adiemus

From 2005. Fluid and precise and lovely!

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

Salome

Hi Priscilla,

Yemaya is a good friend of mine and yes she is an outstanding dancer! Her mother Kameal was my main teacher since I was a young thing. Please give Yemaya greetings from Salome when you see her next

P.S. Thanks for the props Kharmine

Maria_Aya

I liked very much Tina, as we say in Greece "She have it"

With our own Salome we dont need to say more, she brings dance to an artistic level at each dance of her that i've seen.

I just want to ask something.
We have in Greece Rhea (who is from California, one of the first students of Jamila Salimpour), just love her style and energy when she dance, and she says that her style is a mix of old AmCab, Jamila and bits from Greece/Turkey/Arab world. For me the most obvious cause we are friends is her personality also.

But what you believe?
Keep in mind that this show is from last year where (ok not saying Rhea's age, but count lol)

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... www.orientalexpression.gr

nightdancer

I love love love this "This is done right" theme that we've had going lately. Thanks to A'isha's articles on her site, and these lines of threads, its starting to make sense now. Thank you all so much.

adiemus

What incredible control! She does bring a certain energy and stage presence to the dance, although I still don't really like those tummy rolls! (not jealous, no no no!!)
More! More!

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

Kharmine

I'd have to give it some thought and then take a look through YouTube for examples.

Quite honestly, I quit labeling dancers as "Egyptian" or "Turkish" or "Greek" or "AmCab" long ago. If they wish to identify themselves with a particular style, more power to 'em. But no two dancers in any style dance alike, never have. So, IMHO no one style has a single, narrowly defined and correct way to be performed.

And we absolutely cannot deny that, historically, all belly dance is an ethnic fusion. The Greeks borrowed, in part, from the Turks who borrowed, in part, from the Egyptians who developed raqs sharqi from a variety of North African folk dance traditions (Moroccan, Algerian, Tunisian, ghawazee, Bedouin, etc.). And Americans learned from all these traditions.

They all blended their indigenous influences with foreign ones, including Western music and dance forms. They all presented the new dance form in "cabarets" -- places that presented food, drink and entertainment.

So, what is "AmCab"? Whatever one chooses to call it, it is a style that can look like any one or all of the older styles and when done by Americans will have an American "accent," more or less depending on the dancer and her/his training.

So long as it stays within the blended ME/Turkish/Greek ethnic fusion and is performed to music within those traditions, it's all "belly dance" to me.

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What if the hokey pokey is really what it's all about?

Aisha Azar

Dear Aya,
How nice to see film of Rhea after all these years!!! She moved to Greece shortly after I started dancing and she is well remembered in the States. Her style exemplifies all that Jamila Salimpour was doing back then, and was very typical of what you would see in the clubs back in the 70s in the western U.S. I think in the Eastern U.S. they were looking different than this, because Bobby Farrah and a couple of other people were more influential there. While Bobby was not exactly doing authentic belly dance, he did pay more attention to certain aspects of it than did Jamila and her followers out West. Rhea is a lovely person as well as an excellent American Oriental dancer.
Regards,
A'isha

Yasmine Bint Al Nubia

Let's not forget Suzanna! I've had several workshops with Ms. Del Vecchio in addition to working with her instructional Dvd's. She is in the same class as Ms. Shore(another of my favorites). Here is a short lip from Lock,Flutter and Roll DVD. I highly recommend taking a workshop from her or attending her retreat in Colorado.
YouTube - Lock, Roll & Flutter with Suzanna Del Vecchio
Yasmine

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www.visionsofthenile.com

adiemus

oooh I am so jealous of people living in the US - such riches in terms of learning! We make do with the few who travel down under to Oz and NZ, otherwise scavenge from YouTube and DVD's!!
Kharmine I'm curious about your comments regarding different styles, because I do agree that the individual dancer brings so much of his/her style to a dance - but then A'isha identifies some clear points of difference... ahhh! such is the wonder of this dance form!

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

Aisha Azar

Dear Kharmine
If it were just "all belly dance", there would be no elements that clearly defined one style from another. And these do exist. The existence of these elements is what allows educated dancers to see it when a person is performing Egyptian, or Lebanese , or Turkish belly dance immediately, without knowing anything about the dancer. It is the reason why I could look at the Ahlan Wa Sahlan videos without knowing a thing about either Esmahan or Soraya, and clearly see that they were not Egyptians, and also as easily see that Randa and Dandash were. Since I was reviewing the videos for Hala of California, I asked her for background into on Esmahan and Soraya and told her why I was asking. Most dancers who have taken the time and trouble to study authentic ethnic belly dance in depth can tell very quickly what is being performed as far as style, etc. in terms of authentic belly dance. There is something that immediately sets these styles apart. Kharmine, you have not been dancing very long, so hopefully you will come to know these differences.
Regards,
A'isha