belly_dancer

don't know... looks like they were doing a parody of bellydance... however... in THIS case think it is alright... as it seems to be a Halloween show! (see the devil in the audience!)

da Sage

It's not a parody, but they are incorporating some bellydance moves. That seems perfectly natural for a group with recent/current bellydance training.

thread hijack

I recently saw a show that would've probably offended the purists here...it included neo-tahitian bellydance*, neo-indian bellydance*, vampire bellydance*, gothic bellydance*, clown bellydance*, plus a dark-music band, hooping, burlesque, and an aerial act.

The audience and the performers all had a blast...and it's not because they don't know anything about traditional bellydance either. It was their informed decision to put on a show with edgy entertainment as the goal, rather than cultural accuracy.

I am tired of the "can't touch this" philosophy. IMO, it's perfectly "alright" for dancers to use the movements that are used in bellydance, to create dances that are not strictly bellydance, but are some flavor of fusion.

*And no, they did not use these labels for their work...I made up these descriptions, because I think they are the most concise and accurate way to describe the pieces presented. The show was not advertised as a "bellydance" show, but everyone knew who was performing in it...90% local bellydancers.

Aisha Azar

Dear Da Sage,
And those of us who have any respect and knowledge of the dance at all understand that zombies and belly dance do not go together. they are completely opposite in every way. Zombies are not life affirming; belly dance is everything that IS life affirming. Yes we do have a "can't touch this" attitude, developed over many years of having to put up with such nonsense being attached to the name in the name of belly dance.
I am not the least bit impressed when people say they are doing "fusion", yet don't have the guts to do so in venues that are not attached to Middle Eastern dance, or to have the courage to strike out and do fusion without having to hitch as ride on the belly dance name.
Local belly dancer have no right to abuse the dance any more than anyone else does.
That's what I am sick and tired of.
A'isha Azar

da Sage

A'isha,

You are so fond of saying that the moves used in bellydancing are not strictly bellydance moves; yet you are quick to scoff at those who do the "not strictly bellydance moves" in question, even if they call it fusion rather than bellydance. You say that zombies and bellydance do not go together, but your argument for why makes just as much (or little) sense if you substitute zombies and jazz dancing.

Our local show was not in a "venue attached to Middle Eastern dance" (and if it had been...so what?). And while I've misplaced the program, I don't recall that any of the numbers were titled or described therein as "belly dance" or "bellydance" or "danse du ventre" (pardon my poor attempt at French). So should the local dancers be prohibited from doing any dance that someone else might describe as bellydance, even if they themselves do not put that name on it?

Your statement that "those of us who have any respect and knowledge of the dance at all understand that zombies and belly dance do not go together" seems suspect. Even the previous poster said she thought the zombie dance looked like belly dance. If the zombie dance is so obviously not bellydance, then why do you fear confusion? Obviously the line is not as clear as you say it is.

BTW, I never said that there were zombies in our local show...it was zombie-free. Perhaps I will rectify that omission, should there be another show.

Tikvah

As a performer in the show that daSage was referring to, it was in a venue open to all sorts of performing art. None of the acts had bylines that said bellydance or the like. It was a show for people to be able to explore the unexplored, to be able to dance in a way that fueled creativity by both performers and audience, and to encourage an open line of communication through improvisation and fusion.

It was seriously an awesome show, all billed as experimental.

Aisha Azar

Dear Da Sage and Tikvah,
Obviously you yourselves seem to think it has belly dance overtones of some sort; otherwise, why are we hearing about it on THIS forum?
The confusion is obvious, not for me or those who have the education to know the difference, but for those who do not. Ask half the people on this forum and they will readily admit it is confusing.
The line is VERY clear for those who know the dance forms,but for those who do not, it is murky. This is the very reason why I campaign for clarity; so that people will have some chance to know when they are looking at authentic belly dance and when they are not. And I am not willing to argue the meaning of authentic here, because cultural context defines the dance, not whimsical dictates of ego or personal creativity.
Yeah perhaps you will add zombies if you have another show. If you can do just that under the auspices of presenting a belly dance show, then I hope you can also realize the necessity of telling your audience what you are doing.
A'isha Azar

da Sage

Dear A'isha,

I'm not sure what you are referring to when you say "it has belly dance overtones of some sort".

If you are referring to the zombie dance video, I didn't even pick up on the common-to-many-styles-dance-moves-that-are-frequently-associated-with-bellydance the first time I watched it. Which is why I mentioned that that particular studio welcomes non-bellydance styles at their haflas. When the previous poster said it looked like a bellydance parody to her, I watched the video again. I stated that it didn't look like a parody to me, it just looked like a dance that used some of the same vocabulary as bellydance.

If you are referring to the local show (which I saw, and you didn't...and therefore your opinion is uninformed as to the particulars of the show), the performance pieces ranged from 0% to 98% bellydance. I think that no one on this forum has an informed opinion on the local show, except myself and Tikvah, because we're the only ones who saw it. It was an experimental, dance-centered (but not dance-exclusive) variety show.

Yet you are the one insisting that the local show was a bellydance show ("under the auspices of presenting a belly dance show"), and that we need to "realize the necessity of telling your audience what you are doing" (right...next time we'll make the keyboardist stand up to announce that he is NOT BELLYDANCING...he is PERFORMING A GOTHIC SONG instead...because since he's also a bellydancer, he needs to INFORM THE AUDIENCE THAT HE'S NOT BELLYDANCING RIGHT NOW).

I'm only bothering to reply to you, because I want to avoid any appearance of agreeing with you. It seems that you want this giant no-dancer's-land all around the tiny definition you've made of "bellydance", and even if we call it something besides bellydance, we're "uneducated" or "bad dancers" for choosing to explore that space. I disagree that all those dance ideas should be off-limits. I disagree with your definition of bellydance. And I think that hashing our differences into minutia (as I've seen happen so often with you and other members of this forum) would be a waste of time.

Amulya

You know what is interesting? We seem to sometimes forget that the vintage Egyptian dancers used ballet in their belly dancing and that the bedlahs are a western invention as well as veils. I don't think what Dina is doing with her costuming is proper for belly dance either. It's such a fine line, what is still ok and what is rediculous so to say.

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Amulya

Ha ha that is the perfect comment LOL

Found another fusion: Chinese Fusion Bellydance

see for yourself:
YouTube - Tribal Fest 7 performance -Chinese Fusion Bellydance

I didn't watch it all to be honest, but from what I have seen this has nothing to do with belly dance.

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