Thread: Dark Fusion Bellydance Sashi

hi girls!

without much announcement apparently the 2nd gothic bellydance instructional was released:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiiX0PT9pok]YouTube - Dark Fusion Bellydance: The Ascend Tribal Belly Dance Format with Sashi DVD[/ame]

I think the dancer was both on Gothic Bellydance by WDNY and some tribal HMC release, most likely Underworld..

I remember I liked her dance.

Any of you tried the gothic way? :)
Not sure if I'm ready .w.:

Yeah . . . I like Sashi. We get a little dark sometimes. It's fun. The Greek restaurant owners HATE it, but we get GREAT response at local clubs . . . . depends on your venue . . .

..wicked cool. I've never seen Sashi before. Gonna check out more on youtube. Dark can be fun!!!
BTW, interesting arm positions (elbows to sides).

I remember Sashi's very controversial performance a couple of years ago... I imagine a lot of people remember her because of that.

It's probably true that any publicity is good publicity, people who enjoy the Dark Side will surely know about her if they've been around since then.

Oh yes, the wings! (ouch) I remember that too.
I did a workshop with Sashi (and Tempest) last year they are both fantastic teachers, very fun to be around.

wings? uh?
is that the performance on the Gothic Bellydance with the "angel" wings?

Originally Posted by dinavienna

wings? uh?
is that the performance on the Gothic Bellydance with the "angel" wings?

I don't know... did those wings pierce her flesh?
Sashi's pierced wings photos for the Gilded Serpent

No that was not what I had in mind:

I am

get a little sick seeing needles penetrate skin...


eeeewww...

Oh no is she the one from Gilded Serpent?

I went to a workshop with Alicia of BellyCraft and she is a wonderful instructor/performer! She is currently working on a dvd and I will get it for sure!

Um, how is this any different from any other hiphop/Tribal fusion instructional?

And how is this goth? I'm really confused. I'm not being snarky -- I really don't get it.

Originally Posted by dinavienna

hi girls!

without much announcement apparently the 2nd gothic bellydance instructional was released:

2nd? What was the title of the first one? (BTW, is this one being released by WDNY?)

Thanks!

Those photos make me feel like crying.

Originally Posted by kemintiri

2nd? What was the title of the first one? (BTW, is this one being released by WDNY?)

Thanks!

There is a gothic dvd with Tempest by WDNY called Bellydance for the beautiful freaks. Anyone who has Sashi's dvd can give us a review or compare it with Tempest's ?

Originally Posted by aziyade

Um, how is this any different from any other hiphop/Tribal fusion instructional?

And how is this goth? I'm really confused. I'm not being snarky -- I really don't get it.

I think, like many terms, goth will mean different things to different people.
I went to the first goth BD event in the UK and had fun. She was a good teacher and performer.

Wow.... those wings must have been very light or the weight would pull them down. kinda freaks me out...

Originally Posted by aziyade

Um, how is this any different from any other hiphop/Tribal fusion instructional?

And how is this goth? I'm really confused. I'm not being snarky -- I really don't get it.

It's goth because someone says it's goth. Just like it's belly dance because someone says it's belly dance.

All I'm thinking is how hard I work to get my students' elbows OUT of their sides, and here comes this vid...

Sorry, pre-coffee crabbiness.

Originally Posted by tamrahennatx

It's goth because someone says it's goth. Just like it's belly dance because someone says it's belly dance.

All I'm thinking is how hard I work to get my students' elbows OUT of their sides, and here comes this vid...

Sorry, pre-coffee crabbiness.

Without being snarky, I think the term "bellydance" is becoming pretty generic and incorporates all kinds of bellydancing styles. So out of one field, this is partly true; something that starts out bellydance or goth or tribal does start to expand and then over a period of time incorporates many other facets.

The longer I dance, the more of a purist I become, not to bash anybody else's style, but I like the defining lines to be more exact. If you dance goth, it's goth, if you dance tribal, it's tribal - to me, it should almost be an adjective before the word "bellydance" - tribal bellydance, goth bellydance, Egyptian bellydance, and so on. Plus it's pretty confusing to the GP who come to events and say they came to see one thing (meaning one definition) and see something totally different.

Did I just hijack this thread??? .p::

Originally Posted by Fotia

Without being snarky, I think the term "bellydance" is becoming pretty generic and incorporates all kinds of bellydancing styles. So out of one field, this is partly true; something that starts out bellydance or goth or tribal does start to expand and then over a period of time incorporates many other facets.

The longer I dance, the more of a purist I become, not to bash anybody else's style, but I like the defining lines to be more exact. If you dance goth, it's goth, if you dance tribal, it's tribal - to me, it should almost be an adjective before the word "bellydance" - tribal bellydance, goth bellydance, Egyptian bellydance, and so on. Plus it's pretty confusing to the GP who come to events and say they came to see one thing (meaning one definition) and see something totally different.

Did I just hijack this thread??? .p::

why not drop the "belly" and just call it "goth dance"? Surely theres as much hip-hop and other influences as there is belly dance...

gah, if I continue I'll start one of my ineffectual rants and tick someone off, so I'll go get another cup of coffee now.

The workshop I took with Alicia of bellycraft last month was on "Goth Dance." It was a two hour class on the type of dance you would literally see in the mosh pit (???I hope I said that right...too lazy to look it up), like for example, pretending your holding a whip and rockin back and forth. She also does a lot of those "running shimmies" like Domba and Unmata. It was actually very interesting, but she admitted it wasn't belly dance. I don't know about the others, but she is an amazing dancer and teacher. I believe she said she is working on an insturctional dvd.


Check out this youtube:
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajDTIf3o41o]YouTube - Gothic Industrial Bellydance Drum Solo -Alicia of BellyCraft[/ame]

The more workshops I take the more I appreciate authentic bellydance. As much as I enjoy watching Unmata and BellyCraft perform, I will never look good doing hip-hop or gothic myself. (Unless I want to do something special for Halloween....)

Originally Posted by tamrahennatx

why not drop the "belly" and just call it "goth dance"? Surely theres as much hip-hop and other influences as there is belly dance...

gah, if I continue I'll start one of my ineffectual rants and tick someone off, so I'll go get another cup of coffee now.

I completely identify with you, tamrahennatx, and like vron, the more workshops I take, the more I love the classic vintage stuff.

Originally Posted by tamrahennatx

All I'm thinking is how hard I work to get my students' elbows OUT of their sides

This I don't understand either. Does anyone actually LIKE this position of the arms and thinks it looks graceful or elegant or sassy or ... anything other than awkward? I mean, really?

Originally Posted by aziyade

This I don't understand either. Does anyone actually LIKE this position of the arms and thinks it looks graceful or elegant or sassy or ... anything other than awkward? I mean, really?

Not in "bellydance." In other forms of dance - jazz, hip hop, goth dance, it's okay. But not Middle Eastern bellydance.

Interesting sound the girl made at the beginning of that industrial performance.
I like the creepy goth feel :)

With Gothic Bellydance I actually do not see as much of a problem as with Tribal Bellydance name-wise - if the Gothic bellydancer uses a large amount of bellydance moves then the name is fine.
Anybody knows Gothic is something very modern and Western - so the name tells ANYBODY from whatever background this is experimental and completely made up.
With "tribal" - the problem is this suggests it is authentic Mideastern, dances of Mideastern tribes, so "more authentic" than the nightclub style bellydance.

The name is simply misleading. Modern Tribal Dance or Modern Tribal is very well fitting since it does take inspiration from various ethnic dances, but not only from the Middle East. The problem then is even if people use Modern Tribal in the name of a workshop or show everybody is still referring to themselves as "bellydancers" carrying the confusion further on.

Originally Posted by tamrahennatx

why not drop the "belly" and just call it "goth dance"? Surely theres as much hip-hop and other influences as there is belly dance...

gah, if I continue I'll start one of my ineffectual rants and tick someone off, so I'll go get another cup of coffee now.

because 'goth dance' would mean dancing to The Sisters of Mercy, looking at the floor whilst shuffling from foot to foot.

ah yes but playing devil's advocate means I have to ask at which point do you take out the ballet influence out of 'regular' bellydance?

"at which point do you take out the ballet influence out of 'regular' bellydance?"

I wished it would be taken out.
It makes the Arab dance lose its charm and groundedness and uniqueness. Whenever I did NOT like something about a dancer or her dance I realized it was ballet influence (Hannan, Nelly, Randa etc).
I do not think bellydance and ballet go all that well together. I wished there would be less of the very stylized turns and more concentration on what the music wants to tell.

Originally Posted by dinavienna

"at which point do you take out the ballet influence out of 'regular' bellydance?"

I wished it would be taken out.
It makes the Arab dance lose its charm and groundedness and uniqueness. Whenever I did NOT like something about a dancer or her dance I realized it was ballet influence (Hannan, Nelly, Randa etc).
I do not think bellydance and ballet go all that well together. I wished there would be less of the very stylized turns and more concentration on what the music wants to tell.

I'm in the minority here because I feel the same way. Not my favorite style either but to each his/her own.

Sure.. but I do mourn the watering down and gradual loss of "the real thing".
It is not to be saved if also Arab audiences like to move on, obviously, and fancy quite some of the balletic influences brought in by Reda, Raqia Hassan and some of the 70s dancers. To Randa in this day, obviously, whom I do like despite the heavy ballet background.

I still sometimes wished globalization had not affected this dance so much but it's an inevitable development it seems :)

Originally Posted by dinavienna

"at which point do you take out the ballet influence out of 'regular' bellydance?"

I wished it would be taken out.
It makes the Arab dance lose its charm and groundedness and uniqueness. Whenever I did NOT like something about a dancer or her dance I realized it was ballet influence (Hannan, Nelly, Randa etc).
I do not think bellydance and ballet go all that well together. I wished there would be less of the very stylized turns and more concentration on what the music wants to tell.

O/T:...and Hannan and Nelly have nowhere near as much ballet influence as today. I love both of them.

I think that there are cycles in everything, and I also feel that it's important for those of us who love the older style to continue to do that style to the best of our abilities - I am not ready to give up and walk away from the older style and "give in" to inevitability. At some point a less ballet-influence style will most likely come back into fashion anyway.

you take out the ballet you take out ragia hassan & all her students including dina. not doing it. the ballet makes it bigger & better suited for theatrical setting.

sorry.

you have to see sashi in person to get the "goth".

i "think" there was a pre-release of the vid at the gothla '09 (i have it) & then the official release. that might be the confusion.

no not a WDNY product.

tinah