Thread: Daleela Morad

Has anyone else wasted money...er..I mean..... bought this book?,r:;
Mind you I could have a book shelf something like the one Shira has for her EX-rated videos. SIGH...,f::


"I Know who I am when I belly dance"

subtitle is a bit of a clue.....A Handbook for reclaiming your true feminine self...I should have looked more closely

Were did you see that???

I got it from anamazon.co.uk but it seems to have disappeared..mmm...quite...
On her website?

I have to check it out... What is it about?

I had hoped this book was about why women in the West take up belly-dancing instead it's part belly dance as therapy/part how to seduce your sultan.....now part from godessy-smoddessy cr*p,nothing else is better designed to a) make me helpless with laughter b)speechless with exasperation.
Still this book claims belly dancing can:
mend a broken heart
release past wounds
heal sexual wounds
get away from the wrong man
dance away your grief
alleviate certain medical conditions - yes exercise can make you feel good,improve your health but these kind of claims seem to make it seem as if belly dance has some sort of magical qualities
mesmerise and tantalise your husband,make him feel special..blah bah...why is it always about what we can do for men..let 'em get their own f***ing therapy,r:;


and I'm getting so irritated reading this verbage( or some similar word) I am gonna need some thearapy!

Just for some perspective, Daleela has a masters in psychology and does family counseling. She truely believes in dance as a form of therapy.

Note that I am not criticizing anyone's opinion and everyone has a right to feel how they want to. I just thought that might be useful explanation of why the book is written as it is.

If you aren't into self-help/therapy books, this one might not be the right one for you.

Originally Posted by crystalllized

Just for some perspective, Daleela has a masters in psychology and does family counseling. She truely believes in dance as a form of therapy.

Note that I am not criticizing anyone's opinion and everyone has a right to feel how they want to. I just thought that might be useful explanation of why the book is written as it is.

If you aren't into self-help/therapy books, this one might not be the right one for you.

Oh I read all her qualifications. And one wouldn't them to come up with some of the stuff in this book.
Dance is good for you as is exercise generally but half this book is about improving your sex life with all kinds of fantasies attached to belly dance or goddess blether.
I think this could be another case of lost in trans(atlantic)lation..g.:
I suspect it will have been worth buying as a source of merriment amongst the belly dancers I know

Well, there are lots of perspectives... It just depends on how the subject is treated. I would have to read the book to give my opinion...

Originally Posted by ANA_bellydancer

Well, there are lots of perspectives... It just depends on how the subject is treated. I would have to read the book to give my opinion...

Well here's me the fool for thinking the book might be about belly dance technique and to find out it was a load of fantasy bo$$oks about dancing for yer "sultan". Yes there are personal reminisances ,,which one might expect including how to string along Egyptian men into thinking you are serious about them and how to do a local dancer out of a gig in Cairo.,f::
You see this dance is about trying to approximate the way folks dance in the ME...you know Raqs Sharki to me anyway.
Well as you say each to their own.

Oh, I see, you were looking for something about technique. Wasn't there a description or review to help you before you spend your money?
Well, about "each to their own", I respect every opinion, but I don't agree with everything, of course...

Originally Posted by ANA_bellydancer

Oh, I see, you were looking for something about technique. Wasn't there a description or review to help you before you spend your money?
Well, about "each to their own", I respect every opinion, but I don't agree with everything, of course...

Of course I looked but there was very little and the instruction turned out to be boudoir bellydance ..didn't I say? I think so.,f:: Fooled by a very nice cover.
And I am interested in the psychological aspects behind the dancing of this dance in the West not just instruction.
I have read excellent writings on why people belly dance and I don't mind personal viewpoints but I expect a more rounded and so help me intelligent discussion not self indulgent twaddle.
.
I suppose the other thing I should have spotted was the self-publication but hey ho some good tomes have to be self pulished.

Hummmm.... Self-publication is really not the best. I'm a published author too and I did everything to have my book published by a "real" publisher.
I think the best you can do is returning the book from where you bought it!

To make it clear I expected a book that looked at the Western perspective of the attraction of belly dance. And how I might expect it to consider technique is to describe and link it in to show its' attraction. How the moves make women feel good. I don't think you can just discuss emotion felt without the link being made to the action. What is it makes an American or European chose to belly dance rather than line dance,do native dances to her own culture. What does she get out of it she doesn't out of others? Here you wold have to say why those moves are so satisfactory for us, why we feel so good doing it. You have to explain something about how to do it..this might be a beginner picking up the book.
Why the necessity to go into "dancing for your sultan"? Don't we dance for ourselves? How many times do we have to say this is NOT a dance of seduction here in the West, not about playing pantomime games. I am serious about this seriously beautiful dance of another culture..it is not a means to sweaty end in the bedroom.

Originally Posted by ANA_bellydancer

Hummmm.... Self-publication is really not the best. I'm a published author too and I did everything to have my book published by a "real" publisher.
I think the best you can do is returning the book from where you bought it!

No no my friends are having great fun with the snippets of "wisdom". I just don't want anyone to think they should go out and buy this and learn anything useful. Have a laugh yes..l;,

..l;,

You made me so curious I had to get that book yesterday (e-book). I might not have gotten it had I understood then it was self published :-s

Hmm I applaud efforts of making women feel at ease with themselves in all aspects of their lives, incl sexuality. A good end.
But I were much happier were such ends not connected to a dance that per se has not more to do with sexuality than any other ethnic dance form.
I did not read much - but a visualization exercise "imagine you are in Ancient Egypt where people were not so prude, and not ashamed of their bodies and ran around naked". Huh?
Needless to say we are talking about the predecessor of one of the most restrictive cultures regarding clothing. Plus, in societies of the Antiquity, particularly in Arabia pre-islamically and afterwards slaves were forbidden to dress like free men. at some times required to run around practically naked. that was not a positive thing - firstly it was meant to remind them of their subhuman status and keep them in their place. Secondly it comfortably made them prey for whoever free man crossed their way.

Ok, its a fantasy. But I can't help but think of ugly historical reality instead. So if people ever write liberating fantasies after seeing this thread - please try to stay historically accurate :)
I had the impression she is also not reducing bellydance to sexuality as much as that outtake I chose suggests - she connects it to natural femininity (she seems to consider skinniness unnatural or undesirable.. that will exclude quite a few body types from the ideal, again...), sensuality etc. and she seems to love it a lot.
Nothing wrong with her ideas - I just think this dance form is abused and sexualized enough over the past 2 centuries through Western minds and eyes.. one need not add further layers to it IMO.

Originally Posted by lizajuk

Dance is good for you as is exercise generally but half this book is about improving your sex life with all kinds of fantasies attached to belly dance or goddess blether.
I think this could be another case of lost in trans(atlantic)lation..g.:

hmmm...I'll have to admit that I have not read this book and from some of the book quotes I've seen from the posts, I can imagine how dissapointed you must have been when it turned out to be a buodoir technique book. .w.:

I took lessons from her when I was a baby dancer and her classes were VERY infused with therapy/goddess/divine feminine topics. I imagine this is why she wrote the book on such a topic.

She did not, however, teach us anything about dancing for our "sultans", but maybe the innuendo went over my 19 year old head

She has another book published, but it looks to be similar in tone:

Belly Dance Wisdom stands apart from other belly dance books because it is more comprehensive. Daleela, a trained professional in both dance and counseling, criticizes Western body politics and presents belly dance as a way to learn to love your body, and as sex therapy. In addition, she offers how-to instruction, belly dance history, dance memoirs, movement meditations and testimonials. Belly dance as a self-help guide to wholeness hasn't been presented this way before in a book.

Oh that's the one I got yesterday! Bellydance Wisdom :)

Anyone knows this one? Bellydance is stated as one of the techniques to make a man crazy...

[ame=http://www.amazon.fr/techniques-avanc%C3%A9es-pour-rendre-homme/dp/2501042050]302 techniques avancées pour rendre fou un homme: Amazon.fr: Julie Saint-Ange: Livres[/ame]

..g.:

LOL!