Comments on: Background… Music.

By: Amy

Amy — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:49:07 +0000

This advice applies to musicans who are covering other people’s songs, as well. Your blog entry hit home this weekend when I was at a wedding where a band did a cover of the song “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. ” The cover was played so fast it was hard to tell what song it was. Once we figured it out it was the “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” I felt more uncofortable as the song went on. The fast pace of the playing did not respect the lyrics or tone of the song. Quite honestly their version seemed to disrespect the men who died on that ship.

By: Lauryn

Lauryn — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 22:57:12 +0000

Hi Asharah, I had this question when doing a solo to a wonderful song by Romano Drom. I actually wrote them twice trying to ask them about the meaning of the lyrics to prevent this embarrassment. They never responded, and perhaps it was a language barrier. With mixed feelings, I posted a link to the clip of me dancing on their Myspace, saying that I hope it was okay to use it—I just felt like they should know I was dancing to them, and I was hoping that they would respond with an indication of whether or not it was silly to do so So far, no response, but this was a great read and is something I’ll keep considering.

By: Hammett

Hammett — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 14:12:17 +0000

Hello Guru, what entice you to post an article. This article was extremely interesting, especially since I was searching for thoughts on this subject last Thursday.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:21:20 +0000

If you do not mind. I have heard the song “opa cupa” and seen different performances to it. Can you tell me a little about the lyrics… in trying to research it – I ran across this thread. Thanks in advance!

By: Kendra

Kendra — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 01:23:10 +0000

I personally do not know much about Balkan, Slavic, or Romany music or the history, but I do understand what you are saying and have concerns in the same dept. I see so many dancers that start out in tribal fusion and they don’t care to learn about the history of belly dancing. I’m not saying that they need to know the ins and outs of styles, music, origins, landmark dancers, ect. But I do think it is important to have a basis of knowledge. I think a lot of tribal fusion instructors are not taking the time to either teach about these kinds of things, or are not emphasizing that a dancer should know these things before they go out and start performing, especially in a setting with other dancers.

By: Erin

Erin — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 05:12:37 +0000

Just wanted to tell you Merry Christmas Asharah! <3s

By: Amy

Amy — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 17:03:08 +0000

Woo, tell me about it. I’ve puzzled over rather coy, lighthearted performances to “Opa Cupa”. To me it’s a rather aggressive song (though fun to dance to). I also saw someone do a rather sensual dance to Balkan Beat Boxes “La Bush Resistance” and I kept thinking just because the word belly dance is in the song doesn’t mean you should. Nora brought a new CD to practice which has some good stuff but sort of politically ambiguous lyrics, so we’re still pondering if, and how, to use it.

I try to research music we use, and sometimes we have to just cross our fingers and hope we’re not doing something stupid.

By: Christiane

Christiane — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 20:58:26 +0000

Thank you. It’s not so much a problem for ATS/ITS dancers, since so much of the music used (Helm, Mizna, Gypsy Caravan) was created specifically for the dancing; but as people branch out into trying to find “new” music some spectacular embarrassments will occur. I’ve been having some cringe moments seeing what folks have done with Rachid Taha’s “Barra Barra.” It’s quite clear that they never looked up the lyrics.

By: Irene N.

Irene N. — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 20:02:54 +0000

Is there a good online site that will translate lyrics well? I know sometimes the artist’s site can help but sometimes they don’t have translations available.