Thread: please all you girls learned about the vintage orientale style

i need your help. Loving this style my ears are completely open to all the informations, pics, dancers, workshops etc...that is related to this 'old bellydance school'!

THANK YOU A LOT!!

ah! even the info about the costumes and the accessories...

I have a blurb about it in my styles primer, and I have a little youtube playlist:

More About Shems and About Belly Dance - Shems - Professional Belly Dancer serving Washington DC & Baltimore

Artemis's article:

Turkish Dancing

Here is the first in a series on guilded serpent about the north beach dancers:

Reflections on North Beach Part I by Satrinya for the Gilded Serpent

I think you can find more interesting stuff in the archives of the guided serpent as well.

Belly Dance Legacy tribe talks a lot about vintage oriental, it's history and background, and there are a lot of photos posted there as well:

Belly Dance Legacy - tribe.net

www.bellydanceralexandria.com

I'm teaching a miniworkshop on this in June.

Thank Youuu

Belly Dancing: About M.E. Dance--Its History, Cultural Context, Dance Styles

Look for the 3-part article on styles of belly dance. The first two parts were recently updated/refreshed. The third part needs a good updating, but the parts on American Classic (the term I use for it) are solid.

Some vintage tv shows and moviesf showing actual dancing from the era:

* Son of Sinbad - shows one of the Turkish dancers, Necla Ates, who influenced the style in New York
* From Russia with Love
* The Star Trek episode Wolf in the Fold - dancer is Tanya Lemani

Originally Posted by shems

Here is the first in a series on guilded serpent about the north beach dancers:

Reflections on North Beach Part I by Satrinya for the Gilded Serpent

Please do not believe all you read about Aida on that page, especially what Hillary was rumored to have said. It's completely false.

Originally Posted by Mikky

Please do not believe all you read about Aida on that page, especially what Hillary was rumored to have said. It's completely false.

Hmph! All I can say is Aida is very well respected in the Middle Eastern Community in Detroit. All the musicians and singers look up to her and respect her greatly. Even half of what they say in the article is true (which I'm not saying it is), SO WHAT? Yes she studied Arabic music, the Arabic language. Is that a crime? Maybe back then it was. It took a strong women to defy convention and become a belly dancer. But Aida knows more about Arabic music than anyone I know including some Arabic musicians. She is the driving force behind the Michigan Rennaissance Festival. Aida's biggest fault is she has too big a heart and she dances for love and not monetary gain. Those comments by Hillary sound like pure spite and jealously to me.

[QUOTE=shems;160419]
Artemis's article:

Turkish Dancing

I just read Artemis' article. Excellent reading! It's long but well worth the effort. That is my experience as well. Back then we didn't delineate the different styles as we do now. It was a fusion of Arabic, Greek, Turkish, Armenian, Israeli, etc. music and dance.

Originally Posted by norma

Hmph! All I can say is Aida is very well respected in the Middle Eastern Community in Detroit. All the musicians and singers look up to her and respect her greatly. Even half of what they say in the article is true (which I'm not saying it is), SO WHAT? Yes she studied Arabic music, the Arabic language. Is that a crime? Maybe back then it was. It took a strong women to defy convention and become a belly dancer. But Aida knows more about Arabic music than anyone I know including some Arabic musicians. She is the driving force behind the Michigan Rennaissance Festival. Aida's biggest fault is she has too big a heart and she dances for love and not monetary gain. Those comments by Hillary sound like pure spite and jealously to me.

Hear hear!! I second that! Aida has one of the purest hearts I have ever known. She is not just my dance instructor, she is so much more. She is family. That article was brought to her attention by a friend and fellow dancer back in SF. She wanted Aida to reply to it but she wouldn't. She refused to give them her energy. I have endless admiration and love for her.

You are right about her dancing (and teaching, I will add), for the pure love and not the money. That is why I "advertize" for her whenever I can. She just is not into self-promtion at all so I carry the Aida soap-box with me wherever I go...

WOW ...was sured about your siggestions...

Originally Posted by shems

I

Belly Dance Legacy tribe talks a lot about vintage oriental, it's history and background, and there are a lot of photos posted there as well:

Belly Dance Legacy - tribe.net

I just uploaded some vintage photos of my mentor Princess Madiha of Syria.

Originally Posted by norma

I just uploaded some vintage photos of my mentor Princess Madiha of Syria.

Wowza!!! Of course she is still an amazingly beautiful woman.

Aren't those pictures incredible? Dancers in the 60's-70's and even the 80's weren't afraid to show some leg. Costumes then were a far cry from today's covered up spandex skirts.

Originally Posted by norma

Aren't those pictures incredible? Dancers in the 60's-70's and even the 80's weren't afraid to show some leg. Costumes then were a far cry from today's covered up spandex skirts.

I admit I love a lot of those old costumes and I would of course love to have the bod to pull one off!!
I love Aidas "cheesecake" photo that Jamilla made her take (the big b/w one in the living room). She says she thinks it's silly, but I think she really does like it.

Originally Posted by norma

Aren't those pictures incredible? Dancers in the 60's-70's and even the 80's weren't afraid to show some leg. Costumes then were a far cry from today's covered up spandex skirts.

Norma! I see you also have a love for the retro look. I always liked the retro look. Thank god they are still wearing them mostly in Lebanon :)

Ha hem. It's not so much that I love the retro look so much as I lived it! I guess I could be considered vintage as well, LOL! When I first started in the early 80's the full skirts were still very much in vogue. Many of my early costumes I bought from dancers in the 70's era. If you look at my profile I'm wearing a yellow and silver costume. Originally, that costume was worn with only the sheer chiffon skirt and the very short beads. I added a silver lame underskirt.

I have more photos posted on tribe.net. My the late 80's and 90's long long beaded fringe was in and my costumes reflect that.

I do admit, I'm not a fan of the current fashion of tight spandex and little or no beading. It may be comfortable but it's not very showy on a large stage and the costumes all look pretty much the same after a while.