See, this is why we have the Inappropriate Hafla, where everyone can get out their under-as-outwear, whiskey drinking, stumbling, acting, dancing or not dancing, creative prop using, fusing every which way urges in a supportive atmosphere. Let’s just not make every hafla an inappropriate one.

A problem very similar to the one described here also has hit the gothic fusion scene. Black, black and black, laces, chains, heavy eyeliner, scary contacts, tons of jewellery, sad or angry looks… They can make a costume and a performance feel more dark and “gothy”, but unless you DANCE it’s not a gothic bellyDANCE performance!

In some parts of the Swedish bellydance scene a heavily disturbing trend has rooted; technical dancers get put down by those who think “It’s all about FEELING stuff”… I say everything must be there; technique, strength and endurance, AND last but definitely not least presence and emotion of some sort. To me it appears af if those “technical dancing is bad”-dancers just didn’t bother to practice that much.

So yes, dance performances should primarily be about… DANCING!

Personally, I’m fine with people experimenting, but it really grinds my gears whenever I see anything risque. Bellydance burlesque in my opinion is the worst combination ever, because I feel like we have been working so hard to get away from the image of a stripper or exotic dancer and that just doesn’t help.

In terms of people who aren’t familiar with bellydance, I think dancers should stick to more classical and ethnic forms of dance. It just doesn’t seem like the general public would understand some of the fusion styles, simply because they seem “artsy.” For instance, I would rather have my family’s first impression of one my performances be with something classic so that if they see something more modern later on, they have a basis to compare the two. Lol, just seems like older people don’t understand the draw of musical genres like industrial, gothic, or hip hop beats. The troupe I’m with has been told at one venue to mostly only use Middle Eastern music.

If someone can pull off some serious vintage looks, I’m taking more than three centuries ago, I shall be impressed. Huge history buff here, so I would love to see medieval gear come out!

I feel like I learn so much from you about the different styles of bellydance. No one really seems to challenge what makes one type different from the other, so it’s good you write out these posts and giving it serious thought. The bd community needs more of this.

Oleh!

One thing I discovered as I progressed in my bellydance – taking a lot of workshops, studying with a variety of people, practicing on my own – is that I hate labeling my dancing. I have an appreciation of where the art comes from: the Middle East, the tribal movement in SF (and my dancing is very much rooted in tribal), the various fusion styles, etc. I’ve gotten to the point where I just call myself a bellydancer. If further clarification is needed, I’ll start going into my full background but I don’t want to feel limited by a label nor do I want to give the wrong impression of one of the more specific styles.

On the dancing while “drunk.” The worst example I saw was a pair of teenage girls as “pirates” stumbling with *shot glasses* of all things. It was inappropriate and poorly executed. They then dropped their swords on the ground (deliberately) so that pretty much killed the performance for me.