nightdancer

Yes, that is true, but there is not much they can tell us about the earliest of the dances. That is the point we are trying to make. How do you, with historically valid evidence, know that this is based off "pre-Islamic dance"?

Unfortunately, no, we do not "relax and smile" when someone is taking an art form that some here have been studying for over 30 years, and mis-represent it, in one of the most hideous ways possible.

chryssanthi sahar

Dear Maria.
You probably haven't really understand what I was trying to say in my posting, so I'll try to explain it more clear. There are different things in your advertisement about your "Raqshobic", which make many people here in the forum sceptical, because they are inaccurate:

1. You tell :"It is a new tendency that will submerge the gyms, the faculties of dance and will give new wave in the space of gymnastics and exercising".
As many of our American and English members answered you, it is nothing new about a fusion of belly dance and aerobics/gymnastics. Such fusions exist in the USA already since the 80ies and today you find more videos with "cardio-belly", "belly-fitness", "bellyrobics" etc. there, than videos with normal Raqs Sharqi. So your claiming to have invented something absolutely new is just wrong! Maybe you should have gotten more informed about what already exists in this area, before you starting telling, that you are the first to present something like this to publicity.

2.You tell: "After 12th years of research, of tradition Egyptian dance and movement, for the pre-Islamic Raqsharqi, Mrs Maria Athanassiadou creates the Raqsh obic, so that it becomes popular in the wide public".
You don't tell what kind of research you did, where exactly, and what does this research have to do with creating a modern fusion of belly dance and gymnastics. You are telling us here, that there are Archaeologists and professors who can prove the existence of a "pre-Islamic Raqs Sharqi", but you don't mention any names. Who are those Archaeologists and professors? Where exactly are the archaeological funds that prove the existence of "pre-Islamic Raqs Sharqi" and what books do you have your information from? You don't mention any bibliography that could make it possible for us to check your arguments.

3. You seem to use the term "Raqs Sharqi" different than the rest of the world. I don't know where you learned Raqs Sharqi and which way your teacher used the term, but most of the belly dancers world wide, when they talk about "Raqs Sharqi", they mean the Egyptian stage and cabaret dance who started developing in the 20ies of the 20th century in Cairo by great dancers like Badia Masaabni, Tahia Carioca, Samia Gamal etc. and is still developing in our time. When we talk about dance in pre-Islamic times, we cannot call this dance Raqs Sharqi, since this term is by definition the term for the modern Arabian dance. It is better to call this pre-Islamic dance simply belly dance. Belly dance is a wide term, while Raqs Sharqi is very specific. The only person I know about who uses Raqs Sharqi with another meaning, is Soraya Hillal. What she calls Raqs Sharqi is her own fusion of belly dance and contemporary dance and she got a lot of critic because of that.
In this sense, I didn't say, that I don't believe in the existence of a pre-Islamic belly dance. I just said, that I don't believe in the existence of a pre-Islamic Raqs Sharqi, because Raqs Sharqi is by definition the Arabian dance of modern times.
I hope you understand now better, why so many people here reacted negative on your promotional text. It is nothing bad about advertising something you do, but try to be more precise and realistic about the way you advertise it.

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