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Re: Belly Dance: Does it tell a story?
Sun, September 23, 2007 - 7:11 AMAll dances tell stories.
The words to the story depend on the music, tempo, movement and dancer interpretation.
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Re: Belly Dance: Does it tell a story?
Mon, September 24, 2007 - 10:06 AMIt's not really a story as in Hawaiian dancing. Belly dancing really is just expressing and interpreting the music. You hear the music with your ears but you see the music by watching the dancer. -
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Re: Belly Dance: Does it tell a story?
Tue, September 25, 2007 - 1:06 PMI agree with you, Norma. Not a story in the traditional sense of the word, not like the dancers can tell stories in kathak, Hawaiian dance and other similar dance forms. -
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Re: Belly Dance: Does it tell a story?
Tue, September 25, 2007 - 7:28 PMRight Kamilia.
I have to say, sometimes people get so caught up in expressing the emotion and feelings behind the music that they forget to intrepret the music itself.
Yes there are many songs that we dance to that tell a story. And yes, sometimes the dancer may express the words of the song with her dancing. For instance, there is a song Fifi Abdo dances to where she jumps up in the air and reaches her hand up toward the sky. She is acting out the words to the song that talks about reaching for the stars.
If a dancer did that move out of context it would be ridiculous. It only makes sense in connection to the song, to a ME audience. So yes, sometimes the dancer will act out the words of the song she is dancing too, but in general the dance,the moves themselves do not tell a story.
There are so many oriental routines that are written strictly for dancers that have no lyrics whatsover. The dancer has to express and intrepret the notes, the rhythm, the melody because there are no words to work with. A hip drop is a hip drop. It doesn't represent the ocean or the sky or a snake in the grass! But if the hip follows the beat, it is a visual representation of the music being played. -
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Re: Belly Dance: Does it tell a story?
Thu, September 27, 2007 - 7:55 AMI'll never forget Faten Munger (originally from Egypt) out of Indy doing a cane routine where the singer is saying he is such hot stuff that he's irresistable, and she did this move (using the call and response) where she took the cane and does a martial arts move of sweeping "him" right off his feet with the cane. (Kind of looks like swinging a base ball bat only leveled at the knees). You definatly got the feeling he would have been sitting on his proverbial @$$ if he were there in person. It was hilarious if you knew the words to the song. It was such an in your face response to a man's nonsense. ;-P
and please don't tell me Egyptian women are shy and retiring after that. ;-P -
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Re: Belly Dance: Does it tell a story?
Thu, September 27, 2007 - 10:34 AMI think anytime ME dancers interpret the lyrics of a song, the movement is very natural, a compliment to the dance. I've never seen the song with Fifi, but that little jump probably went well with her natural...bounce. The Faten Munger bit sounds like a cute little add-on that looks good with a cane.
In dance forms like kathak and Hawaiian, the gestures are more than a compliment to the dance: they are a fundamental part of it. In my last kathak lesson, I learned to imitate the ears and trunk of Ganesh; they were very pretty movements and didn't look awkward, but they were just two of the mandatory movements for the entire song/veneration/tribute thing (forget what it's called).
When belly dancers become mimes to the songs, it doesn't make sense anymore. In my experience, Arabs make fun of dancers who interpret every word of a song literally, like a kathak dancer, or those who take the meaning of a song TOO seriously. Even though Dina constantly lip-synchs to the songs she dances to, her gestures come at important places in the song, and are natural compliments to her movement.
We must feel and interpret the music, but it doesn't necessarily mean flipping through an imaginary book to "Kitab Hayati" ; )
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