sstacy123

So I wanted to share a choreography of a local teacher's...She usually advertises her stuff as Egyptian style...occasionally she'll advertise that she teaches Egyptian and Turkish...

YouTube - The Jewels Rock!

So I questioned her in an email about her calling what she does Egyptian...and here is her response:

It's true that I do combine many elements of Egyptian, Turkish, Spanish, Indian, and Moroccan styles...but if we are going to go to the picky state, we have to then look at Badia of Egypt for a "real" Egyptian style Belly Dance...because it evolves and takes many different forms. More so when you are not in Egypt looking at the latest trends that are not even close to the original ways. Some instructors don't even teach torso isolations which are very key to Egyptian movements. That doesn't make them to have a "less" Egyptian style.

I usually advertise Egyptian and Turkish styles to differentiate from Tribal and Gothic styles which are definitely very different. So I hope that clarifies your concerns. I've perform with the best and I have never been questioned because they understand the above.

What do you all think?

Aniseteph

If I was being taught this as Egyptian style belly dance... . Well I don't really think so. But maybe "many elements of Egyptian, Turkish, Spanish, Indian, and Moroccan styles..." is fair enough. I don't know enough about most of those styles to say. Perhaps this was a multi-fusional choreography.

But IMNSHO using Turkish/Egyptian as a description to mean not tribal/gothic is not exactly conducive to the accurate labelling of belly dance and related dance genres.

Kashmir

If this clip was what she calls "Egyptian" - I'd have to strongly disagree!! I know Randa has a thing with high kicks - but as a rule Egyptian doesn't include them, nor sword, nor upper body undulations, nor ...

Actually there is no "Indian" (or Spanish) belly dance - any more than "North American" belly dance - which is what this clip looked like. And I believe the Moroccan belly dance is copied from further east - although they do have their own dance styles which can be incorporated as appropriate.

Yes, "Egyptian" takes many forms. But usually you can still look at a range of mixed clips and pick out the Egyptian ones - they have "something". And no, Egyptian does not include the extreme torso articulations seen in the clip. They tend to be ab generated rather than using the muscles of the back and ribs.

Turkish and Egyptian are very different - unless you are watching a Turkish dancer performing Arabic style. Sounds like your teacher just wants to avoid using the words "cabaret" or "nightclub" - or "raqs sharqi". I guess this is what happens when the term "belly dance" is appropriated by Tribal and Gothic dancers. Maybe we should mount an action to get it back so it can be used for generic belly dance

Is'adZahira

Maybe when she said "Spanish" was erroneously talking about "Flamenco"; and when she said Indian was referring to Bollywood kind of choreographies; I remember that Bellydance Superstarts Company did something like that in a presentation at Follies Bergere .

Now, what she is showing in the video is not Egyptian at all, she could have incorporated some steps but you would never see a truly Egyptian choreography where the dancer opens her legs.

Sita

[quote=Is'adZahira;83739]Maybe when she said "Spanish" was erroneously talking about "Flamenco"; and when she said Indian was referring to Bollywood kind of choreographies; I remember that Bellydance Superstarts Company did something like that in a presentation at Follies Bergere .

I don't know what Bollywood films Bellydance Superstars have been watching as that to me was nothing like bollywood dance it was missing all the joy,energy and fun of bollywood and more importantly it was flat and lifeless; which too me is the polar opposite of bollywood. It appeared to me like sterotype indian motifs, particularly ones that seemed to try and give the impression of a Bharatanatyam dance, with a couple of hip movements added over indian music and maybe with a little kathak like spin at the end.
Bollywood dance is more like this:


even it's solos are more energetic

I have seen 6yr old children with no major dance lessons do better
Anyway sorry for that rant couldn't help it I'm a bollywood and Classical Indian dance fan and I kind of expect more from a professional dance company - even from what I've heard of them A) its a matter of artistic intergrity(sp) and B) Bollywood dance is all about fusion.

Anyway back to the topic; the dance shown looked like a form of American cabaret to me - very diffrerent from Egyptian - and I'm far from an expert at these things but the kicks, torso movements and the arms and everything else....the egyptian i know. Why does'nt she just refer to it as Oriental, or AmCab? people will still come - the lure of the props for one
Also in regards to these Spanish, Indian styles I just assumed she meant borrowing elements from non-MED dance forms as Is'adZahira said however reading it back I'm starting to wonder. Her phrasing does seem imply a Indian and Spainish style of belly dance. What are her teaching credentials/ experience? - I'm really unimpressed by what I saw.

Sita

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~*Life is like a ghaziya, she dances just briefly for each.*~ - Egyptian proverb

Phoebedances

It's not Egyptian or Turkish. More American Caberet simply because it has such a conglomeration of moves.

My Egyptian teacher said, 'No Egyptian dances with a sword, no Egyptian gets down on the floor.. why would you want to lay on the floor and get your costume all dirty?' The putting the arms up palms flat together and the side to side head move is definitely not Egyptian either.

I did see a You Tube clip, though, of Samia Gamal dancing in this set that looked a bit like a palace with pillars and some 'suppporting dancers' and two men dressed as Egyptian palace guards. She did employ some kicks to the front as she moved around the room, but it was as she was stepping out.. like kick, walk, walk.. kick.. walk walk.. and she had a veil and it was very, very lovely. Moumoud Reda did this step in a workshop I attended where he did a bit of a grapevine to the side, turning a bit to the right and the left and then at the end he went a bit up on his supporting foot, and had a pause with the other leg in the air about a foot and a half off the ground before he started the other way, so it was a little kick. This was a candelabra dance, though and it was very impressive to think of him keeping the candelabra balanced while doing this.

I really didn't see the point in that choreography of having the sword in it at all. They made a big deal of running to the back and grabbing them and then did one balancing trick on the hip? The diving to the floor part didn't make a lot of sense either, since they didn't do too much when there, and I found the part where they took off their zills and bent over to lay them on the floor distracting, but that's just my opinion.

jenc

A little bit of everything id boring rather than exciting - right!

Samira bint Aya

This choreography has exactly what I don’t like. It lacks musicality.

I don’t object to the multi-fusion part, although it is not to my taste.

What I really dislike is that they move independently from the music. Where is the expression?

Never mind “Egyptian style dance”, I refuse to call this “dance”.

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Each dancing step brings a fresh breeze سميرة

nitewindz

I agree this is American cabaret.

But, I've heard that Egyptian dance originally did include floor work - Floor work was one of the things specifically banned in the 1940s, along with showing bellies, etc. So now after 60+ years of banishment, floor work is no longer part of Egyptian dance.

And I agree - I don't want to roll around on a dirty floor in my expensive costumes!

Again, I agree. Why did they even bother taking the zills off? They did nothing that required intricate finger movements ... might as well leave them on..

anafain

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