Caroline_afifi

Navel Academy - World - smh.com.au

I hope I put this link on correctly!

PS. No I didnt! does anyone else know how?

lizaj

Aisha Azar

Dear Caroline,
Interesting and true article, from what I have heard from dancers who worked there for years or still do.The only thing I would take issue with is that the article is portraying the social attitudes toward belly dancers as if they are new, when if fact it has always been that way, whether or not the dancer is foreign or Egyptian. Aside from a few very famous ( read that rich) dancers, the Egyptians put up with the same kind of treatment, and it is not just an attitude picked up from the Saudis. It has been there since the beginning for belly dancers, who were an element in of the wave of feminism that took hold in Egypt in the early 1900s.
Regards,
A'isha

Caroline_afifi

Yes.

Media like to keep reminding people at every available opportunity about rising fundamentalism etc. like it is a new fashion or something.

Pay maybe poor for foreign dancers etc. but dancing in Cairo and putting up with all the Bull*** does have its pay offs as well as fulfilling a dream.
It is great to add to the CV and ensures lucrative workshop deals around the world.

I dont know about this bit about what Raqia Hassan was suppossed to have said about not being a real belly dancer till you have worked in Cairo.
The pecking order is greater than this, you are not a 'real' dancer till you have got off the Nile Pharoah I have heard many say... you cant win can you?

If anyone thinks they can do this and live this life, then think again.

You think going to a local belly dance class is tough... enter the world of 'real' belly dancers if you dare...

PS and dont own a cat
By the way, Caroline E does not have any luck with cats, one tried to jump off the balcony (5 floors up I think) and survived!

Aisha Azar

[quote=Caroline_afifi;77640]Yes.






Dear Caroline,
And my personal saying has always been, "Just because one has dipped one's toe in the Nile, this does not mean they come back a good dancer". I know of of dancers who have worked in Egypt that are not good dancers at all, and going there did not seem to help. It was more like they knew exactly who to have sex with rather to how to dance!!
Regards,
A'isha

Mosaic

Reading an article like that on how people view & treat bellydancers is sad. I know dancers want to dance there, but goodness! to be treated so badly, maybe only sometimes, maybe a lot of the time, it doesn't matter, I just don't see why anyone would put up with it, when you can be accepted and appreciated in so many other countries.

I can understand the draw and the desire to dance in the "cradle" of BD, but I sure don't get the fact that so many stay and allow themselves to be badly treated.

Mind you I can't wait to go to Egypt in January But I certainly wouldn't be dancing there, I just want to take in the history and maybe see 1 or 2 shows. I might even get brave enough to do a workshop, and of course buy a couple of costumes. But overall the main draw card is the historical value for me.

As for the neighbours poisoning the dancers cats, that is horrific and disgusting! But so many of these countries, don't have the same respect for animals as the Western world does and I can't see that changing in a hurry. Putting aside the emotional aspect of animals, I can understand that people are seeking their own survival in many cases, and animals in such situations take 2nd place or less in the scheme of things.
~Mosaic

Aisha Azar

Dear Mosiac,
I think one of the problems is that westerners have the luxury, if you want to call it that, of deciding how they choose to see the dance, rather than acknowledging its reputation and meaning in countries of origin among the people who are not professional dancers, which is of course the majority. I think that the native dancers are much more real with themselves about it all and have a much less romantic outlook on what they do than westerners have created for themselves. Most of us do not have to do this job for a living. It is a personal choice around which it is easy to create a fantasy. Not so with most Egyptian dancers unless one is really rich and famous.

As for the treatment of animals, well, when my journal finally gets up on my website, you might want to read about my visit to a rescue farm there, run by a European. One night I saw this poor Beledi dog limping, walking by a guy who just sort of looked at the poor creature like it was pond scum and kicked out at it and yelled at it in Arabic. The dog was obviously hurt, but that did not seem to occur to the guy at all. I know the Beledi dogs are pretty vicious but this one was limping badly. There are bazillions of feral Mau cats that are everywhere, many of whom are so thin it is amazing they can walk. The hardest two things for me while I was in Egypt was that many, many people do not seem to realize that animals are sentient creatures........ and that many humans are treated the same way. It is so rampant that it is impossible to ignore, though everyone I met who lives there says you get used to it.
Regards,
A'isha

Caroline_afifi

I think there is a general fear of ferral cats and dogs and I understand why.
Lots of people there do love animals and treat them well and are no different to the animal issues we have in the UK. The problem is with the wild ones really.
My husband told me about an old Bawaab (doorman) who used to wear the oldest galabiya etc. and have no money. This man went to the local shop everyday and bought luncheon meat and fed it to the cats. He adored them and they adored him. I am sure they felt it when he did.
In our building in Masr Gedida nobody bothers the cats despite the fact that they cry loudly and live on the rubbish which they scatter around the hall ways. I have only seen hostlity to animals on rare occasions.
there are people dying of starvation so like you say, who gives a toss about a cat? they can look after themsleves and to some extent do cos they keep breeding.
I think the plight of animals has a higher profile and is further down the priority list but human attitude towards being cruel is not nessesarily any worse.

Caroline_afifi

I think articles like this need to be put into some kind of context.
The foreign dancers that I personally know in Cairo dance and live there because they are happy, those who are not tend to leave.
It is hard work keeping the gigs and having to perform when they are ill etc. There is no such thing as getting your mate to cover like we do in the UK etc.
The dancers work hard at it because they want too. The ones who stay long enough learn the hidden grammars of the society and learn to adapt.
For many it is a dream and for others it becomes a nightmare.
I think you have to be made of stern stuff to do late nights like they do.
There is bull*** to contend with and it is a highly competative area but
it has its pay offs.
I personally couldnt do it as as I am far too lazy to maintain the amount of energy required. I do admire anyone who sets a personal goal and achieves it for no matter how long it lasts.
I have seen mediocre dancers perform in Cairo and no amount of training seems to make a difference but they tend not to last very long.

Aisha Azar

Dear Caroline,

Well, there are a few, several from the western USA and a couple of those are really mediocre, but long lasting. Some of the dirt I have heard on a couple of them would curl your hair, or even better, curl mine!! There are also a couple from the western USA who left as worse than mediocre and came back as truly great dancers! It is a tough business no matter where you are ,but from all reports even worse there.

Regards,
A'isha