Thread: Arabic, Egyptian & Cabaret styles?

Originally Posted by apadana

Hi Badriya al ahmar,

Do you think that SuhaDeeb meant that always dancing symmetrically is too predictable?

Apadana

When you said "predictable", it reminded me that I got critiqued on a contest judging sheet for being too predictable. I.e. I would always do something to the left that I had done to the right, always doing something 2x or 4x or whatnot. My choroegraphy had been written by someone who had been trained by the same teacher that I would guess Badriya Al Ahmar is talking about - American Cabaret style. The judges of the contest were trained in Egyptian style.

I guess if you are trying to make American audiences comfortable, be predictable and do things symmetrically, but if you are trying to make Arabic audiences comfortable, you can do it the Arabic way.

Or I just try to follow how I feel when I hear the music, and I would have to study a video of myself to see if I am being symmetrical or not.

Besides footwork and hipwork, I think it was Sahra Kent who talked in a workshop about the golden age dancers using a lot of asymmetry in their armwork - and you even see it in costume design. Once you start looking for it you'll see it everywhere. :)

Thank you so much to SuhaDeeb,Shira, Lauren, Samied and Artemis for clarifying the different styles of belly dance- I am finally unconfused!

I am so impressed with the wealth of knowledge the members of BHUZ have and share with each other...

Thank you,
Apadana

Originally Posted by sagira

This is wonderful! Yay! I have so much trouble dancing in set symmetry, I am "thinking" all the time, and end up stuffing up somewhere, because my body wants to move "naturally" in some other way. My Instructor tells me I think too much.

Australian teachers ( the ones I have had instruction from so far) tend to do everything symmetrically, I have never really thought about it until reading this thread.

I have just started classes with another instructor ( only 1 class so far - so can't comment on how she teaches) This lady is Lebanese, so it will be interesting to note her teaching methods. One thing I did notice is most instructors teach the 'step or start on the right foot. My new instructor said she is a left foot instructor, and this for me seems natural. I have tended to automatically ( when not thinking - LOL) to step/start on my left foot, which of course throws one completely out when doing a choreo. I think my new instructors methods of teaching will be very interesting. After reading the info here I don't feel "so hopeless" anymore LOL!

Thanks for all the great info!

Yeah, doesn't the left leg belong to the right side of the brain? that solves the wesernized dance problem! I sometimes start with the left leg when travelling to the right....

Originally Posted by badriya_al_ahmar

Thank you for mentioning this--I was critiqued recently for *not* being symmetrical. But I liked what I was doing, so it's nice to hear that I wasn't necessarily on the wrong track with my interpretation, in fact may have been on exactly the right track ,r:;

ditto ..l;,