A huge thank you to EVERYONE for another incredible Belly Dance Off! Please know how important the involvement of each and every one of you is to this event and project. During my training in Cairo I had the opportunity to see this art form at its best -- on big stages with full orchestras. After each trip I’d return to my restaurant gigs in Seattle with recorded music, no stage, and generally no lights or announcement. Wanting more for this art form, for myself and my colleagues, and for the next generation, I created Belly Dance Off. The incredible musicians of our genre living right here in our region were also among the reasons why this project seemed urgent. I could no longer stand by passively and let the opportunity to present our dance with them languish. By attending and participating, you have all invested in this, and you are why this event exists today, now in its 5th year. Thank you audience, volunteers and sponsors, judges, dancers, tech support, photographers and videographers, and MB Orchestra! A beautiful diversity of dancers ages 11-50 laid their heART on the stage at Round 1 -- Ashimiyat, Sunniva, Maia, Jennifer, Ava Raqs, Giselle, Rishi, Nancy, and Mellilah! Congratulations Mellilah (Pro) and Ashimiyat (Rising Star) for your win and we look forward to your performance at the Grand Championship this November! All dancers gave winning performances and are in fact winners for the personal best they achieved. Likewise, I do my best to make each BELLY DANCE OFF better and better, based on lessons learned from the previous. I am profoundly impressed with how much has been accomplished with almost no budget and no staff. BELLY DANCE OFF receives no arts funding and has grown and thrived exclusively from your involvement and attendance! Thank you for your help as we strive to bring more and more new people to enjoy this magical dance and music!
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I hope you’re enjoying many great memories of your 2014. Certainly there are the struggles, but always much to be grateful for. My communications often look forward, focusing on upcoming events in the near future. Here I take a moment to reflect back and recount the highlights of 2014, hoping some were shared with you! In January, Olympic College kicked off the first of several cultural education events in which I arranged multiple artists. These are a wonderful opportunity to connect cabaret belly dance to a broader historical context and share many other less familiar but equally spectacular styles from North Africa and the Middle East. Then there was the first round of Belly Dance Off in February, featuring House of Tarab with belly dance expert judges Tamalyn Dallal and Mirabai, and Tim Gonzalez-Wiler of Teatro ZinZanni. This round yielded Rising Star finalist Sunniva and Pro finalist Laura Rose. Ooooo, and speaking of February, how can I forget that Valentine’s Gala I illuminated with flashing blinking lights on head and hands. March featured excerpts from my production Cinderella – An Egyptian Story at Open Space for Arts & Community, in which I was joined by bands House of Tarab, Avaaza, and more than eight spectacular dancers. April featured one of my sillier surprise birthday party performances in which I was hired to appear in a corporate office during lunch hour and embarrass the manager. Mission accomplished! In May we took Belly Dance Off to Portland, Oregon, featuring Ritim Egzotik with judges Sedona, Nemra Khan, and Erik Brown. This second round yielded finalists Rising Star finalist Emily Sitara and Pro finalist Violetta! May was also when I joined Forge Dance Theatre, marking my new chapter as a dance artist – full integration of all forms I’ve trained in! June was filled with delightful performances at summer parties and new adventures with Seattle International Dance Festival (SIDF) – a roaming dance and drum performance at Art on the Fly in which Suzanna & Friends “serenaded” a Starbucks, and a “dancer and oud” stage showcase with Stephen Elaimy in Spotlight on Seattle. I am excited to have the director of SIDF, Cyrus Khambatta, join the judge panel of Belly Dance Off in Round 1 of 2015! May was also when I joined Forge Dance Theatre, marking my new chapter as a dance artist – full integration of all forms I’ve trained in! June was filled with delightful performances at summer parties and new adventures with Seattle International Dance Festival (SIDF) – a roaming dance and drum performance at Art on the Fly in which Suzanna & Friends “serenaded” a Starbucks, and a “dancer and oud” stage showcase with Stephen Elaimy in Spotlight on Seattle. I am excited to have the director of SIDF, Cyrus Khambatta, join the judge panel of Belly Dance Off in Round 1 of 2015! In July I encountered one of my most joyful moments of 2014 – training high school youth on Middle Eastern dance improvisation and choreography for a Seattle Public Theatre production of Arabian Nights. Veils, expressive hands, and shimmies for the young women and a dabke inspired choreography for the young men which I developed by repeating the question, “What would Reda do?” Working with these youth was a tremendous joy I am determined to carry into 2015. I’ve never worked with such open human beings, so ready to absorb the depths of fun and creativity. This note from one of the teens says it all: “Thank you so much for teaching us Arabian dance styles! Not only is it super fun in the play, but I'm probably going to just dance like that to any kind of music for a little while…” August and September brought more outdoor parties and lasting memories, like the one where I climbed a treehouse and danced on top, or that sublime gala at Dumas Bay I performed with guest artists Mellilah, Erik Brown, and Stephen Elaimy. A big August highlight for me was watching my students Angie, Seyi, and Doreen perform with MB Orchestra at Harissa. The big event of September was Round 3 of Belly Dance Off, featuring MB Orchestra and judges Delilah, Mish Mish, and Philip Borunda. This yielded Rising Star finalist Amber and Pro finalist Nazaneen! The following morning I yanked myself out of bed at 7am to perform the Arts Crush Rush showcase at Seattle Center, joined by Tracy Helming, Mellilah, Azar, and Nafiah to represent a spectrum of styles. And to think I was supposed to dial it down in 2014 to focus on my manager position at an arts agency. In October came the debut of Forge Dance Theatre, performing our tormented “Discordia” in a unique festival, Waking Persephone. Now we’re blazing into 2015 with all six choreographies at GAZING WEST together with an amazing array of guests in film, poetry, music, painting, and other media. The show is February 28th at Langston Hughes Performing Arts. Be sure to get tickets now. I’ll be celebrating my birthday that night afterward! Too much excitement for one night!! Now back to October 2014… Ah yes, there was also that show at Tulalip Casino accompanied by Janelle Bel Isle in which I choreographed jazz/hip hop to a Native American band featuring rapper, Komplex Kai. Yes, what a wild year it’s been. My shows at Marrakesh Moroccan Restaurant have become a safe haven where I can be “just” a belly dancer. The first of November opened with the big Belly Dance Off 2014 Grand Championship, featuring House of Tarab and judges Elisa Gamal, Sabura, and Shannon Knauss. Laura Rose from round 1 (Pro Category) and Amber from round 3 (Rising Star Category) scored the magnificent trophies, tiaras, and titles! In December, my students and I closed an excellent year of weekly Core Belly Dance Workout classes. Since then, my prayers of less adventure and more practice time have been answered. In addition to my focus on the Forge choreographies by Trish Kitiera Morehead, I am developing a dance poetry solo to the prose of Maged Zaher. I’m also looking forward to a fantastic NYE show with MB Orchestra! Each week is filled with dance training across multiple styles, making me feel stronger and more present than ever before. Now when asked what I do, I no longer say “belly dancer.” I say “dancer.” Randa Jarrar’s “Why I Can’t Stand White Belly Dancers,” published earlier this week in Salon, has triggered a wave through national media, with counter articles in The Atlantic and Washington Post. Concerns over cultural appropriation have been lingering in other cultural arts for years. It had to find its way to belly dance sooner or later.
Belly dance, like any dance, is an art, and art is far more complex and sophisticated than this hackneyed debate. Art is an untamed and wild element of the universe, rapidly mutating and proliferating. Art belongs to everyone, particularly to those most passionate about it. It cannot be sanctioned as the property of any one culture at a static point in history. As Conor Friedersdorf explains in his counter article, “In Praise of Polyglot Culture-and Multicultural Belly Dancing” belly dance is a passion for women around the world, expanding personal and cultural awareness. It is in fact far more popular throughout Asia, South America, Europe, Russia, and elsewhere, than in the US. As one of only several Americans at a couple of major belly dance festivals in Cairo, I was a minority among the hundreds from these other regions. As Jarrar points out, “belly dance” is a term invented by a famous American promoter of the late 19th century, who showcased an eroticized interpretation of Raqs Sharqi at the Chicago World’s Fair. He named it according to a direct translation of the French term “danse du ventre” – dance of the stomach, which is itself an ignorant reference reflecting Europe’s colonial rule of the Middle East and twisted interpretation of its culture. Initially, a Harvard anthropology professor was assigned to curate that section of the fair. So much history pivots on that turn of fate. The term belly dance is now used worldwide (including Egypt), hence for the sake of easy universal reference (gotta pick your battles) I’ll use the term for now. Back to the battle of cultural appropriation. Is the violation of cultural appropriation one that only a “white” woman can commit? The African American belly dancers, Asian belly dancers, and Latina belly dancers are all exempt? Oh, but wait, we call Latino “white,” right? Checkmate. The more we inquire through a racial lens, the more people we offend. But let’s humor this silly argument a bit longer. Let us suppose that the only legitimate belly dancer is an Egyptian belly dancer. Does it matter if you’re among the Jewish or Greek Egyptians? Last I heard, these are labeled “white” too. Ay, here we go again! Thankfully, art is colorblind and cannot be intertwined with such nonsense. Art also involves skill and mastery, with which one is not innately endowed simply because it's a tradition of their culture. I know West Africans that know nothing about drumming. I know Brazilians that know nothing about samba. Conversely, I know amazing hip hop artists in France, blues musicians in Germany, salsa dancers in Africa, and African dancers in Japan, an exciting line of thought that inspired Washington Post to respond with “What would Salon think of an article called, ‘Why I can’t stand Asian musicians who play Beethoven’?” I was once contacted by an Arab girl for private instruction in preparation for a “bucket list” belly dance solo she had signed herself up to perform in a local festival. Hiring me to cover some basic technique and guide her on how to deliver a dynamic performance, she respected that belly dance is a skill and made no assumption that being Arab predisposed her with that skill. On the other hand, she changed several of my interpretations for various sections of Alf Leyla, based on her native sense of the music. She had that innate “feeling” I did not have. It was a mutually gratifying experience for us both. Egyptian dancers bring that intangible “feeling” to the dance that is often missing. But a dedicated artist will study this element, not only with her head, but her heart and soul. A dedicated artist can learn to speak the language of that art without an accent, if that is her goal. Those who pursue their talents in an art form will find themselves studying its origins, often tied to a cultural heritage. It’s important to credit and celebrate those cultural roots, yet also important to respect the artistic diversity of practicing artists, some of whom may choose to reproduce the dance ethnologically as a medium for cultural education, while others may focus on experimenting with how it intersects with other art forms. Such creative applications can spin off new styles. You don’t have to like those styles, but if others do, such fusions eventually form traditions in their own right. The dynamically changing and evolving nature of art is what keeps it alive and magical. Jarrar’s racist premise notwithstanding, I think she has actually done belly dance a huge favor by highlighting its origins as a practice mostly enjoyed among women and for women. Since being colonized and put in service of a patriarchal paradigm, much collateral damage has been done. When I perform in restaurants or other interactive settings, I focus on involvement with the women and girls in my audience. This is a standard practice among most of my colleagues in the profession as well. I practically want to scream every time an oblivious audience member (often a woman) assumes my purpose is to entertain men and directs me to one of them at her table. Shifting the perception of this dance back to a practice by and for women could heal all wounds of patriarchal co-optation. This shift has been underway throughout the past generation, but needs more emphasis when the general public is involved. Jarrar takes issue with “white” belly dancers trying to look like a stereotypical Arab girl through makeup and hair. Countless times I have wished I could cut off my hair and go back to my pixie look. Countless times I have wished I could show up to a gig without having to bother with the tedium of makeup. Countless times I have wished I could show up in something other than my two-piece cabaret costume. Yes indeed, Egyptians dance in whatever they’re wearing, which is often a loose fitting robe called a galabaya. As I’ve told my students for years, this is a dance, not a costume, and no particular costume is required for you to enjoy it. But makeup and costume are essential components for performance of any kind. The required makeup is basically stage makeup, not that different from a ballet dancer, flamenco dancer, or any dancer. Belly dance as a feminine dance, hence long hair, whether blonde, red, or brunette, is perceived as a standard representation of feminine (though I personally love short-haired belly dancers and may someday join them). Whenever there is an opportunity, such as a cultural event or show with multiple sets, I do wear a galabaya. But perhaps this puts me in even greater violation of Jarrar’s cultural appropriation. Jarrar also takes issue with invented belly dancer names to sound more exotic, which are often contrived, translating into nothing in Arabic or something silly. It helps them go into their performance persona, I’m told. On the other hand, when I decided to become a professional, I chose to use my real name because I realized when dancing, I am myself more than at any other time. Both approaches have inspiration. I personally have found myself unable to relate to people who go to extremes to transform their look to another race in association with their chosen activity and community. But it’s not for me to judge. We all go through our phases and I’ve surely gone through mine. And we’d all probably be healthier human beings if we gave ourselves greater permission to explore different identities more often. Jarrar has made me incredibly thankful to the many Arab and Egyptian families who have encouraged my passion over the years. Hiring me and celebrating what I do, they express delight that I’ve dedicated so much to learning something so meaningful to their tradition. Jarrar makes me thankful that I am surrounded by so much diversity, tolerance, and respect. So Randa Jarrar can’t stand me. There will always be haters. |
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