slinks

I was surprised !!! it starts off with the camera on her top half ... and I was like oh come on lets see what her hips are doing and I laughed out loud !!! lovely dancer though, for sure

samsied

Hi Kiraze,

I have not looked at the pictures in the gallery since I rarely go in there. I can understand the point made by Chryssanthi about how we want to presents this danceform. However in a discussion forum, I don't see anything wrong with pictures that demonstrate part of the history of Turkish dance.

By the way, I don't see anything offensive about the picture you posted of Sibel Gökce. It is a artfully done photo and not too unlike many others we see of American dancers from earlier decades. I think this would be bothersome in a live show in a family friendly venue depending on how she dances and whether she actually has some coverage under her small looking skirt.

I think because many of us are so determined to to have this dance appreciated an acceptable artform we may get defensive when we see dancers wearing costumes that are too revealing for our taste and distract from the dancers talent. It would be nice if we can also appreciate the dancing even if we don't care for the costuming. I think that may be harder to do in a public gallery that may attract people who don't understand the range of expression in Oriental Dance. In a discussion amond dancers about Turkish dance, I don't know why that should be a problem.

gisela

I think the Sibel photo is quite beautiful actually, and sexy in a good way.

I saw the pictures in the gallery and maybe I reacted a little to some of them but not so much as to give a comment. I found it interesting to see how some dancers dress (or not dress, hehe)

Shanazel

RE: appropriateness of costumes.

When a dancer's costume (or lack there of) detracts my attention from the dance itself, I consider the costume inappropriate. This applies equally to pasties, the sans-panties look, metal wings pierced into a dancer's back, a bedlah with missing fringe, cowboy boots, or a skirt that is six inches longer in the front than in the back.

A costume should enhance the dance, not detract from it. I don't believe that a belly dancer who bares as much of her body as possible is doing it for artistic purposes. Dina may wear outrageous costumes to make a political statement, other dancers may want to show off as much of a gorgeous body as possible. Neither agenda has much to do with complimenting the dance being performed.

chryssanthi sahar

I didn't say anything against the picture of Sibel Gökce. I find it o.k. I was offended mainly by the picture of Leila Adali, because not only it is almost naked, but it also shows her like a cheap sex object which waits to be raped. Sorry, I cannot stand this kind of pictures which degrade women to weak, masochistic little things, who depend on the mercy of men. That picture gave me this message (maybe other people saw it different). But as I allready said before, we should be generally careful how we present our dance in publicity. Among us in the forum discussions it is something different.

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Oriental dancer and instructor of Greek origin, living in Germany
www.chryssanthi.com