Yasmine Bint Al Nubia

Excellent replies! I've had the opportunity to read both the Koran and the Mormon Bible. Just curious about what as written in each since they lay claim to receiving God's True Word. It opened my eyes to the beliefs of others while maintaining my own belief system.
However, ideas are dangerous only when they challenge the staus quo, Aisha provided a good example of how great ideas, concepts and philosophies can change the world. But hey I'm a dancer what do I know
Yasmine

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www.visionsofthenile.com

chryssanthi sahar

Dear group.
I would like to ask something different:
Do you think that belly dance is a spiritual dance? And if yes, in what way? Has anyone of you made spiritual experiences through the dance? Has anyone experienced big changes in her/his life through the dance?

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

Dipali

i am often labeled as an atheist . But i do question some very basic things about religion.
I have never felt God , But i do not condemn Religion either, But i do condemn any kind of extremism. Religions have been altered by the vested interests of professional priests of all religions. In all countries, it should be accepted by all that the spread & propaganda of extreme thoughts is only an excuse for the bread & butter of some people which they want to earn on the name of religion. If we are to advance in any field for welfare of humanity, we shall have to free ourselves from the bonds of conservative & extreme thoughts. Not only this, we shall have to firmly oppose & stand against the people who thrust upon us the Anti-Humanity thoughts. We shall have to accept that the people, who in the guise of priests, give sugar coated pills against humanity in the name of religion, with the lessons of religions are the real & the greatest foes of humanity.

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Australian Belly dance store - Belly Dance Costumes, Bollywood & Tribal outfits.

Dipali

Dear Chryssanthi, I think Its up to the individual dancers how they feel about the dance. I am not very knowledgeable about Egyptian culture but in India we have dances that perform for god or superior. Bharat natyam which is a classical dance which often has a spiritual ceremony before the dance.And its a highly regarded dance form which is quite complex. I have seen many personal interviews of dancers and other performers where they relate their art to their life, They live for it and they feel it when they perform, I believe thats their spirituality.And i am sure many Belly dancers feel the same way, its their life , its their spirituality.


kind regards

..

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Australian Belly dance store - Belly Dance Costumes, Bollywood & Tribal outfits.

Sara

I don't really know. I think any dancer gets that feeling at some point where you get carried away by the dance, like during a performance, and you're completely hooked in that moment, but I also think it applies to other things as well, like singing, and acting. They can make you feel wonderful and exhilerated.

I guess if you make it spiritual then it is. For me, I don't see it as a spiritual thing so much. It has brought out a change in me though, and I'm a lot more confident and bubblier. When I think of bellydancing I think of it more as mysterious than anything else.

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With a little bit of this and a little bit of that, now shake your bum.... :P

Aisha Azar

Dear Cryssanthi,
Do I consider belly dance to be a spiritual dance? Yes. I consider it to be exactly as spiritual and sacred as any other deed, word, thought or any other manifestation of God. In other words, belly dance is part of God's experience of Itself and is therefore a sacred activity, as much as any other thing that ever happens. I think that for me, I understand that each moment and thought and activity has its own spirituality.
Some activities resonate as more "spritual" for some people. I was rasied as a Roman Catholic, but aside from its archaic music, there is not much in Holy Mother Church that has spiritual appeal for me, although I appreciate that they do respect some metaphysical ideals. My mother and sister ( and, by the way, the converted Aziz) all find great spirituality in this religion, and I would not negate that.
I guess I would not separate out belly dance as a necessarily "more spiritual" activity than any other, but then, for me, the breath of God is in everything that exists in any form, and if I take the time to listen/ watch/feel, then I can somtimes have some small understanding, and connect with it. This can happen while dancing or while listening to my husband breath when he is asleep, or at any time when I am willing to be aware.
I think my life is very different from what it might have been through dance. I have anxiety disorder and often it is easy to get hung up in monitoring my body and responding to it in very negative ways. Dance has let me put that obsessive body monitoring into creating beautiful movement and positive emotional response to the ways that my body feels. Because of this dance, I have in some ways been able to turn a terrible liablility into a tool for becoming adept in teaching people about their own body awareness. In this way, the dance is very spiritual for me as it has done what religion is supposed to do.... and it has uplifted me.
Regards,
A'isha

Shanazel

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bin_rodi

Shanazel

To paraphrase a story from Joseph Campbell, I don't think I have a religion, but sometimes I dance...

I'm no expert, but it seems to me that it is as hard to generalize about Islam as it is to generalize about any other religion that claims several million followers. I know if I put my Southern Baptist uncle in the same room with a Morman missionary, a Unitarian, and a Russian Orthodox priest, there'd be quite a disagreement on the basic concepts of True Christianity. As to what any of the aforementioned individuals might think of belly dance- hmmm. I might leave the room at that point and go somewhere to dance myself back into a better frame of mind.

Aniseteph

I agree with Shanazel. Belly dance is going to push too many buttons for hard line religious types of whatever persuasion.

Me, I'll be wherever Shanazel went to dance herself better, emitting zaghareets and dancing along.