tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492098703035511197.post5851922789378727491..comments2021-03-22T07:31:17.464+00:00Comments on Charlotte Desorgher, on the button: Creating a new style of bellydanceAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15414168628955984929noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492098703035511197.post-76573859931284074042013-08-01T11:22:48.394+01:002013-08-01T11:22:48.394+01:00HI Sara thanks so much for the comment and for the...HI Sara thanks so much for the comment and for the kind words. I'm really glad you like the blog.<br /><br />I totally understand what you're saying about all the names - why shouldn't we just call everything bellydance? The reason (for me at least) is that, as a teacher, I need to be clear about what I'm teaching. When women phone about my classes they often ask me what style of bellydance I teach - usually they want to know if I teach Egyptian or Turkish style. In the past it was an easy question to answer - I could say I taught Egyptian style bellydance - but these days I find it increasingly difficult to answer that question.<br /><br />I think it's very important that a student knows what they are learning. For example, if someone comes new to a bellydance class and the teacher is teaching tribal fusion but she just calls it 'bellydance' the student is going to get an incorrect idea of what bellydance is. So that's why, for me, it's important to make clear what I'm teaching. And to do that I need to label it unfortunately.<br /><br />And I completely agree with you about feelings - they are everything. If we can transport an audience emotionally they won't get bored.<br /><br />See you at Shimmy in the City! xxAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15414168628955984929noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492098703035511197.post-31299034972228358602013-07-31T20:34:58.453+01:002013-07-31T20:34:58.453+01:00Hey :)
I think its important to dont mix politic...Hey :) <br /><br />I think its important to dont mix politics with our art form. Its to totally different things, and its sad that someone get affected in the name of art :( The art is bigger than that, isnt it? <br /><br />I have some thoughs I want to share. I understand you Charlotte, and I like the idea of your new own style. But why do we need names for personal styles? Its not like that in ballet and other danceforms. I feel that all the names will kill the dance to the end. And im disagree when you say that western audience get bored of "the egyptian style", if we dance with REAL feelings, they will NOT be bored no matter what moves we make. This is the thing i belive in most, that the dance will not get bored, then we have to work with our feelings and open our heart to audience. That is the biggest key to sucseed in bellydance, i belive. <br /> I love that people have different styles, but my problem is all the names? The dance have orgins, and everybody has a personal touch in their dance. I dance from the west too, and i dont think is good to call it something like "western style". because it seems to presents bellydancers from the west, whitch is very different from dancer to dancer. Do you understand what im trying to say? Pleace convince me that im just a old-thinking dancer, maybe I have to open my mind? <br /><br />Anyway, I love your blog and I look forward to come to Shimmy in the city this year :) <br /><br />SaraAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492098703035511197.post-47975412627134981262013-01-03T10:56:17.188+00:002013-01-03T10:56:17.188+00:00Thank you. And yes you're right. If there are ...Thank you. And yes you're right. If there are people in the middle east trying to silence women and take away their freedoms, then running away and hiding from middle eastern dance could be said to be playing into their hands. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15414168628955984929noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492098703035511197.post-51853504638096142072013-01-02T20:46:08.275+00:002013-01-02T20:46:08.275+00:00I think being authentic to who you are is importan...I think being authentic to who you are is important. If you want to honor the women in Egypt who don't share the same freedoms you do, support them by using your freedoms while finding a way to support ways for them to have the same. Just my two cents.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492098703035511197.post-58801428116507740262012-12-23T10:56:34.824+00:002012-12-23T10:56:34.824+00:00Demi that is such an interesting comment. And I th...Demi that is such an interesting comment. And I think it goes to the heart of the problem we have with dancing on stage or TV and therefore to getting bellydance accepted by the mainstream.<br /><br />I think the thing is that bellydance was developed for the small space and intimate gatherings - either in the home, or cabaret club or restaurant. Even in modern times in the bellydance community (and this goes for modern styles such as tribal fusion as well as classic BD) a lot of our dancing goes on in haflas which are far closer and more intimate than on a big stage with an audience seated theatre style.<br /><br />So the dance is far more focussed on one-to-one communication and subtlety - the little wink as you come close to an audience member and show her/him a clever isolation or shimmy and the subtle movements that people can see and appreciate if they are a couple of feet away from you. If we do very big isolations it can look crude and too sexual when we're dancing close up.<br /><br />But the challenge of the big stage was really brought home to me when Chantel and Cheryl were on Britain's Got Talent. They performed on the massive stage at the Hammersmith Odeon with an audience of thousands and they fell totally flat. I was in the audience and as soon as they came out on the stage I could see it wasn't going to work. The audience were completely dead to them - hardly any reaction at all, even though they were doing a very streety style which I had thought was big and bold when I saw it in rehearsal.<br /><br />When Mahmoud Reda was asked to put Egyptian folk dance on the stage and to make it art, he drew from ballet and American film musicals - dancers like Gene Kelly - to create something that would work on stage. And that's the sort of thing I'm thinking of right now. I'm drawing my inspiration from outside the bellydance world as well as within, but in particular from musicals and West End shows, rather than hip hop or other styles which also tend to be smaller in scale. I'm interested in big exciting foot patterns and jumps and turns and trying to work them in with bellydance vocabulary. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15414168628955984929noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492098703035511197.post-80378834364718736552012-12-20T16:32:50.814+00:002012-12-20T16:32:50.814+00:00I'm doing a theatre show in January as part of...I'm doing a theatre show in January as part of a big showcase and the producers keep saying to me "We are worried it's going to be too subtle and not big enough!" Which really frustrates me as a lot of bellydance is about subtlety and I always feel that my pieces are a bit skimpy on the bellydance technique part and a bit heavy on the big gestures part :SDemelzahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11072632838159709900noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492098703035511197.post-2466447206972905272012-12-19T14:06:55.726+00:002012-12-19T14:06:55.726+00:00Thank you Domi! And good luck to you too, on your ...Thank you Domi! And good luck to you too, on your bellydance path. I hope you achieve everything you want to. And enjoy every moment!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15414168628955984929noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7492098703035511197.post-15747766322029920172012-12-18T17:17:32.379+00:002012-12-18T17:17:32.379+00:00what you write is very inspiring. And the bit abou...what you write is very inspiring. And the bit about frustration being a mother of creativity - that will certainly help me on my bellydance path :) good luck, Charlotte!dominoreply@blogger.com