Aisha Azar

Dear Brea,
I think that with SCA members it is a lot about the individual effort into research, and talent for finding the stuff that makes the costume and persona authentic to the period as possible. But, yeah, as far as what they present as Middle Eastern dance of the specific time periods that go along with their individual parrishes/towns/shires ( Can't remember the correct word this A.M.)they do seem lax.
We once danced at the Renaissance Fair here in Spokane and were told we could not have any noticeable electrical cords, but there was Coke and hotdogs for sale (scratching head here). They also walked away from us in droves because we costumed like from way back when, I forget the date. When I used to attend the Renaissance Pleasure Faires in California, they were very serious about proper costuming and no electrical cords or modern anything.... except for the Middle Eastern dancers. Of course, I did not know that then.
Regards,
A'isha

Brea

Yes, the hairy eyeball is more related to what you're talking about; sometimes SCA is perfect to a T, sometimes accuracy doesn't matter at all, the problem is that people can get easily confused about which is which (even outside the SCA circuit). There is also an inherent silliness to it that I just can't get into. Too serious, me.

Oddly I have seen this kind of thing crop up pretty frequently, even recently. I think there's even a DVD on male bellydance that says the same things...

On the other hand, someone suggested a book to me that looked very interesting. He said it was a scholarly work, so perhaps we should add it to our 'required reading' list. Is there one of those? "Books Every Belly Dancer Should Read"? Said's Orientalism would have to be on there.

Amazon.com: Dancing Fear and Desire: Race, Sexuality, and Imperial Politics in Middle Eastern Dance (Cultural Studies): Stavros Stavrou Karayanni: Books

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da Sage

On the original post...I have seen some extremely aggressive male bellydancers on YouTube, and I have seen that some members of the audience were not comfortable with it (and the dancers did not seem to be sensitive to that). While the movement style described may work in some cases, I think it would not work well in performance for most male dancers, most of the time.

On the SCA, could someone (Aziyade?) point me to some good dancing/ME costuming and history resources? I am putting together a new act, and it needs to have some historical basis. Not a lot, though.

Aziyade

Here's one set for dance, click Eastern dance for ME dance specifically:
Atlantian A&S Links

and the parent page, with many different links:
Atlantian A&S Links

a compilation of links:
Stefan's Florilegium Archive

and more:
SCA Arts and Sciences Homepage


Probably the best thing to do is join this list:
SCA-MidEastMusicCulture : SCA-MidEastMusicCulture

which has the most RECENT information. Woodrow (Asim here) has a collection of links I think and can probably point you in a better direction. My A&S focus in the SCA is not dance, but nalbinding and spinning, so I don't really have a lot of dance links bookmarked. Sorry ! I'll check around and see if anybody locally has any favorite links, though!

da Sage

Awesome! Thanks Aziyade! I knew you'd point me in the right direction (and then some).

Shanazel

How about forcing him to wear a beekeeper's hat with veil so he can no longer cast slow fierce gazes over the crowd?

Aisha Azar

Dear Shanazel,
Do you think you have to have the right kind of face to cast a fierce glance over the crowd? What if you look like, say, Woody Allen or Wally Cox? Do you fail the fierce glance lesson automatically because of your looks? Can you still be a male belly dancer then, or do you have to automatically be relegated to the role of female belly dancer or eunuch belly dancer?? I can do a fairly fierce glance if I am in the right mood. Can I be a male belly dancer, then? I am not good at making fists because my fake nails are too long...
Regards,
A'isha

Shanazel

NAh, any parent of teenaged children who are discovered having an unauthorized party can do it.

Personally, I find Woody Allen scary as hell.

Aisha Azar

Dear Shanazel,
After reading that description of male dancing, I am pretty sure it would be way too hard for me to learn it. I will just stick to my humdrum female dancing and let it go, just let it go, that I am such a failure. I tried making the fierce eyed look. I looked like a Shar Pei on meth.
Regards,
A'isha

Shanazel