![\"Amani](\"http:\/\/www.gildedserpent.com\/art60\/graphics60\/Amani\/hairtoss-amanijabril-jaki.jpg\")
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It is a little bit funny, sitting here in the Abu Dhabi airport, organizing my thoughts for this article. Today, I am only passing through the bustling, modern airport, with my new husband, on our way to Iraq. Looking back almost seven years ago, it was in this city that I encountered the Kawleeya1<\/span><\/em> for the first time. Then, I had no idea what I was witnessing, and it is funny how that seemingly independent thread has now looped around to connect with my present.<\/p>\n In recent years, Kawleeya has come into greater popularity with Western dancers. Watching it form itself in our imaginations and on our bodies, I am surprised by how quickly Oriental dancers in the U.S. and Europe have adopted it into their repertoires.<\/p>\n I have watched our greater dance community consume new music, new dances, and new styles with great zeal. I perceive our community to be open to engaging new material, and while this openness is a beneficial trait for us as artists, I am left wondering, “Why this dance and why now?” That is to say, I feel strongly that before we can effectively begin to study, appreciate and perform the Kawleeya, I believe that it is critical for us, as conscientious dance artists, to take a step back and first consider how we engage this dance, and why we choose to do so. <\/p>\n Have we have learned from our experiences incorporating the Raqs Sharqi into our lives and practice or is the Kawleeya fated to be yet another souvenir from a visit into our collective imaging of the exotic “Orient”? <\/p>\n \n Context, and its use in the research and practice of dance, is not one-directional. We don’t engage in a discussion about the who, what, when, and where simply to achieve a state of authenticity nor do we do it, as a gift given back to the culture from which it came. The reality is, the topics we choose and the methods by which we incorporate them into our reality are reflective of our own motivations and imaging of the “Other” 2<\/span>. Of course, none of us can come to the table free of our biases, or what I have come to think of as cultural baggage. Yet, our baggage does not automatically discount our efforts. How do we begin to locate the Kawleeya and from that point, how to we begin to understand it within its own context? Furthermore, what are the ways in which we, as dancers, choose to use the Kawleeya for our own pleasure and performance? What sense does it make in our own context?<\/p>\n \n