Belly Dance East and West
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Assignment for Tuesday, Nov. 28
Body Image and Belly Dance. Class goals: to examine the ideas of the body that are incorporated in the Western reception of belly dance, including differing ideals of the body, differing ideals of beauty, the body as a site of cultural forces, fitness as a mediator for belly dance’s “dangerous” aspects.
Reading:
Scheherezade Goes West ("Size Six: The Western Women's Harem") Excerpt from Moroccan feminist author Fatima Mernissi on Western ideas of the body. Very interesting reading.
Dear Shira, Am I Too Fat to Dance? Well-meaning advice to the heavier dancer.
Margaret Cho on Bellydance "There were women of all ages, all shapes and sizes dancing for each other and having a blast. I've never seen a more accepting environment for women's bodies...." (For those who don't know her, Cho is an actress-commedian who has had her own TV show, and now studies belly dance with Suhaila.)
Liberal Feminism The perspective most allied with the belly dance phenomenon. (Note: This is taken from a paper on Feminist issues in prostitution, but I give this to you because seeing the ideas applied to that issue might help the process of applying the ideas to our issue of belly dance and body image.)
Radical Feminism A perspective that challenges many of the assumptions of Liberal feminsim.
Additional Assignment: Look over the belly dance DVD's available on Amazon.com and calculate what proportion of them market themselves primarily for weight loss or body sculpting ability.
Assignment for Thursday, Nov. 30
Quiz: Multiple choice. See terms below.
Some additional guidelines are on the Travelers page.
Belly Dance in the West II. Class goals: To look at the factors that led to the resurgence of belly dance as a popular pastime for women in the 1960’s and 70’s, with some attention to its recent popularity.
Reading: For this class, we will be reading reminiscences and interviews with dancers who worked in San Francisco in the 1960's and 70's. From this we hope to get a picture of the experience of belly dancing at that time, when it first made its way into American popular culture. Because there is a lot of material, I have divided the material among you (by pulling your names out of a hat). Each person's name should appear three times. (If it doesn't, or if there is a problem with a link, then choose something else from the list.) Read your interviews/bios, and considert the discussion questions that follow the list. In class, we will first discuss the readings in small groups, then as a large group.
Discussion Questions:
Travelers: For more information on the travel authors writing assignment, see Information above or follow this link. Draft is due on the last day of class; revisions due on the exam date. (If you needed a day or two more that would be OK. In my experience of working with students on web page projects, from a strong draft revisions can be worked out in one editing session where you and I sit down with your draft and fix the copy together.)
Quiz terms, names and ideas:
Cultural expositions: when they began (1850's), where they took place (Paris, London, Chicago, other major cities; sorts of exhibits they had (cultural, scientific, entertainment, etc.)
World's Columbian Exhibition, Chicago 1893 (AKA Chicago World's Fair): role of the Middle East in its entertainment exhibits; number of different Middle Eastern exhibitions on the Midway; role of the Midway Plaissance in promoting Middle Eastern entertainment in America
Venues for belly dance: expositions, lesser fairs, midways (like Fatima in Coney Island), dime museums; also Vaudeville and private performances for Western women portraying Eastern dance
Little Egypt: as the name for the quintessential belly dancer
Sol Bloom's role in bringing the Algerian village to Chicago
La Goulou and the dancers of the Moulin Rouge; cancan as solo-improvised art
the role of dancers like Feridjee (A real Algerian) and La Goulou (not) in maintainting Middle Eastern dance presence in Paris
Maud Allan (the vision of Salome) and Ruth St Denis as Western portrayers of the East
Oscar Wilde as author of the influential play and Richard Strauss as the author of the opera of Salome; the various scandals involved in the productions of both
Salome and the head of John the Baptist
the femme fatale and the relevance of this figure to political and social change
jeweled nakedness and the orientalist portrayal of Salome; the work of Gustave Moreau
Assignment for Tuesday, Nov. 28
Belly Dance in the West I. Class goals: to examine the phenomena of both cultural exhibitions and sensationalistic presentations of belly dance in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with an emphasis on how they defined the performance contexts of belly dance in the 20th century West; to look at Western women dancing Eastern themes onstage.
Reading: For Tuesday, you get a free ride. Come to class and I will present to you all the mysteries of the East as seen in France and the USA in the 19th century. Readings will be posted shortly (as soon as they are scanned) for Thursday. Check back.
Folks, rather than updating on the Info page (though I will get to it) I am updating here.
New due date for Concert paper: Tuesday, Nov. 14. I have been asked to give more specific guidelines about exactly how to write it, and I will be in to post them tomorrow late morning.
New videos: (I will bring these in tomorrow, Wednesday, at about 10:30 and with luck they will be available for you soon afterwards.)
Change to syllabus requirements: We will do only three papers, with the points being divided evenly between the papers with each counting 13.333. (The three papers are the Habibi paper, the Concert paper, and the Web Page text and commentary.)
Quizzes: We will do 2 more quizzes, brief term-and-concept related things. Dates: Thursday Nov. 16, Thursday Nov. 30.
Assignment for Tuesday, Nov. 7 & Thursday, Nov. 9
Belly Dance in the Islamic World. Class Goals: to examine the ideas about professional dance in the Islamic world; to examine the aspects of Islamic society that lead to these interpretations of public dancers; to study strategies of dancers in dealing with these interpretations of their art.
Readings:
A Trade Like Any Other, pp. 40-65 (required), 116-140 (suggested)
On Dangerous Footing in Iraq, Where Dancing Is a Courageous Act (NY Times)
Terms, Names and Ideas
danse du ventre
nightclubs (salas) and urbanization in Cairo
fath
Badi'a Masabni
Muhammad Ali Street
almeh (awalim)
"artistes"
sharaf (honor)
hasham (modesty)
'eb (shame)
haram ("forbidden")
Discussion Questions
What sorts of things are typically regarded as shameful behavior in our society? Do any of them involve professional performing? What makes them shameful?
What exactly is "shame" in modern America? How is it like or different from shame in Egyptian (and other circum-Mediterranean) society?
What cultural elements led to the association of prostitution and dancing in Egypt?
What role did Western ideas and artistic preferences play in the development of raqs sharqi in the 20th century?
What roles did female entrepreneurs and / or dancers play in the development of raqs sharqi?
What are the objections of Islamic fundamentalism to belly dance? (i.e. both what do fundamentalists object to, and why?)
Assignment for Thursday, Nov. 2
Watch the video, The Belly Dancers of Cairo, and comment on it on our class page on Seaport. Just log on using your email address and password and go to our class message board. The video will be in the Honors room on Wednesday and will be shown in class on Thursday at the regular time. If you miss Thursday, borrow it and watch it in a library viewing room. Make your comment(s) by Tuesday's class.
Assignment for Tuesday, Nov. 14 & Thursday, Nov. 16
QUIZ Thursday. Scroll down for terms, names and ideas. This will be a matching thing with 10 definitions and 15 terms to choose from. (No spelling.)
Satin Rouge: A Muslim Woman Filmmaker’s use of Belly Dance. Class Goals: to view the film “Satin Rouge” and discuss it with reference to the issues we have studied in this course.
Readings:
A Trade Like Any Other, pp. 67-94.
Quiz terms, names and ideas:
danse du ventre
raqs sharqi
nightclubs (salas) and urbanization in Cairo
fath
Muhammad Ali Street
almeh (awalim)
'eb (shame)
haram ("forbidden")
Muhammad Ali's banishment of the ghawazee, 1834
mulid (saint's day festival)(pl. mawalid)
khawal
khalbus (buffoon)
zaffit al'arousa (bridal procession)
Eurocentrism
hijab
harem
fitna
tarab
taqsim
Assignment for Tuesday, Oct. 31
Development of the Female Solo Dance. Class goals: to look at the forces that led to the development of the modern art of belly dance, with its focus on the solo female performer; to look at the lives of the women who lived by this art during this transitional period in the late 19th and early 20th century.
Readings
AlZayer Ch. 6. Disregard the "ancient origins" stuff which is misinformed.
van Nieuwkerk, pp. 1-2, 10-14, 21-39. At last, van Nieuwkerk, who explains so much. Sometimes a bit scholarly, but always right on the money.
Terms, names and ideas:
Muhammad Ali's banishment of the ghawazee, 1834
mulid (saint's day festival)(pl. mawalid)
khawal
Kuchuk Hanem
significance of urbanization
coffeehouse/cafe chantant
khalbus (buffoon)
zaffit al'arousa (bridal procession)
Discussion questions
What were the common venues for dancing in the 19th century? (Use your readings from last time to supplement what van Nieuwkerk says.)
Was there a change in the types of venues during this period? Describe ...
What was (were) the social standing(s) possible for dancers and singers of varying abilities?
Was there a change in the social standings or social possibilities for dancers during this period? What do the sources from last class offer about this issue?
Assignment for Thursday, Oct. 26
Western Travelers on Eastern Dance. Class Goals: To interpret the responses Western travelers to the East had toward belly dance, as recorded in their descriptions of it; to determine themes that made their way into the Western reception of the dance.
Reading:
Discussion Questions
Terms, names and ideas
Lady Mary Wortley Montague
Gustave Flaubert
Napoleon's invasion of Egypt
colonization of Egypt and North Africa
Eurocentrism
Islamic and Muslim views of women's sexuality
hijab
harem
fitna
tarab
taqsim
Orientalist Paintings (Odalisques and Baths)
Assignment for Tuesday, Oct.17 and Thursday, Oct. 19
Orientalism in Art. Class Goals: To see how the West represented the Orient in the 18th-20th centuries, defining the phenomenon of Orientalism; to see how paintings and photographs of dancers reflected and influenced the image of belly dance in the West. One class will focus on painting; the other will center on photography.
Readings: A colelctions of short commentaries on Orientalism. Read them with the discussion questions in mind.
Orientalism defined: An excerpt from Edward Said's influential work, Orientalism.
Orientalism further defined: The Wikipedia article.
Valuable terms for understanding orientalism.
Artlex on Orientalism: A site with some representative paintings in the Orientalist mode
A Critique of Orientalism. This may go more in depth than you would like, but it's good criticism, and it also clarifies Said's idea of orientalism with an astute summary of his points (skip down to the 5th paragraph).
Orientalist Art of the Nineteenth Century A beautiful site that promises much scopophilic and/or narcisistic pleasure ...
And (for your perusal if you like) ...
Western Representations of Muslim Women from Skidmore, with a collection of good images
Discussion questions
What are the main tenets of Said's theory of orientalism?
How is the Orient seen by the West?
What is the stereotype of the Eastern man? The eastern woman?
How does art and literature reflect the West's misconception?
In your view, is there a positive side to the Western view of the East? How do positive images fit into the ideas of orientalism in Said and others?
Do the images of belly dancers we have seen fit in with the West's stereotypical ideas about the East? In what ways do they or do they not?
Assignment for Thursday, Oct.12
Filming Belly Dance. Class goals: to examine some of the ways feminist critics have interpreted film, and how these models apply to belly dance; to learn the cultural and economic forces behind the making of filmed belly dance in the East and in the West; to examine various Eastern and Western belly dance videos for subtexts and effect.
Readings:
Anna Smelik, Feminist Film Theory (through the "Female Desire" section)
Class discussion: This reading is not easy going but it provides some very valuable perspective. Bring it to class where in groups, we will define the ideas below, then discuss how some belly dance video relates to them (or doesn't).
Discussion Questions
Video
Assignment for Tuesday, Oct. 3
The Gypsy Phenomenon. Class goals: To learn something about the history and culture of the gypsies, in particular the Rom who influenced Turkish dance and music, and the Ghawazi who worked as professional dancers in Egypt; to examine portrayals of the gypsies in Western dance from the 19th century on; to examine the mystique of the gypsy in the modern belly dance world.
Readings
Brief history of the Rom from the Patrin web site
Very brief commentary on Roma in Culture and the Arts from the Patrin web site
Elizabeth Artemis Mourat, "In Search of Turkish Gypsies," available in the Honors Office (and online on Monday, I hope)
Laurel Victoria Gray, "Gypsy in their Soul," available in the Honors Office (and online on Monday)
NOTE: As of Monday afternoon I don't yet have the scanned copy, so try to get these at the Honors office. I'll try again on Tuesday.
Video:
Bulgarian-Turkish gypsy chalga What would we do without Youtube? The rhythm is a 9/8 and the dancing is purely social dance -- not the greatest dancers, but you get an idea of what would happen if a musician called his girlfriend and said "get some of your goodlooking friends together, we're shooting a video, and we want you to dance around for it."
Turkish gypsy chiftetelli Ther blahse belly dancers in this are pure cheesecake, but they are doing more the professional style of belly dance than the social dancers of the last clip. Which may or may not be a good thing. The music conveys the quality of Turkish gypsy music, though.
Birgul Beray, a Turkish dancer of Rom descent, and incidentally one of my all-time favorite dancers. The woman is a goddess, though this talk-show clip is a little hokey.
An American (Nadira) doing an interpretive gypsy dance in the fusion style of Dalia Carella. I'll show you Dalia herslef in class.
(New) A tourist learns "gypsy dance" (it isn't, but the gypsy probably got as good a laugh out of it as the tourist did)
Discussion Questions
From the information you have read, discuss and agree on a brief overview of the history of the Rom since their exodus from India until the present. Include point of origin, key moments in their interaction with the people of their host countries, and the extent of their settlement today. Include an overview of some of the social problems the Rom face now or have faced in the past.
What are the images of the gypsies that exist in our popular culture? What are the positive aspects of these images? What are the negative elements?
Stereotype to archetype: A stereotype reduces the complexity of something to a simplified, easily processed idea. An archetype is an image, character, or story pattern that recurs in different forms in different cultures, and provides grounds for thinking about or imagining aspects of our own culture. What elements of our views of gypsies are stereotypical? What elements of our views reflect an archetype (of travelers, of non-conformists, of outcasts …)
From the images you have seen of gypsy dance from American performers, what is gypsy dancing like? Think in terms of style, movement vocabulary, attitude, and relationship with audience.
(After class videos) From the dance clips you have seen of Rom performers in Turkey and Egypt, are there characteristics the dances of the different groups share? What explains the similarity or difference?
Assignment for Thursday, Sept. 29
Paper Due: Habibi Magazine analysis.
Gender in Belly Dance. Class goals: to examine the role of men and women in the history and modern practice of belly dancing, including such issues as what constitutes masculine or feminine art; gender identification and sexual preference in a cultural context; gender roles in Islam; belly dance as women’s empowerment.
Readings: (Same as before. If I can find the book I lost, I will still try to email you the Flaubert reading.)
Class Plan: We will begin by watching videos of Horacio and Amir Thaleb, then discuss the male dancers' videos, following the discussion questions from Tuesday's plan. Then we will shift over to the feminine side of things and discuss some perspectives of radical feminism and the phenomenon of belly dance.
Assignment for Tuesday, Sept. 27
Gender in Belly Dance. Class goals: to examine the role of men and women in the history and modern practice of belly dancing, including such issues as what constitutes masculine or feminine art; gender identification and sexual preference in a cultural context; gender roles in Islam; belly dance as women’s empowerment.
Readings:
Tarik Sultan, "Belly Dance: It's Not Just for Women"
Anthony Shay, "The Male Oriental Dancer" (Available Friday from the Honors Program Office)
19th century descriptions of Male Dancers (Denon, 1801 the first selection. I will email you one more, and maybe post it on Monday. Be alert to the primary source descriptions of male dancers found in Shay's article.)
Video of male dancers:
Tito, a male dancer who is actually performing in Egypt
Ala, a Turkish dancer, performing in Turkey
Unknown dancer. His technique looks Western to me and my guess is that he's a European not of Eastern descent. His technique reminds me of Horacio Cifuentes who teaches in Germany.
Turkish dancer. Not as good as some of the others but with an interesting self-presentation.
Orgun, Turkish dancer who also (I think) shows some Horacio influence.
Mousbah, an openly gay dancer in Lebanon, who has a big following.
Mark Belahadia, a male dancer in the US who does very "feminine" orientale
You could also search "male belly dancer" on Youtube (where all these came from) and get a wider view, but these are representative of the range. (But I gotta tell you, there were not male belly dancers performing like some of these 20 years ago. You go, boys.)
Quiz on Terms and Ideas so far. See list below.
Discussion Questions:
How do these dancers relate to the female belly dancers you have seen in terms of their expertise?
Do they use the same range of movements, or a different range? Are there movements they use more or not as much?
Is there a particularly masculine dance aesthetic?
What about their dancing is particularly masculine? What strikes you as feminine? (Focus on one or two dancers and note your comments so you can bring them to class discussion.)
Do these dancers make more or less use of sexuality/sensuality, or about the same, as the female dancers you have seen? (If you feel you have not seen a representative sample, try Youtube, though I have to say the results for "belly dancer" (female) searches are very, very uneven.)
Some of the comments by Youtube viewers are about how gay the dancers are. Do you get that impression? If so, what are the thoughts or observations you make that support that opinion? And what does it mean to dance in a "gay" way?
Terms, Names and Ideas Be able to give a brief definition of these words, or give the word as an answer to a brief definition.
Orientalism
Ghawazee
Saidi
Khaleegi
Khalij
Maghreb
Levant
Shickat
Guedra
Emic
Etic
Map Work: Be able to find the following places on a blank map (with country lines drawn in):
Morocco
Algeria
Tunisia
Egypt
Israel
Lebanon
Syria
Turkey
Kuwait
Saudi Arabia
Iraq
Iran
Assignment for Thursday, Sept. 22
Readings:
W. L.Westermann, "The Castanet Dancers of Arsinoe," available in Honors Program Office. (This is a highly academic article -- obviously I don't expect you to understand the Greek in it, and there are sections where the argument will expect knowledge you don't have. Don't be thrown off by these parts of the article, but use the questions below to guide your reading.)
J. T. Fear, "The Dancing Girls of Cadiz," Greece and Rome, v. 38, #1, 1991, pp.75-9 (available from Randall Library via JSTOR. Search the library catalog for Greece and Rome, click on the link, select "Browse this Journal" and find the article by date, or click to search the journal and search "Gades.")
Discussion Questions:
Dancers of Gades
What evidence do the Roman references to the dancers of Gades give about the role of "belly dance" in the ancient world? Can you draw conclusions abotu SIDTA from this evidence?
What was the social position and daily life of ancient "belly dancers" like in Rome?
Castanet Dancers
Think about the practicalities you would haveto deal with if you were a performer like Isidora doing a six-day festival out of town. What information does the contract give us about these practicalities? Consider elements like food, lodging, transport, music, details of performance, venue, and so on. What do we learn about these things from other papyrus sources?
What did a dancer earn relative to other workers of the time? Relative to other "artists" of the time?
What do we learn about women's position in Greco-Roman Egypt from the contract?
Assignment for Tuesday, Sept. 19: Topic: Ancient History of Belly Dance
Readings:
Karole Harding's Surveys: Ancient Greece, Ancient India, Ancient Egypt
Dancers of Gades (I need to get this scanned so it will not be up till Monday)
Optional:
Discussion Questions:
What are some of the issues between us and a solid knowledge of the earliest practice of belly dance?
In what elements of ancient dance do you see parallels for the modern practice? Think in terms of musical accompaniment, costume, performance situation, professional performers' roles, occasions for performances, social dance, and so on.
Where do we have the most information? Where do we have the least?
What questions form in your own mind about the ancient history of belly dance, as you read the available discussions? (And incidentally, feel free to do mroe Web research on your own, just bring your salt shaker with you.)
What appears to be accepted fact in the ancient history of the dance?
Assignment for Thursday, Sept. 14: Topic: Saidi Dance; Dance Movement
Readings:
AlZayer 30-37
Google "Saidi" or "Saidi Dance" or some other variation and, from what you find, try to form a perspective on what Saidi dance is and expresses.
I said there wouldn;t be another reading, but if you have a moment, look over this interview with Sahra Saeeda (Sahra C. Kent, an American with an MA in dance ethnology who worked in Egypt for 10 years). It's interesting ...
Some Saidi dance from YouTube:
Fifi Abdo, a real bint al balad ("country girl")
A workshop from Moscow, of all places. A bit shallow but the quality they're after is clear.
Discussion Questions
From your internet readings, try to form a perspective on what Saidi dance is and expresses. Are there major disagreements between sources? Is there agreement about the intrinsic qualities of the dance (or the people)? What are they? Are they describing a folkloric phenomenon, or a theatricalized dance?
Khaleegy and Debke Power Point
Assignment for Tuesday, Sept. 12: Topic: Levantine and Saudi Dance
Readings:
Kay Hardy Campbell, Days of Song and Dance;
Kay Hardy Campbell, Music in Performance: A Saudi Women's Wedding Party
AlZayer 56-69
Discussion Questions
(These questions can be begun with your reading, but perhaps not answered fully until we do the video part of the class.)
What are the characteristics of Saudi women's celebrations?
What role does dance play in an average woman's life?
Is there a connection between the style of celebratory dancing and the day to day experience of life?
From what you see here, how well does our image of veiled and oppressed women express Saudi women's feelings about themselves and their lifestyles?
What is the movement vocabulary of the debke? How does it relate to the "belly dance" social dancing also done by the Lebanese dance community?
Assignment for Thursday, Sept. 7: Topic: North African Dance plus North African movement
Readings:
AlZayer pp. 26-30; 47-50.
Van Nieuwkerk 10-14.
Guy de Maupassant on the Ouled Nail (late 19th century visit).
Extra reading for the brave: Deborah Kapchan, Gender on the Market: Moroccan Women and the Revoicing of Tradition, Chapter Seven. (Available online through UNCW e-book checkout. THis is a very academic piece but it also brings out some issues that will come out in our class discussions over time.)
To read now or a little later, when we look at traditional Egyptian dance: Van Nieuwkirk, 1-9.
North African Dance Power Point
Assignment for Thursday, August 31
Oh, well, no class due to the storm. So I am mostly just forwarding our assignment to next Tuesday (some slight modifications).
Assignment for Tuesday, Sept 5
Read "What is Belly Dance?" (Note-- this is a draft, so there are a few blanks and question marks -- now you get to see my "writing process" in its not-quite-final stages. I will try to get the corrections made by Wednesday afternoon, but if you want an early start on the rather long article, you can start with this.)
Come prepared to dance (wear clothes that allow you to move, and preferably that allow me to see how you're engineering things with your legs) Normally Thursday will be our dance/movement day, so we will do only a little work with hands, arms and body allignment. We will look at some more videos, and focus on the ideas of orientalism and a little feminist film theory.
Assignment for Tuesday, August 29
Just show up for class; if you peruse the textbooks, that would be good as well.
What is Belly Dance Power Point
To Come (This is in progress, so the actual assignment may change)
Assignment for Thursday, Sept. 22
Readings:
W. L.Westermann, "The Castanet Dancers of Arsinoe," available in Honors Program Office. (This is a highly academic article -- obviously I don't expect you to understand the Greek in it, and there are sections where the argument will expect knowledge you don't have. Don't be thrown off by these parts of the article, but use the questions below to guide your reading.)
J. T. Fear, "The Dancing Girls of Cadiz," Greece and Rome, v. 38, #1, 1991, pp.75-9 (available from Randall Library via JSTOR. Search the library catalog for Greece and Rome, click on the link, select "Browse this Journal" and find the article by date, or click to search the journal and search "Gades.")
Discussion Questions:
Dancers of Gades
What evidence do the Roman references to the dancers of Gades give about the role of "belly dance" in the ancient world? Can you draw conclusions abotu SIDTA from this evidence?
What was the social position and daily life of ancient "belly dancers" like in Rome?
Castanet Dancers
Think about the practicalities you would haveto deal with if you were a performer like Isidora doing a six-day festival out of town. What information does the contract give us about these practicalities? Consider elements like food, lodging, transport, music, details of performance, venue, and so on. What do we learn about these things from other papyrus sources?
What did a dancer earn relative to other workers of the time? Relative to other "artists" of the time?
What do we learn about women's position in Greco-Roman Egypt from the contract?