lizaj

Posed the question on Bhuz. Thought I might here.
2 sides of course. My mind is open and confused ( well nothing new there ) but at least being open is good, isn't it?
Any one else who has been pin pointed by TV, you fourpennorth?

Kharis

The problem with TV work is that, like being featured in Newspapers, it can often go tits up. I'm really wary about TV work. I was asked to appear on the Ant and Dec show some time ago but declined. I'm glad I did. Because I think bellydance is very often presented in a cheesy light no matter how much the dancer tries to fight against this. The media manipulates.

Jack

There's only one answer to this.
No.
The media does not care about anything except veiwers. This means twisting to make it more intresting and "shocking".
First hand experiance talking here.

__________________
Shoot for the Moon. Even if you miss, you will land upon the stars.

Shanazel

No is my answer, too. Belly dance presented as sensationalism rather than a "real" dance form irritates me to no end.

Aisha Azar

Dear Kharis,
I would tend to agree. Even when it is a serious program about dance this same thing can happen. I belonged to a dance company about 25 years ago that was featured on a public television series called "Women in Dance". We performed and then were interviewed by the host. She actually asked us if we popped out of cakes! This is spite of the fact that we did a mix of folk dance and belly dance in order to show a more well rounded point of view on Middle Eastern Dance. One of our members gave her a disparaging look and stated in a dry, flat voice, "We prefer to dance after dessert".
Fortunately, I rarely have such disparaging experiences and I can honestly say that maybe it is because I hardly ever agree to do anything with television, newspapers, etc. I did recently do an interview with Northwest Woman mag on the grounds that I get to proofread and correct anything in the article that is not quite right.
Regards,
A'isha

chryssanthi sahar

I wouldn't be so absolute about it. Maybe it is like this in the USA, but here in Germany we have some good reports about belly dance and belly dancers once a while. Myself participated such a good report just some time ago. It was a 30minute report about belly dance as THE female dance which makes women happy and helps them to get more self confident. Besides this aspect they also showed the entertainment and art aspect in a very good way. We were 3 dancers who participated this report, 2 professionals and an amateur. The reporter was a woman and she was obviously very fascinated by the dance. She had come to my house (with the cameraman and the sound guy), interviewed me and my family and then they accompanied me to a show I had. The show happened to be in clinic for heart diseases (I dance there once a month for the entertainment of the patients) and the reporter found it great how the heart sick people reacted on the dance, becoming more and more happy and getting in a good mood. The report was shown on TV at the 20th of May (SWR, Schlaglicht, Bauchtanz). Unfortunately most of you don't speak German, otherwise I would have tried to find it on youtube and post it here.

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

Eshta

Hmm, a bit of both methinks.

Since 'Britain's got Talent', I've had:

- quite a few positive comments based on Sophie Mei's performance
- A couple of negative comments based on the Urban Gypsies performance (well, one wasn't negative, but they were all a bit 'freak show' based, which is not the image I want belly dance to have!)
- A smattering of the 'traditional' comments (ie, 'you're a belly dancer, bet you've got guys throwing themselves at you/bet you're great in bed, etc)

So it depends what you are trying to portray and how you actually do portray it. As has already been mentioned here, the problem is you don't always have a lot of control over it.

Oh, and I reckon even when we have managed to re-educate the world as to the integrity of our artform, there are always going to be the odd few who can't disassociate sex with just about anything remotely feminine!

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Saqarah - London's monthly Belly Dance Hafla!

lizaj

In the case of talent shows, it's not about viewers except in so much that if they don't have any they can't do what it's all about :make money. It is about the moghuls making money from their music and commercial interests. Ant and Dec are the big pawns manipulating us the viewers away from reality and let's face it as long as we are entertained by large middle aged women ( like myself) making fools of themselves, young men throwing hissy fits and deluded impressionists, they're laughing because we're laughing.
However if along the way a talented individual or act gets airplay which gives them a career however short lived, it does them good. But what I am saying is(and this is not necessarily so in the specific cases we have just watched): can a show like this ever be a vehicle to promote the dance for what it is.
I think Sophie showed that belly dancing as entertainment is not just about shaking yer attributes( however nicely) in a restaurant but it can be big stage entertainment. And before you jump down my holy throat, there is nothing wrong with the small venue either..it earns the cash and I'd have done it 30 or 40 years ago.
Does belly dance belong in the world of mass entertainment? Do we even want it there?
Would a serious documentary on women who belly dance state our case ..but would anyone switch on to watch it as they most certainly do in Britain's Got Talent?
I think Sophie did the cause no harm at all. Most non BDers I talk to liked her very much, some even thought she should have been in the final!
I am not sure about the UG simply because the editing and the way some members of the group (not the leader) fell plonk into the media trap! I have a fellow teacher tell me how she has had to assure her work colleagues she certainly does not go around shaking her bosoms all the time!
I just wonder if we can cut through the commercial crap to say what it's about: a lovely slice of someone else's culture, an art form, an excellent and natural way to have fun and keep fit and .....very entertaining ....done well.

jenc

Well not in a talent show. What people want from that is a laugh and a comunal talking point. Contestants are always encouraged to make fools of themselves if at all possible.

UG would never have got very far and possibly got as far as they did purely because of the boob shaking and the uncommercial costumes....in a look at these weirdos.

For the rest there are tose who can get more punters to watch them in their small venues than before by advertising they were on the show. I suspect this is what Sophie will get.

for a serious programme on BD, don't hold your breath. I suspect it would be imppossible. All programmes have to entertain us these days even serious ones. 5 years ago I went on holiday to Crete to look at minoan antiquities. When I got back I saw there was going to be a programme on the Minoans, so i caled up my ffmily to watch it. What wee got was far more of the attractive (although qualified) historian standing in the bows of a yacht, than any appropriate visuals, and i think things are getting worse, not better in that respect, although I don't watch much TV (too busy on Forum). Have only seen youtubes of contest, for example. Life's too short to watch TV - at least with what passes for TV these days.
- end of middle aged rant. you have been listening to Jenc on one of her favourite hobbyhorses

Kharis

Exactly. So what do we do? Not enter such broadcast contests? It's a hard one. The problem with belly dance is that it still retains the 'Carry on" image with a jewel in the navel that's so hard to shake out.