Thread: A DECADES' Old Issue!!

I was wandering through a 2nd hand chachke store in South Philadelphia called "Funhouse" (truly a fun house, with all its kitsch and vintage lingerie, ooh la la!) last fall.

I ran across this magazine, "Girls in Orbit." I love vintage styling and happened to see a copy that said on the cover "Strippers v. Bellydancers." The year: 1967. The dancer pictured: Aunt Rocky back in the day!

So the debate has never really been a new one and obviously it's still going strong today.

Just continue to represent yourself with integrity, don't take the negative press personally because it's always going to be there.

yes thats the one.

cool find! can you scan and post the article or something, so we can see it?
pretty please...

I attempted to find it online but I only came up with the cover of the magazine, and it wasn't the right issue. ..c::

I should have bought it but $10 for less than a page article wasn't within my means at the time. ..cr.:

The article did try to point out the differences between stripping and belly dancing.

I'm also editing my post to say "Issue" instead of "Debate" b/c there really is no debate per se, rather a misperception...

Some things never change.

This could pose a threadjack and I'll probably take some heat for this statement, but I find the old "Us vs. Them" language commonly used to defend our artistic legitimacy sort of off-putting and really quite tired. There are productive ways to elevate our image that don't involve knocking other dance disciplines down a peg.

We're comparing apples to oranges here, but I'll take Michelle L'Amour over Suzy Nippletassels, any day.

What are your thoughts?

Lisa

I love the title "Girls in Orbit".

Originally Posted by SatinWorship19

Some things never change.

This could pose a threadjack and I'll probably take some heat for this statement, but I find the old "Us vs. Them" language commonly used to defend our artistic legitimacy sort of off-putting and really quite tired. There are productive ways to elevate our image that don't involve knocking other dance disciplines down a peg.

We're comparing apples to oranges here, but I'll take Michelle L'Amour over Suzy Nippletassels, any day.

What are your thoughts?

Lisa

well, i don't think ANYONE plans to knock stripping, especially with the resurgence of burlesque, when the strip-tease WAS and is and artform.....what we see in most strip joints now is mainly gyration, posing and removal, often by talented dancers, but the art is lost, for the most part (cut to sweet young thing sexily crawling to a patron, stopping, laying on elbows, bringing knees up, feet together, then opening knees before presenting garter for tip, i don't remember sally rand doing that, and that ain't art).....it IS athletic, hard work, and gets ladies thru their studies and feeds kids, but the ART was actually still in place in 'classier' places when the article was written, when there was still SOME 'tease' left in strip-tease..........i don't vilify strippers, it's a tough job, with alot of environmental crap to deal with, and even laud ladies with the nards to do something to keep off welfare or someone else's dole, especially if ALL they do is dance........and most don't stay there......they make their money, get their degree, or a more stable job, and move on

in the old burly days, if you saw any skin, or bits, you were lucky, often, it was usually down to cute period skivvies (which was still a shocker then), sally rand's fan dance was very innovative, and though titillating, still kept people coming not with the hopes of seeing boob, but with the 'how does she do that without showing anything?' vibe.....and the 'tease' is what audiences were there for.........

and i agree with the statements made........we need to do things to publicly elevate ourselves.......tasteful photos (not in a full busty frog pose like 'happy ending'), groomed appearance, good deportment, and elegant costuming for the visual, and tasteful, appropriate, finely tuned performances.....anyone who SEES that can't POSSIBLY mistake it for stripping at 'club Kaos'.....

we WILL have to explain ourselves, sometimes it's as simple as handing them a card, and tell them, 'no, it's not like stripping, come and see............'

Everyone is entitled to make their "art" and often for the very good reasons put forth by Ruta (earn a living). I'd like to be able to slide down that pole with just my one leg! I can do it on a corde lisse but not a brassy shiny thing!

I am also tired of what Lisa mentioned, the "Us v. Them" but for the reason that our place, as Oriental dancers or what have you, is somewhere on the spectrum of dance/movement. It's not a caste system. One art is not "higher" than another. Sure there are varying types of venues and esteem in the public eye for the various art forms out there. It is what it is. There are small changes and signs of "progression" in all of them. We're all dancing and all have our reasons.

Rather than try to justify, educate, dispel myths, dismantle rumours, which often serves to perturb the one who is defending, just do what you do and do it well, with integrity, however you value your art. If people have questions, answer them to the best of your ability.

So many impactful art movements in our creative history have been met with skepticism, outrage, hatred, fear, misperception, as well as acceptance.

Originally Posted by ruta21030

.tasteful photos (not in a full busty frog pose like 'happy ending'), groomed appearance, good deportment, and elegant costuming for the visual, and tasteful, appropriate, finely tuned performances.....anyone who SEES that can't POSSIBLY mistake it for stripping at 'club Kaos'.....

*sigh* I wish that were true. Sometimes people see what they expect to see.

I went with a date to see one of the best dancers in the city at a very nice restaurant -- he hadn't seen me dance yet, so I wanted him to have a good impression. This lady is classy, beautiful, impeccably dressed, awesome musicality, and handles herself elegantly around the customers.

In the car THAT NIGHT, we were talking about power -- male vs. female. And he said "Well, when you're shaking your boobs in some guys' face in a bar, don't you get a rush from the power you have over him?" ..c:: ,m:: ,r:; ,f::

How he managed to come away from the performance we saw with the notion that the dancer MIGHT 'shake her boobs' anywhere near 'some guys face' is completely beyond me...but he did. Needless to say, I no longer date this bozo.

Wow, Lauren!! How brazen of that guy to put it so bluntly

I've had a guy say "no wonder you're single, if I dated a bellydancer I wouldn't allow her to dance in public. I mean, she's out there dancing half naked putting herself on display for all the men to see." This was the start of a very heated debate as you can imagine. He confirmed that, in his mind, I am basically a stripper.
There is absolutely nothing you can do to change some people's minds.