![\"Author](\"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/art53\/graphics53\/TerryD\/redscherezade.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
I enjoyed this article<\/a> and all the comments very much. It was eloquently put to this ongoing dilemma that many performers and instructors face, particularly those who were professional dancers before they started teaching or, as Leila put perfectly, \u201c Acquired their fundamentals outside of the dance community\u201d.<\/p>\n \u00a0By professional, I don’t mean a regular competitor in the many available contests, a "regular Hafla" producer of events, or a restaurant dancer who regularly scours or solicits new\u00a0 restaurants and hookah bars as a venue for her talents (all lofty accomplishments). I am speaking of dancers who perform for Arabs in Arab venues, for their celebrations and family events like weddings and engagements as opening acts for their singers, and who are a part of their community.<\/p>\n When I first started teaching I had spent years in night clubs that catered to Arab clientele and their events, working with Arab musicians (not Americans playing Arab music) that were well known for hosting top Arab singers and\u00a0 where the belly dance show was an intrinsic<\/strong> part of the entertainment. <\/p>\n I had lofty aspirations to train dancers to perform in this kind of format: 30-40 minute shows, to learn the music, to learn the culture, etcetra. <\/p>\n However, what was happening in the "belly dance world"\u00a0 around me was a different story from how it is now.\u00a0 A big source of pleasure for me was to dig my teeth into a nice long choreography (7-9 minutes) and present that for class study. Now I know better, I better keep it short! I had to keep in mind where the dancers of today are going to use the choreography. Of course, we learn musicality and so forth,\u00a0 but where dance classes in some places are an hour long, teaching long choreography is not sustainable to an instructor. <\/p>\n It better be short, upbeat and adaptable to the festival or hafla environment. If you are a working dancer, performing it at a cafe or nargeely bar works, too…NOT a majenci, taxim, cocktail, balady, drum solo, finale.<\/p>\n The shorter, action packed dances appeal to the masses of dancers coming to class, many of them with no interest at all in performing, but who have come to love the benefits of our\u00a0 dance and the community it brings. This style also appeals to the general Western public.<\/p>\n So, we have a large amount of talented dancers who have no experience in\u00a0 performing in this format or seeing this, except in travel. In the San Francisco Bay area, there are no more (real) places like this to work or be a patron of.<\/p>\n We (Westerners) have created this incredible commerce that could never support a \u201ctraditional dance show"(meaning solo show), live music, enough time to organically transport yourself, and to take the audience to a different place (taraab).<\/p>\n A commerce that wants to \u201celevate\u201d the dance by bringing it to the proscenium stage distances the dancer from an integral<\/strong> part of the experience: the audience. I know, I know…I’ll take heat on this one! But I agree, it does take the \u201cArabness\u201d out of it. I believe some of my best dance teachers were my audiences! Placing the dance in a theater makes it more palatable to a Westerner. Personally, give me a smoky nightclub any night of the week!<\/p>\n Our current community economic enviroment has created events and festivals as an opportunity for women to perform ALL kinds of belly dance and ALL of its hybrids with time slots that are minimal, 5-10 minutes. Compare this to how some Egyptian dancers wouldn’t have even entered the dance floor until 2-4 minutes into their music!<\/p>\n We have an industry that prides itself on other standards. For example, I just watched the first session of Project Belly Dance<\/span> and found it to be a beautifully produced video! We (Westerners) have created a industry that even Arabs are mimicking (Ahlan wa Sahlan Festival<\/a><\/span>, Nile Group<\/a><\/span>, etc.).<\/p>\n They may not be presenting what they perform, but they are catering to us and I hope reaping some financial success for their hard work with these opportunities- just as our version of their dance has afforded many Western women & men\u00a0lucrative rewards.\u00a0 <\/p>\n <\/p>\n What do Arabs think of our dance? I wish you all could have been a fly on my shoulder at a Rakkasah Festival<\/a><\/span> many years ago when a very famous Egyptian lady saw \u201cour\u201d dance for the first time! Let’s say \u201cmajnoon\u201d was mentioned several times throughout the day. An Arab band leader of mine stated after witnessing an American belly dance show, \u201cOnly in America\u201d!<\/p>\n Whether we dance for Arabs or for the general public, we are all a part of the same family tree. Some are first cousins, some are very distant cousins who have married outside of their tribe (and moved to a different country!). Others married into it. Some of those family members will be disowned, some gossiped about, some will die, some will flourish, and the core members (Arab Dance) will be the glue that holds the family together and keep the blood lines going.<\/p>\n I like that I am on good terms with all<\/strong><\/em> of my relatives!<\/p>\n Have a comment? Use or comment section at the bottom of this page or Send us a letter!<\/a> Ready for more?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \t\t\t<\/p>\n Response to Leila\u2019s \u201cDance for Dancers \u201c by Terry Del Giorno posted April 7, 2011 I enjoyed this article and all the comments very much. It was eloquently put to this ongoing dilemma that many performers and instructors face, particularly those who were professional dancers before they started teaching or, as Leila put perfectly, \u201c […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2542"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2542\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Petra](\"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/art53\/graphics53\/TerryD\/petra.jpg\")
\nAuthor dancing at Petra, top and bottom photo are at the Scheherazde <\/h6>\n![\"Musicians\"](\"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/art53\/graphics53\/TerryD\/bandoysterint.jpg\")
I think we are and have been in a \u201cnew era of dance\u201d for awhile. 15-20 years ago, tribal and urban dance was a twinkle in someone’s eyes. 15-20 years ago, Dina<\/a><\/span> made us Westerners raise an eyebrow with her Dala3. Certifications<\/a> were unheard of. For that matter, so was getting a Masters in Dance Ethnology.<\/p>\n![\"Scheherezade\"](\"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/art53\/graphics53\/TerryD\/blueschereza.jpg\")
\nMusicians in photo above left: Mohamed Ameen<\/strong>, def & tambourine, Nabeel Safi<\/strong> oud and
\nSinger, moi, Elias Khoury<\/strong> and Nizar Khwaja<\/strong> keyboard
\nMuiscians in above photo are Mohanned Elwir, Mohammed Ameen and Elias Khoury
\n… Plus the lilac colored costumes was one of Mish Mish<\/a>‘s creations!<\/h6>\n![\"use](\"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/graphics\/acommentbox.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\n
\nCheck the "Letters to the Editor<\/a>" for other possible viewpoints!<\/p>\n\n\n
\nSome current dancers may find that the sentiment of the 70’s feels alien and therefore unable to relate to it. However, I believe many dancers will be thrilled to see faces attached to the names of some of our dance legends like Bert Balladine in Gameel Gamal.<\/li>\n
\nArt created for other artists will evolve differently from art created for the masses. <\/li>\n
\nCamp Negum did indeed happen May 4-8, 2010. It was everything Leila promised and more – 5 days and nights of music and dance classes, almost all to live music.<\/li>\n
\n<\/strong>Audiences in the Middle East, especially Egyptians, see bellydancing as something to be participated in, critiqued, and loved (or hated) with gusto. <\/li>\n
\nAs Westerners interested in an Eastern dance form, we might want to ask ourselves if we are missing certain critical aspects of Raqs Sharki because we are not open to Eastern teaching methods. <\/li>\n
\nGilded Serpent interviews Shadi of Diamond Pyramid regarding the business scene since the Egyptian Revolution less than a month before this interview. This interview was conducted at the Belly Dancer of the Universe Competition in Long Beach, California on February 20, 2011<\/li>\n
\nAisha, Arabian Jewels, Azura, Dancers of Denile, Ariellah and Deshreet, Tatseena and Dreams of Cleopatra, Elnora, Ghanima, Goddess Force, Halima, Diana, Inami, Khalilah, Latifa, Kiyoko, Leila Haddad, Shaida, Shadya, Tanya, Zia!<\/li>\n
\nThat night, I would find out that my arrival and subsequent feelings of having \u201cmade it to the top\u201d couldn\u2019t have been farther from the truth! <\/li>\n
\nWaiting in the wings of the nearly completely darkened stage, holding fire-colored fan-veils aloft, listening to the first strains of Egyptian orchestral music, I couldn\u2019t help thinking that this experience was both familiar and foreign, in the literal and figurative sense. <\/li>\n
\nBack in the early \u201880s when I was performing at the Bagdad Cabaret on Broadway, a customer strolled into the Northbeach nightclub and told me about a little known restaurant<\/li>\n
\nSo, is \u201ccabaret\u201d a dirty word? It depends on whose definition you want to use! In Arabic, the name \u201ccabaret\u201d is interpreted differently from what it is in English, leading to the confusion about nightclubs and cabarets. Here in the U.S., we think of a cabaret as a synonym for nightclub. <\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"