adiemus

Two points: if dancers who want to portray the range of bellydance in an honest and real way decline to be part of TV or any media, then it's left to the ones who really don't care about it to put it across the way they want to - which isn't good for the dance form. So if given a chance, I think it's good to be involved.
second point: talent shows and things like 'So you think you can dance' are not there to encourage authenticity or even good technique. They're simply there as popularity contests and in the end reduce individuality and technique into an emotionally bland 'look at my flashy moves' contest. I'm not keen on doing that to any artistic form that I love. I feel the same about the singing contests and even the old eurovision songquest! None of these shows are about the art, they're simply about bums on seats - and face it, the average person isn't going to work too hard to learn how to appreciate the nuances of what artists really do.

__________________
He wahine, he taonga- Every woman is a treasure(Maori proverb)

Aisha Azar

Dear Adiemus,

Another great point, and I will stay far away from talent shows and contests of all kinds, as I have always done, including those run by and for belly dancers.
Regards,
A'isha

taheya

Adiemius great point about if the good ones stay away then the public are only going those dancers who put themselves forward who may not be a good example of the art form. However, in these general contests we will have pressures from the shows organisers to perhaps dance to a particular song or in a particular way as I believe happened to UG and Sophie Mai in Britains got talent. So then it is going to be distorted again, as the organisers will not know anything about the dance so their influence will more than likely ruin the way it is presented.
Paul Potts won Brits got talent last year and he is incredibly talented opera singer..and im sure that Simon Cowell's interest and knowledge of singing/ music ensure that the right song etc was chosen for him. I think it would be a very different competition if the judges actually KNEW about MED and were able to identify a good dancer who presented the dance with authenticity and feeling of MED.
I think competitions run by dancers who know about the dance are much more appealing than the general ones. Especially if you have several judges who mark indidvidually on different aspects of the dance.

Kharis

Mmm. The dreaded Bellydancer of the Cosmos and Beyond type contests.... I so hate those. I have real issues with 'em. Winning a trophy smacks of "There you go, losers, I'm the very best there is...." Yak!

adiemus

Sad to say, Paul Potts is a great example of how these shows distort the real work that goes into becoming a true artist.
My Father is a trained opera singer and teacher, and I spent years of my life listening to opera (from 6.00 in the morning until 11.00 at night!!), so hopefully I know a weeny bit about classical singing.
Paul is a guy who hasn't had singing training, and although he has the potential to have a lovely voice, it's not a good example of classical singing. Yes, the songs that were chosen suit the 'popera' type of singing that Hayley Westenra and the 'Ten Tenors' popularise, but they don't represent the wonderful range and variety of timbre, and dynamics of emotion that classically-trained opera singers do.
Sad to say, what you heard with him is a caricature of real opera, and just what I'm worried happens to bellkydance in similar shows.

Perhaps we are confusing two things here: shows like the 'So you think you can dance' are probably the last place that I would agree to be part of, but the opportunity to talk to the media is one I would take, given the opportunity. Of course you have to be a bit choosy as to which show you would be prepared to be part of! In NZ the Government subsidised advertisement-free radio network is fine and actually did record a show with Kashmir and some of her students (including me!) about bellydance, but I would be less prepared to be part of a Rove show (for the Ozzies!!) whcih for those of you who don't know is a chat-show basically.

__________________
He wahine, he taonga- Every woman is a treasure(Maori proverb)

taheya

Ok Adiemius, that sort of proves my point to me, having an untrained ear, I thought Paul Potts sounded brilliant!!

adiemus

Don't get me wrong, he does sound great - but he's trying to be an opera singer, but isn't quite making it! He's doing what we would call 'popera'!! Which is fine, but to me is a little bit like listening to white bread.

__________________
He wahine, he taonga- Every woman is a treasure(Maori proverb)

Aniseteph

Mega rep to you! Same could probably be said about the girls in short dresses playing those skeletal violins etc. "Popular classical", don't get me started...

It'll be the same for many genres where the general public and the judges can only assess talent in terms of entertainment value because they don't have the background. It's obvious for belly dance they haven't a clue, but lots of people will think they know about classical singing because they've got a few of these "popera" CDs.

jenc

And lots of people think they know all about bellydance cos they've seen Shakira!!!

cathy

I don't think this qualifies as a talent show but:

Serpentessa Featured on ABC?S Popular Reality Show~ Wife Swap - New York City - tribe.net

LOCAL DANCER TO APPEAR ON ABC’S POPULAR REALITY SHOW, WIFE SWAP

Actually according to this link it's two dancers--Serpentessa and Jehan

I'll be out of town and unable to watch.

Cathy