So after a small discussion about stage names with a friend it made me curious. Why do some of ya'll use a stage name? For instance if Souhail Kaspar decided one day to give up mid eastern music and play heavy metal rock and roll with Lars Urlich he wouldnt suddenly change his name to Bob or Steve. Even when I was out at the ren faire I never got into the name thing. No one uses them anyway "and a hand for our drummers"
Sean
Sean
posted by:
|
Unsubscribed |
-
Re: Stage names curiosity
Fri, May 2, 2008 - 4:37 AMBecause we drummers are too ugly for people to stalk us in our private lives after the show?
:-)
Because the ladies get to act out another part of themselves when they dance, then go home to be June Cleaver with three kids and a businessman husband, 2 dogs and a cat, with a church lady named Martha who lives next door?
Just a comic, and an esoteric thought.
-
Re: Stage names curiosity
Fri, May 2, 2008 - 5:35 AM1. Adds to the mystique and "goes" with the whole image we portrait.
2. SAFETY - yes, been stalked, proposed to, and had lots of unwanted attention.
3. Allows me to go back to normal life - and now days, you have to consider google/Internet. People are going to look you up.
-
Re: Stage names curiosity
Fri, May 2, 2008 - 5:59 AMI agree with the reasons stated, however I choose not to use a stage name. As a mostly "hobby" dancer I don't feel that it is a necessity for me to have one, whether that is for safety reasons or for business related reasons (keeping money from dance seperate from private money).
I thought about taking a stage name for exoctic appeal, but let's face it people who know me now know me as Melodi and will continue calling me Melodi so what's the point. I also couldn't find a name I liked more than my own. I am a dancer and my name is Melodi how much more appropriate could it get.
When I started dancing I was asked a lot about what my stage name was or people would assume that Melodi was a stage name. There was almost an expectation that I should have one and so for a time I searched to take one and then finnally came to realize I didn;'t need or want one. So, I think some dancers do it just because they think they should.
Just my 2 cents and my personal journey on the topic... -
-
Re: Stage names curiosity
Fri, May 2, 2008 - 6:23 AMI do it for the reasons Miss Tehara has suggested. I pulled my stage name from a horse I was given upon my 7th birthday named Zahena. She was what we in the horse business call a "green" purchase being a mare solely meant for having babies. We tried to make a saddle horse out of her. Needless to say, she'd toss me off about every third time I rode her and run home without me. So I figured I either had to learn to ride or give it up. I had a similar experience when I started dancing so it only made sense to marry the two. Plus, Zahena was an Egyptain arabian mare.
I actually have three lives, my "regular" life as a lease administrator, my belly dance and my hunter/jumper instructor life. some of my students from the barn know I belly dance. They want to see me belly dance. But I don't feel it's appropriate at this stage for them to see my naked belly. The dance name gives me one more layer of protection from being 'discovererd' from my teenager students who are pretty affluent in finding stuff on the internet.
And with my real name being Amanda sometimes people think that's a stage name as well. Only the kind of stage name that involves clear heels and a very tiny piece of fabric for a costume....... Like anyone would want to see me in that!!! -
-
Re: Stage names curiosity
Fri, May 2, 2008 - 6:56 AMWhen I first started dancing, we were required to have a stage name. So like a lot of dancers I went through the Arabic name book and picked out the name Farida which meant "unique: unusual". I kept it for about 4 years. I don't use it now because I don't feel like a Farida. The name seems so false to me. And there isn't a difference between the person on stage and the person sitting here behind the computer. So now I'm just Trudi. And I like it that way. Plus there are not many Trudi's hanging around here, lol.
-
-
Re: Stage names curiosity
Fri, May 2, 2008 - 3:56 PMWhen I first started performing, I used my legal name Marianne, and kindof rolled the r and pronounced the a's as ahhh. Then when I did the Texas Grecco Roman Festival, the owners said I needed a more exotic name, so the lady I was dancing with out there named me Miabella and it stuck. Now most people think my legal name is Miabella!
-
-
Re: Stage names curiosity
Fri, May 2, 2008 - 8:03 AMThis is an often discussed topic in the world of ME dance and music. Here are a couple of links ot great discussion on this:
tribes.tribe.net/bdfl/thre...8ede39389f
tribes.tribe.net/egyptiand...3438503e3e
www.shira.net/name.htm
tribes.tribe.net/sharon/th...287c5c0717
It's also interesting to note that some well known dancers that appear to have "normal" names or don't appear to be using a "stage name" actually are! -
-
Re: Stage names curiosity
Fri, May 2, 2008 - 11:14 AMWell like "Just Trudi" I thought it was expected. I chose the name Esmeray because it means dark moon. My middle name is Cynthia which means goddess of the moon. My dark hair and complexion led me to choose that name. For me it helps me become someone else and I like the exotic sound of if. When I was dancing it helped me become someone else and all the other stuff Todd covered. When I moved to drumming because my knee is blown out I kept the name. So I guess like lots of other things it depends on the person as to what their preference is.
-
-
Re: Stage names curiosity
Sat, May 3, 2008 - 5:26 PMLike Trudi said, a lot of teachers require it. My teacher didn't require it and seemed to think it was silly, so I didn't ever pick one. After being with her for so long (too long), it was too late to name myself anything other than what my dad named me 30something years ago.
-
Re: Stage names curiosity
Sat, May 3, 2008 - 6:30 PMNobody told me I had to have a stage name. I just wanted to for all the reasons everyone has already discussed. Plus there was already a Shauna performing in the area so I didn't want there to be confusion and/or toes stepped on. I went through a couple before I settled on one I liked, but when Miabella printed Rasha in a program for a show she said, "Well, I hope you like this one because it's in print now." I do like it. And, yes (in case you're wondering) I have been called Roshashana more than once. I was actually even introduced that way when a DJ found out my real name and had one too many drinks. Strange but true. ;o) -
-
Re: Stage names curiosity
Sat, May 3, 2008 - 6:54 PMRasha, I know the feeling I have been called Esmerelda more than once instead of Esmeray.
-
Re: Stage names curiosity
Sun, May 4, 2008 - 8:03 PMI do it for all the reasons Tehara listed....
also I got tired of being called Stacey, Teresa, etc etc...And now most people just call me Obi even when they're with me outside of an event...lol
I answer to Tracey (unless you want money), Obsidia, Obi and Mom......hehehehehe -
-
Re: Stage names curiosity
Tue, May 6, 2008 - 1:56 PMWell since my teens I have been called Sam, Samantha just doesn't "feel" right anymore. I also teach with a woman who just happens to be named Ricki.
After a few months we realized that all of the calls from our flyers were from men wanting to come "observe" our classes (Can you say YUCK!) and no women wanting to take classes. As you may have alredy guessed (but took us a while to discover) women don't feel comfortable with the thought of bellydancing with Sam and Ricki teaching them so therefore never called :)
That prompted us to come up with stage names.
My stage name is Samira and is honestly just an extentsion of Sam, everything else I tried felt silly and made me feel like I was playing dress up.
-
-
