Casting new Belly Dance Superstars - Page 3

Reen.Blom · 07-04-2008, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aisha Azar

Dear Babylonia,
In spite of rumors to the contrary, the BDSS rarely gets a strong showing from general public at their shows, from what I have personally seen and from what others have reported. Secondly, most of the general public who have any interest in the dance already know that male belly dancers exist! They are everywhere and have been for at least as long as I have been dancing, which is 34 years as of July 1st. ( I took my first lesson on July 1, 1974!!) I have no issue with men being included and that can be seen if you look at my fantasy list of dancers. I DO object to them being included simply because they are men. All of the dancers on my fantasy show list have a unique contribution to make, either as a belly dancer or in some other way. It is not about their gender, but about their talent.
Regards,
A'isha

Dont you think that male dancing falls in its own category? I do believe it is defferent!

Aisha Azar · 07-04-2008, 10:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reen.Blom

Dont you think that male dancing falls in its own category? I do believe it is defferent!

Dear Reen,
Even those male dancers with whom I seriously disagree about a lot of things will till tell you it is the same dance. If they are dancing belly dance properly, it should be the same dance. Good male dancing is not its own category, any more than good female dancing is. I am seeing some serious psychological training being done in the present time, however, so that dancers are beginning to believe that males are somehow special, just as women have been trained forever to see men as more "important" than we are in other areas of life. We are witnessing that happening now in belly dance. I can't make anyone believe what I am seeing, but I hope that everyone will at least think about what is happening around them right now. I can already see the backlash and hatred and nastiness coming my way for stating what I just said, so I am going to go and put on some protective fire gear.
Anyway, back to the original subject. If you all were going to replace the current BDSS group, who would you choose and why?
Regards,
A'isha

Amulya · 07-05-2008, 04:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aisha Azar

All of the dancers on my fantasy show list have a unique contribution to make, either as a belly dancer or in some other way. It is not about their gender, but about their talent.

Some of the best dancers happen to be male, would be a shame to exclude them!

Reen.Blom · 07-05-2008, 07:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aisha Azar

Dear Reen,
Even those male dancers with whom I seriously disagree about a lot of things will till tell you it is the same dance. If they are dancing belly dance properly, it should be the same dance. Good male dancing is not its own category, any more than good female dancing is. I am seeing some serious psychological training being done in the present time, however, so that dancers are beginning to believe that males are somehow special, just as women have been trained forever to see men as more "important" than we are in other areas of life. We are witnessing that happening now in belly dance. I can't make anyone believe what I am seeing, but I hope that everyone will at least think about what is happening around them right now. I can already see the backlash and hatred and nastiness coming my way for stating what I just said, so I am going to go and put on some protective fire gear.
Anyway, back to the original subject. If you all were going to replace the current BDSS group, who would you choose and why?
Regards,
A'isha

Even if it is still the same dance, I belive it is still different for the viewer, cos of defferent interpretarion! At least I see it differently!

Aniseteph · 07-05-2008, 09:14 AM

(Sorry, completely off topic here, but have you noticed how the ads at the bottom of the page are often slightly related to the topic? For the last page I got an ad for "Lowest Price Radio Controlled Battle Tanks" Is it the topic of male dancers that did it, or does it come up when debates start getting a bit heated...?

And how many RC battle tanks do they expect to sell to a bunch of belly dancers.....)

Carry on. I'm not feeling up to recasting the BDSS this morning.

I don't feel male belly dance is a separate category either.

Reen.Blom · 07-05-2008, 09:37 AM

LOL To me its not like a separate category...but more like saying "Why invite male singers just because they are male?" To be it is a bit of a different emotional charge, the pallete would be a bit paler....

gisela · 07-05-2008, 09:57 AM

(haha, it's probably just the word "male" that brings up ads for battletanks. The google ads certainly have a very modern gender-attitude, don't they?)

I think there's as much variation in the interpretation between female dancers as between male and female dancers so for me it's not a different category. I don't think gender makes a difference.

Aisha Azar · 07-05-2008, 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amulya

Some of the best dancers happen to be male, would be a shame to exclude them!

Dear Amulya,
Please go back and read my list. You will see that males were not excluded at all. I just did not make it ABOUT them being male. I made it about their valid contributions to dance. There is a HUGE difference. In fact I was including males in my productions, hiring males to teach workshops and teaching and coaching males long before it was the trendy thing to do.
Some of the worst dancers happen to be male also......
Regards,
A'isha

Aisha Azar · 07-05-2008, 01:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reen.Blom

LOL To me its not like a separate category...but more like saying "Why invite male singers just because they are male?" To be it is a bit of a different emotional charge, the pallete would be a bit paler....

Dear Reen,
I would not invite anyone to sing just because he is male either. There has to be a reason, other than gender, for us to consider hiring, watching , listening to, or otherwise engaging a person to do a dance or sing or make clothing or whatever. It HAS to stop being about gender. Unfortunately the latest trend in Middle Eastern dance is ALL about gender. All male shows, treating males differently than females, screaming our heads off when they come on stage whether or not they are good dancers, interview columns featuring only males, feeling that we MUST include a male in a show in order for it to be politically correct, etc. I have even heard people say ridiculous stuff like males are better dancers than females. Surely I am not the ONLY one who can see this trend emerging....????? ( Though I can really understand why people do not want to speak up! I am still trying to regrow my eyebrows from the last scorching!! LOL)
Regards,
A'isha

Now, I would like very much to NOT make this about boys and girls again, so I hope people will focus on other areas of this post, like making lists of who they want to see in the new and improved BDSS!!

Salome · 07-05-2008, 05:27 PM

I think it's a good idea to get back to the original topic too. There are enough threads about male/female dancing on the forum right now that that topic can be explored there.

Casting your own BDSS...

07-05-2008, 09:37 AM	#26 (permalink)
Reen.Blom V.I.P. Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: SA now UK(Newmarket) Posts: 2,262	LOL To me its not like a separate category...but more like saying "Why invite male singers just because they are male?" To be it is a bit of a different emotional charge, the pallete would be a bit paler.... __________________ Join WORLD BELLY DANCE DAY! www.worldbellydanceday.com

07-05-2008, 09:57 AM	#27 (permalink)
gisela Moderator Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Denmark Posts: 852	(haha, it's probably just the word "male" that brings up ads for battletanks. The google ads certainly have a very modern gender-attitude, don't they?) I think there's as much variation in the interpretation between female dancers as between male and female dancers so for me it's not a different category. I don't think gender makes a difference. __________________ You need chaos in your soul to create a dancing star-nietzsche

07-05-2008, 09:14 AM	#25 (permalink)
Aniseteph V.I.P. Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Sussex, England Posts: 1,570	(Sorry, completely off topic here, but have you noticed how the ads at the bottom of the page are often slightly related to the topic? For the last page I got an ad for "Lowest Price Radio Controlled Battle Tanks" Is it the topic of male dancers that did it, or does it come up when debates start getting a bit heated...? And how many RC battle tanks do they expect to sell to a bunch of belly dancers.....) Carry on. I'm not feeling up to recasting the BDSS this morning. I don't feel male belly dance is a separate category either.

07-05-2008, 05:27 PM	#30 (permalink)
Salome Super Moderator Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Corvallis, Oregon, USA Posts: 1,729	I think it's a good idea to get back to the original topic too. There are enough threads about male/female dancing on the forum right now that that topic can be explored there. Casting your own BDSS...