Moon

Actually I think most people who think Shakira is a bellydancer are the ones who didn't study bellydance

sstacy123

I couldn't find the one where she talks about taking classes but I have read she DID take classes:

Pretty soon she was belly dancing with a fervour reserved exclusively for pre-teen obsessives: at family gatherings, during dinner, in the park, on the beach and even for the nuns at her Catholic school. 'Fridays were special and I performed for the whole school each week. The nuns weren't shocked. They considered it an art. I drove my classmates crazy.'

How would you describe your belly dancing?
As a beautiful form of expression. I've been belly dancing since I was a child and it came very naturally to me. I guess it's in my blood.

Moon

I'm sure I heard too that she had classes when she was younger, though I think ow on stage she fused things she learned in those classes together wih aspects of other dances to make her own style.
And oh my god I do hate "it's in my blood" comments...

Aisha Azar

Dear Moon,
I hate those "In my blood" comments, too. I know so many Arab women who can't belly dance, though many can do a decent shaabi; I would so moreso than westerners, but mostly because they have grown up with the music and so they have an intrinsic understanding of that aspect of the dance. Belly dance is a very complex art form and it does not just "in the blood".
Regards,
A'isha

Shahina

Alright, I have a few things to say about Shakira to explain my pet peeves with her:

She can execute bellydancing movements, but she's not that much of a dancer as far as combining them--she does stage tricks, but she's pretty mediocre when compared to what we see in the standard for high quality dancing. My main peeve is the hype she has received for it, and how it affects the rest of us.

We have more people knowing that the dance exists beyond halloween costumes and bad cartoons of harem girls, which is good--it gives people who are interested in dancing the chance to see the difference when they take classes. However Shakira's incorporation of dance movements and the way her PR people advertise it is not helping us disspell the false image long associated with bellydancing--that it is highly sexualized, advertising the flesh, or stripping. "Hips Don't Lie" was a fun, danceable song, but the lyrics are like nails on a chalkboard to me as I just know that I will get more lewd comments when I dance because of it.

Also what peeves me is that since she is the only "dancer" who's been recognized by the mainstream public, they maintain her as some kind of standard for dancing based on the fact that she is famous. It's no longer "bellydancing" or "middle eastern or oriental dance", it's "Shakira! Shakira!". I've had "Shakira! Shakira!" yelled at me by people while I was dancing until I wanted to gouge my eyes out, not once, but at practically every gig I've been hired for with the exception to a gig at a tea shop. I just wish I could say everytime: "I'm NOT Shakira, I'm Shahina, thank you! No, my hips are not saying anything to you beyond "look at me shimmy it time to the music! isn't that cool?" No, Shakira does not do those layering moves I just executed, and if you want to see the ART of dancing, stop watching Shakira and start watching Amar Gamal, Rachel Brice, Saida, and Bozenka!"

Sorry, as I said, the hype associated with her seriously irks me.

Ranya

I also hate the "it's in my blood thing" !!!! And I do think just like shahina, that she certainly DOES bellydance MOVES but not bellydance as is! I do not like her style of dancing whatsoever but I think that she could be a hell of a dancer if she would try to, or be guided to...but hm...maybe she is a bellyfusiondancer...

Ranya

haha...just found this eBay.co.uk: BELLY DANCING COSTUME BELLYDANCE SHAKIRA PROFESSIONAL ! (item 220104288398 end time 26-Apr-07 16:45:57 BST)...the name is NOT enough...READ THE WHOLE THING! especially the part where they talked about other stars that "bellydanced". prepare your "sickeness-bags" girls 'n boys.

Kharmine

The thing is -- we just don't see enough good belly dancing in our communities or on TV, the ultimate outlet of popular culture and information in the Western world.

That's why those of us who know better need to educate ourselves and be able to present a more accurate picture. And to seize opportunities to present that information publicly.

We need to be able to give a little history and point out what we are doing in specific terms -- raks sharki or ATS or American Cabaret or whathaveyou so that the audience can be informed about the significant differences.

I can't tell you the number of times I've seen a group or individual dancers perform with no explanation as to why they are dressed they way they are or what, exactly, they are performing -- leaving the clueless still generally clueless, maybe with the impression that all belly dancing is like what they've just seen.

As for opportunities: My husband is a member of a Morris dancing team. When a woman from a chamber of commerce in a town north of us called to get some Morris dancing demonstrated at some folk fest, I gave her the contact person for that, and then jumped at the chance and told her about my dance teacher and her troupe.

My teacher has been lauded by Arab-American groups for her authenticity of style, and she is a very knowledgeable and personable speaker about the various forms of belly dance, and the cultures it arose from. I presented it as an opportunity to see "the real thing," not just a sexy nightclub act, and the woman was hooked enough to give my teacher a call to see what they could arrange.

Many times a town will have some kind of cultural festival, or a school will hold a "celebrate diversity week" or some such, and we could be taking the inititiative to contact the folks in charge and make a pitch for presenting authentic belly dancing with a little information as to what that really is, and came to be.

Another idea would be to get a group together and volunteer to dance and answer phones on your local Public TV fund-raiser telethon (if you're in the States, you know how often those tedious things interrupt regular programming). Heck, if Irish stepdancers and square dancers and Roumanian folk dancers and whomever can do it, so can we.

We can easily guarantee any leery TV station folks that a "clean" act can be presented that is "family-friendly" and still have folks rivited to the tube for the time, at least, that we are performing!

I'll also make an argument for not wearing costumes on those occasions that make us look like stereotypical "harem girls." We don't have to wear caftans, but something other than outfits that have our tits and asses hanging out would be a prudent idea, and would help buck the stereotypes.

__________________
What if the hokey pokey is really what it's all about?

Aisha Azar

Dear Ranya,
Was there an attachment of some kind that did not make it into the post??
Regards,
A'isha

Ranya

hihi...yes there was a'isha...just added it, it's in the original post, just a few posts "up"...u know, my brain just doesn't work as it should in the evening...