Thread: Umm...Praise God Using Bellydance DVD?

And to the concrete lady - Porsha?
uhm she's not doing bellydance.. really not, step and movement wise... strange.

Else I think the idea to liberate Christian ladies from the idea moving one's body is wrong is pretty cute. I always thought the image I have of Protestants, above all, the development they have made in European and above all Anglosaxon cultures - the clothes à la Amish, the puritanism - that is probably the furthest away from the Mideastern roots of Christianity as one could imagine! just my impression.

Originally Posted by Linnyg

God or no God, that was bad dancing.

..l;, I can think of many places where I could have used this line, and can envision many more where I may wish to use it in the future! ..l;,

And, as a liturgical-dancer-on-occasion myself, i can actually think of a few times when it might have been applied to me.....w.:

Originally Posted by dinavienna

I also think dance is something for everybody, and should not be associated with religion except for in the mind and heart of the individual dancing it. There is no "pagan bellydance" no "Christian bellydance", just bellydance. what you do with it is your own business, but please do not promote a dance that is and remains a DANCE as religious worship. It is not. It is far more or far less, depending on what perspective you take.

This is what I was kind of thinking. What makes it Christian or whatever religion you attach? Are they using church music or what? I always assumed that the dance is the same and the spirituality of it resides inside the dancer making it a dancer who is Christian doing BD, not the BD Christian. How do you identify Christian or Pegan or whatever BD? The titling doesn't make sense.

Oh my... that's just bad - you think it will be on netflix anytime soon?..l;,

Ok, that "combination" is forever burned into my brain. Please, God, take it away!

Originally Posted by dinavienna

I also think dance is something for everybody, and should not be associated with religion except for in the mind and heart of the individual dancing it. There is no "pagan bellydance" no "Christian bellydance", just bellydance. what you do with it is your own business, but please do not promote a dance that is and remains a DANCE as religious worship. It is not. It is far more or far less, depending on what perspective you take.

Although in defense of the DVD, she doesn't say that that bellydance is a Christian dance. She just says it's a routine to praise God using bellydance. Presumably you could use any dance, and she just happened to like belly dancing.

Jesus is just alright with me (humming) but the locked knees scare me.

While academically speaking this is probably true:

"Strangely no one associates Greek folk dances with Afrodite".

Well, heck. I do. But who cares? that's my business. My spiritual path is my business, arrived at through a very unique and personal series of experiences, and I would never be so arrogant as to assume that one belief system fits all. I dance for the Goddess, or maybe I give Her name to the experience of dancing and the growth it affords me physically and spiritually - someone else dances for endorphins, for beauty, for fitness, for Jesus, for pure joy: just semantics to me. I like to tell my art students that when a painting is done and it's a fine piece of work I don't care if they got there by a limo, a bus or a bicycle - who cares? That part of the process is personal and private. Only the astonishing work of art is public.

That said - the video addressed in this thread could, uh, have been better.
Okay that's my two cents. More like a quarter I guess.

Maybe we could add an eleventh commandment....
Thou shalt not commit thy belly dance to instruct others until it be fine.

..l;,

Hmm...interesting development in the cultural maintreaming of bellydance...

And Jasani : I don't know about you but I'd be kind of glad if it became popular on Netflix - then maybe some of the good ones would be freed up for rental!

Lara said essentially what my feelings are. I think you can use dance in any context you wish. And I think it's even a good thing to get more Christians to see examples of Christians bellydancing, and it not making them a pagan or a whore or anything else they would imagine.

But this is so bad! BAAAAAD. No technique here at all. :/

As for the whole pagan versus Christian or whatever...my general feeling is that I don't want anyone to assert that the dance is innately tied to ANY religion. Use it however you like, but don't claim it is at its core a Goddess dance or a god-anything dance.

Originally Posted by Lara L

okay 2 issue (maybe a third sneaking in...) I think it is perfectly appropriate to use belly dance in a Christian context to praise God. I do it all the time. Might not be 'traditional', but outside of the western fantasy land, you can't prove it was ever traditionally used for Goddess worship or pagan worship of any kind either. If it enhances your spiritual experience, go for it.

This video- wow, that is just BAD dancing. period. that arm technique in particular just makes me cringe. I don't know how you expect to glorify anybody or anything with a superficial, undisciplined whim. part of what makes dance an ideal medium for spirituality is the discipline and the way it can take you into a deep connection between spirit & body. From what I saw on the youtube clip- this video doesn't have any of that.

Just watched the Youtube video clip. It brightened my day no end - I laughed like a drain! What atrocious arm movements to say nothing of the 'bouncing'. Where did she learn bellydancing? Or perhaps she didn't! ..l;,

But seriously, I get sick of people marketing their shoddy goods using religion (any religion) as a marketing tool. Didn't Jesus chase the greedy moneylenders out of the temple?

Sure I find bellydancing a 'spiritual' experience. But please leave religion and dogma out of this beautiful dance and make it all inclusive - open to all women around the world regardless of race, colour or creed.

Loved your eleventh commandment Liza!..l;,

This gave me my second good Laugh of the day. In future when feeling depressed I shall log into Bhuz for uplifting quotes.

stardancer - I am a completely non-spiritual dancer (although I consider myself a pretty spiritual person). I dance for and with human beings, enjoy interaction with musicians or band or "private drummer" :), I love to smile while dancing and see people look and smile even more.
Pretty grounded in this world, with (so far) no transcendental connection whatsoever.

I object if people construct roots of this dance in spirituality and worship that are not proven. Yet I do not object at all if a group of dancers connects the dance with whatever God or Goddess they feel they are dancing for. As long as they do not impose that view on others as *the* right one.
SO while I can feel ya in the "leave religion out" demand on a personal level, I also do not object to anybody doing so.

And I kind of like the idea of strictly monotheistic ladies shaking the shackles of their pretty masculine dominated faith (that far too often tells women to NOT have fun and be empowered especially regarding their bodies) off within the boundaries of their devoutness. I consider it empowering, thumbs up for their openmindedness.
I believe any world religion would be better/more peaceful if people sang and danced as a form of worship.

What I do not approve of as you say is bad dancing - the woman is not even doing bellydance. Who taught her that?!

Do you guys think she might have "chastized" the movements somewhat to make them fit her belief??
The thought just came to mind. Maybe her movements are meant to be stripped of "ambiguity"?? That I would STRONGLY object to.

Originally Posted by dinavienna

Do you guys think she might have "chastized" the movements somewhat to make them fit her belief??
The thought just came to mind. Maybe her movements are meant to be stripped of "ambiguity"?? That I would STRONGLY object to.

I think she should go home and flagellate herself for her sins

:)

So you think she's Catholic? ;)

Originally Posted by wigglewhiz

Oh my.

No religion bashing intended for anyone, although I'm an atheist to the core. Whatever floats your boat.

But I would hope that what would float your boat would be good dancing... which this is not. Wow, those are some cuh-ray-zee hands. WTF? And the constant bouncy... well, I guess it's at least exhuberant? ..c::

It's a shame that the good quality of home movie cameras in combination with teh interwebs has presented the buying public with so much trash and confusion. Hopefully at least the insta-fame via YouTube means that at least people can watch a clip and decide not to purchase, rather than only having the horrific disappointment after parting with their $$$.

Who knows.. God could be sitting here wishing this chick was not on his side....He's like... that hipdrop sucks...keep my name out of it.

Originally Posted by kharis_UK

Who knows.. God could be sitting here wishing this chick was not on his side....He's like... that hipdrop sucks...keep my name out of it.

*snort* I think God wishes His Name was kept out of a lot of things that people tie Him to.

Originally Posted by smileandshake

Random Amazon browsing for new things to buy and this comes up in the most reccent releases...

I can't be the only person who has just spotted this:

Amazon.com: Praise God Using Bellydance: Porsha, Tsipporah Tabarez;Porsha: Movies & TV

Not that I'm against people worshipping in their own way...but i'm thinking..."huh"? and the title is a complete put off to me personally...but each to their own.

Anyone know anything about it?

aw shucks it's out of stock!

If you want to dance for God, that is your business. In the Bible, many of the biblical figures danced for God. In fact, I was raised Catholic and dancing was not frowned upon. (The Protestants aren't always crazy about it though.) Using dance as worship is as ancient as Methuselah but if you are going to put it on YouTube, at least let it be good dancing!!

Same with other forms of dance, where people put their practice stuff on there and it's awful! When I practice, I don't use fancy workout clothes, plus I sweat and who wants to look at me like that??

Is it 'Out of Stock' now Liza? Shame, I shall just have to go onto the Waiting List - as I am sure will thousands of other aspiring belly dancers!!!

Somehow I'm not convinced,f:: Thinking if I showed up in full bedlah & shimmied through mass there would be a whole lot of, "What were you thinking?!" & Hail Marys to follow.

Originally Posted by MakedaMaysa

*snort* I think God wishes His Name was kept out of a lot of things that people tie Him to.

Amen to THAT!

as a christian i can honestly say i have never seen such utter ****e in my life.....praise god using bellydance....is the woman serious????

Originally Posted by MakedaMaysa

*snort* I think God wishes His Name was kept out of a lot of things that people tie Him to.

I think God is hovering around somewhere looking at stuff people do in His/Her name and saying, "Duuuuude... you DIDN'T just say that! Why did I think this free will thing was good, again?"

I would imagine the Almighty has far more important matters on his/her mind.

Originally Posted by stardancer711

But seriously, I get sick of people marketing their shoddy goods using religion (any religion) as a marketing tool. Didn't Jesus chase the greedy moneylenders out of the temple?

During the real estate boom, I would get daily Christian refinance offers. Wonder how many Christian loans were adjustable interest rates and are in foreclosure.

And if you're going to make a belly dance video, learn how to belly dance first.

I agree with a lot of you. It's not like only pagans or only Christians or any one group can bellydance, hell it isn't just a women's thing! If you learn the moves you can bellydance....

....she obviously didn't learn... or maybe she did and I was wrong and it ISN'T for Christians .w.:..c:: Just kidding!,r:;