www.amazon.com/Dancing-De.../0889204543

Anyone read this? I had some points through MyPoints, and this was one of the items I ordered from Overstock.com with them. It looked fascinating. I'm curious to know if anyone has read it and, if so, what they thought of it.

There's a preview on google books: books.google.com/books
posted by:
Diana
online Diana
Nashville
141 friends
join to post
  • Yasemin
    Yasemin
    offline 192

    Re: Dancing Fear and Desire

    Wed, June 20, 2007 - 12:23 AM
    I have it.
    It's a bit of a slog to get thru - it's written in 'academese'. Probably his reseach paper or something. There is a lot of good information in it, just a lot of citing of example without commiting, if you know what I mean.
    I think it's still worth getting, imho.
    join to post
  • Sarita
    Sarita
    offline 143

    Re: Dancing Fear and Desire

    Wed, June 20, 2007 - 5:48 PM
    Absolutely, it is a good resource for understanding bellydance history and evolution. And In particular, the references to males who danced and the illustrations in the book on how men had actually had a major influence on Oriental Dance.

    I am fortunate to know the author personally, who gave me a signed copy of his book as a gift. Mr. Karayanni is a very fun, vivacious and interesting person and he is an excellent dancer too!
    join to post
    • Yasemin
      Yasemin
      offline 192

      Re: Dancing Fear and Desire

      Wed, June 20, 2007 - 6:27 PM
      Oooh, i hope I didn't sound like I didn't like it - I do, it was just the writing style was more academic.
      It has a lot of good info.

      A parallel topic came up in Turkish Style Tribe about court dancing, and so many of the dancers of the time were male 'koceks'. Men were very influential in 'public' dance, it's just with the whole 'fear' thing it gets forgotten.
      join to post
      • Sarita
        Sarita
        offline 143

        Re: Dancing Fear and Desire

        Thu, June 21, 2007 - 1:24 AM
        Naw..LOL..You didn't sound like that at all and I do get what you mean about the 'academ-ese' in the book. You're right, it is a bit of a slog to get through but really well worth the effort.
        join to post

Recent topics in "Ethnology & History of Mid-Eastern Dance"

Topic Author Replies Last Post
Some help on research Ashley 4 July 3, 2008
How does your culture affect your dance? offlineDiana 22 May 31, 2008
Exposition Universelle, 1889 Samira 2 May 24, 2008
The Ethics of Fusion offlineShira 26 May 1, 2008