our own. However to a certin degree I agree, while making somthing induvidual is good, there is only so mutch change one can do to a thing whitout destroying what it originaly was.

A'isha writes- What is "fiercely independent" about giving a totally false idea to the public about the nature of a dance that already has its own beauty and meaning?? To me, that looks pretty much what like Europeans and Americans have been doing to Third World countries for hundreds of years. Taking their resources, physical. emotional and spiritual, and twisting them for their own uses without regard to the effects on the mother culture.

That being said. I do feel, and I hope I do not ofend anyone by this, that it do not matter what one dance in, or to what music, for me bellydance is the steps and the moves, and if one fins some other music that fit those movements it is still bellydance.

A'isha writes- I am offended by it when it is referred to in any way as "Belly dance". Call it all something else and I might be intrigued. Belly dance is far, far more than "steps and moves". Belly dance is a form of expression that belongs to specific cultures and peoples. When people disprespect that fact, they are in effect, using colonial thinking and saying that they are free to walk all over someone else's culture with impunity. It is Manifest Desitny on a small scale. Though you, personally may not offend me, that attitude that we can do anything we want with other peoples' cultures and feel fine about mislabeling what we do, offends me deeply. I am offended for every person who has ever seen something denigrated,that has its own value and that belongs to their culture,



One of the first perforance videoes I ever did see was a thecno number where the dancer danced to thecno music in futuristic costumes, and it was very nice. I think it is inportant to remember the roots of bellydance, and that all the diversions from it are that, diversions, but I also think the diverions add to the dance.

A'isha writes- What makes innovators think that creating new dances has to be done under the banner of "Middle Eastern, in belly dance venues, or mimicing the costume, etc.? Why not go someplace else and do it? Even when they claim they are not doing anything Middle Eastern, they still give that impression when they are doing it in Middle Eastern dance venues. Can they not go out and really innovate and get their own thing happening? Why does it have to be in the way that it is being done? I have no issues with innovation. I do have issues with not taking responsiblity for treating other cultures with respect, and I also have issues with misleading the public as to what is being done on the stage.

If this priate dance have anything of value in it is hard to tell from one picture of a woman in a fancy costume. Me not being the big pirate fan, well exsept for Jonny Depp`s performance as Jack Sparrow i can not say i am to interested, but for me, i think i would have to see the movements and steps before judings whatever or not it was bellydance.

A'isha writes- Oh, Venefica, I hope some day that you can see the dance beyond this superficial idea of "steps". The dance is so much more. I hate your teachers for not explainaing that to you from the beginning.

Pleese forgive me if I have in any way ofended, my opinions are just my own and I am just a beginner and dnot know alot aboute this.