Aziyade

HAHAHHAHAHAHAHA!

I'm flashing on the Muppet Show -- too funny.

belly_dancer

ok.... I sort of remember the orig. Ruric video clip... but since I am stealing time from work... (& I own my own business...... had MUCH more time on internet when I had a REAL job ) could someone PLEASE REPOST the video (link?) so we could remember what you all (hilarious people!) are typing about??!!!!
thanks!

mauraz

If you are basing your suggestions re: fusion and costume on the veil dance video, well, I can understand why you would not consider it belly dancing, especially if you find it insipid. But it was just one of 6 or 8 dances that evening, most of which included quite a bit of belly dancing, and any other costume would have been inappropriate.

If you are basing your suggestions on the premise that 'belly dance must be MED to be belly dance' then I disagree. Perhaps you have been calling yourself a belly dancer for twenty years in an attempt to make belly dance = MED and nothing but MED, but many of your MED peers have been avoiding the label altogether. When Ruric started dancing in Kentucky, the mid-eastern dancers in the area did not advertise themselves as 'belly dancers.' They practiced 'the beautiful art of middle-eastern dance' or Raqs Sharki or maybe, if they were very daring, la danse Oriental. 'Belly dance' was considered... vulgar. From what I read, this was a common attitude in the MED community across the country until quite recently. Since Ruric is not a MED dancer, she decided to describe herself as performing 'American belly dance.' A mere three years later, some respectable MED dancers are now willing to describe themselves as performing belly dance. But I strongly feel that many non-MED dancers contributed to the change in perception of what belly dance is, and attempts by the strictly MED community to claim that belly dance must = MED will be perceived by the non-MED as 'thanks for keeping the seat warm, we'll take over now.' I don't think it will work.

And I absolutely refuse to argue with anyone, learned or otherwise, as to what the 'spirit of bellydance' consists of. To each their muse.

By the way, what with one local gym offering 'belly dance striptease' classes and a local belly dance studio following up with 'StripTease' classes ('Learn a new routine every class and take it to the club that night!') I suspect the MED dancers who thought it safe to be 'belly dancers' may be retreating en masse shortly....

Regards

mauraz

I'm aghast. I think I saw your first public performance - at the MEDSOK concert three years ago. You were first in the line up, yes? The house was shaking with applause when you got done. I've seen you several times since then... Jo Hadley's workshops and MEDSOK concerts. Heard nothing but compliments for the pretty blonde in the beautiful costume and some relief that SOMEONE was still doing Egyptian-style dance..

I think it is far more of a veil dance than a belly dance. And it was never intended as an example of something excellent, just as part of a discussion with a young man who was afraid that non-MED music meant no attempt to improvise. My remarks in the original thread vis a vis a year's worth of work just beginning to yield magic moments (none of which are on video) was quite accurate. Moments, not hours. The band is beginning to understand that Ruric expects to perform with them, not dance to them. Ruric is beginning to understand what she can tease out and what she should leave alone. Give it another year. Right now it is often good entertainment, next year it may be real art.

me too. And I also like the music she USUALLY dances to, but it is not live, lady bug. The original thread, as I keep saying, was attempting to deal with the problems inherent in the reality of thousands of dancers vs. dozens of MED musicians....and that maybe the way to rectify that was to learn to dance to our indigenous music..

Oh, I DO think Nashwa WILL help Ruric access her inner "middle eastern woman" -- Nashwa has such an aware dance presence, delicate and strong at the same time... Ruric is already smitten with her after just a few lessons. Ruric told me that Nashwa goes to all of Mecca's tribal concerts, by the way -- what a lady!

Please say what you think about anything at any point... Sometimes I think the constant stream of 'nice, great, totally raqs' that dancers feed each other is actually passive/aggressive desire to cause the other to fail by giving inaccurate feedback... so don't make me paranoid Except my MEDSOK minutes... don't criticize those... any criticism of those is DEFINATELY a sign of someone who doesn't understand my art...

mauraz

Critique away. Ruric usually has to pay $50 - $150 / hr for critiques Such a deal!

mauraz

Ruric-Amari is Ruric's 'Christian' name with a hypen added.. I got it out of a science fiction novel that I read while I was pregnant with her. Ruric Amari was the best swordswoman on that particular planet and resolute and steadfast in her convictions. She got herself exiled by the end of the book but was not disheartened. I thought her an excellent role model even though she was imaginary. Odd how Ruric's favorite prop ended up being a sword, though.

Aisha Azar

Dear Mauraz,
Yes, I DO consider belly dance to be a specific ethnic dance, and so does most of the western audience and every Arab ( and I do mean every Arab) that I have ever spoken to about it. I do not base this on my own feelings, or on the feelings of other dancers, but on the consensus of the general audeince, who think belly dance is indeed Middle Eastern. I see more people questioning and leaning the use of the term to mean any dance they choose. There was a time when the word "fusion" was not used at all. Now it is being used liberally and often, as it should be. Over on the Med Teachers/Directors forum right now, there is a discussion about styles and what to call them, etc. This is becoming a big issue in dance right now...something that gives me heart because it has not always been like this. There was a time not so long ago when it was all just "belly dance".
Re the name Ruric: Nice to know where it came from in the case of a dancer using it.
Regards,
A'isha

Aziyade

Well that's just stupid. ?? I improvised practically my whole Goth set, which certainly wasn't middle eastern, and actually I think it would be a lot easier to improvise to music you're culturally familiar with (like for me, 80's pop cause I grew up with it.) For ME personally, when I'm dancing to Egyptian music I feel like I have to choreograph everything from footwork to facial expression in order to accurately emulate a cultural dance that's not of my culture.

But then I do what I call "accidental improv" which translates into "I carefully choreographed this whole piece, but promptly forgot all of it the moment I stepped on stage."

BUT: My fear would be that if we started dancing too much to our "own" music, we would lose some of the beauty and the differentness (is that a word?) of what gives MEDance its distinctive MEDance look and feel.


Oh, I JUST had that conversation with a drummer -- I never really made that distinction, having not really danced to live music before. I think that's a whole 'nother skill set, and frankly the thought of doing it terrifies me as much as excites me!


LOL!

Mara2

Dear A'isha,
I've only read about half this conversation, but have to whole-heartedly agree with EVERYTHING you have written thus far. THANK YOU so very much for saying what some of us are thinking. There are not many dancers who even care about respecting or preserving the dance any more. Many kudos to you.
Warmest Regards,
Tegan

Aisha Azar

Dear Tegan,
Thank you!! It's good to know that there are others who feel like I do about clearly defining what we are doing. I think it is important, not only for rhe preservations of ethnic forms, but so that our audeinces and srudents can really have a better understanding of what we are presenting all the way around.
Regards,
A'isha

PS: I see you are from Whidbey Island. I live in Spokane!