Thread: Dina does it...Orit does it...Do you sing along?

A lot of us who listen to music, non-belly dance music, find ourselves singing spontaneously along to a favorite song. How many people do you know yell out "Leonard Bernstein" to REM's 'It The End of The World As We Know It'? Or any song that get stuck in your head.

My point...I recently watched a dancer on youtube (not Dina or Orit) perform a routine and from the start to finish she mouthed the words to the song. It's a trend that I see a lot of dancers do on youtube, etc. and I'm not sure when that started (with Dina?).

How do you feel about a dancer singing along or mouthing all the words during a performance? Do you like it or not like it? Good thing/bad thing? Does it detract from a performance? Does knowing the words give non-Arabs (can't think of a better way to say this) license to sing-a-long during a performance? Does it make a performance seem authentic? Is it too much to sing through the whole performance?

This can also go along with the whole gesturing while dancing but that's another topic.

Thoughts? Opinions? .w.:

interesting!, to reply quickly i'd say that i find it kinda annoying...distracting, but i know i do it sometimes too. Never the whole song, but some parts sometimes.... :o)

Love from spain!!!!!!!

Sahar Hamdi was very well known for singing along; it was in fact part of her unique charm. :)
To me it only makes sense to "sing along" if you actually know what the words mean. If you know what they mean, that will come out in your dancing- hopefully with a nice balance so that it doesn't look like you are translating for ASL.
I agree with Amanda Rose about not singing along to the whole song.

jillina sings along.

i've taken and watched egyptian pop choreos were they teach it.

i do.

I agree with all the above. Singing along a bit if you know the words can be a nice part of the performance, but not the whole song.

Wow you ladies are quick!

SamiraShuruk, I was also told that Mona el Said used to do it well. I'm not sure if she still does it now. I gotta find that on video or youtube :)

I often dance to Turkish folk tunes for which I have checked out the lyrics, and I sing along the parts that I remember. Likewise, I can't resist chanting about tomato sauce with Ya Mustapha ;-) Or, the chorus and shoutout for Istemem Babacim, that's a must-sing-along here. I've also had a friend in the audience sing along to Bir Damet, which was wonderful.

I sing along partially. Never would I sing a whole song, plus, I don't really know what I'm singing, other than getting translations that may or may NOT be right.

I sing along partially too. Only when I know what the words are and have a basic idea of what they mean, though!

You can see me singing in this clip - it's so sporadic, I really don't think it detracts from the performance at all. Although after this show, one of my students came up to me (older woman, speaks her mind no matter what....) and said she didn't like when I sang along and thought I should stick to just smiling! Oh well, can't please everyone!

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_R_2NNpp14]YouTube - Daniela[/ame]

I do it when I know the words and love the song. I don't mean to, but I catch myself doing it, or see it later on video.

I'm trying to get it under control because I know people think it looks funny.

i try not to, but it happens sometimes.
especially when i'm dancing to greek music.

I like it and would do it if I knew Arabic or knew what the words were saying/meant. I think it shows a natural love of the song.

I've seen Aziza do it too.

The first time I saw a dancer do it, I was a little put out. I'm not sure why. I guess it's because most dance performances don't involve mouthing the lyrics.

It doesn't bother me when I see it now, but it could be because I'm desensitized to it.

I don't do it because I don't speak Arabic and it would be wholly inauthentic for me to mouth lyrics I don't understand.

I've never felt inclined to sing along so far.

It seems just fine to me when it's coming out just naturally, like Amartia busting out when it's Greek. (Hi, Amartia!)

It would feel just silly to me to cultivate "pretending to sing" as a skill to add to one's performance options, like "dancing with zills," etc. Not necessarily silly for others, but for me.
Rosette

For the most part I find it annoying and distracting when a dancer mouths the lyrics, especially to the whole song. It bothers me less if they are doing it to a phrase or two, and interacting with the audience in a way that expresses what the lyric is about. However, that is the only time that I don't get really annoyed by it. I have even fast fwd over a performance, or gotten up to go to the bathroom just because I couldn't stand watching the lip synching. I'm there to see dancing, just give me the dancing!! :o)

Morocco does it (and has for years). Then again, she knows what ALL the lyrics mean. ..g.: I have to confess that I occasionally sing along to (only parts of) a couple of songs I really like. ..g.:

I do it.

Generally speaking, I don't do the WHOLE song...just a few phrases here and there...

some of the time, I can't help it though, and don't even realize that I'm doing it. ;)

For one of my performances, to a Mohammad Hamaki song, there's one chorus that is just him singing with very little music behind him...I sang this chorus to the audience as I danced, and it seemed to be effective...

:)

Its fun!

Originally Posted by danielabellydance

I sing along partially too. Only when I know what the words are and have a basic idea of what they mean, though!

Same here, which for me means I try not to do it much.

I do lipsynch several of the female spoken parts in my Meleya Leff song, but I think it's okay because that style is so theatrical in and of itself.

i do it occasionally. for me, it has to be the right context and the right audience vibe.

for example, if i'm on stage and doing something everyone knows like wahashtini. if the audience is into it and clapping along, you know a few are singing along too. so if you find someone who is singing along, look right at them an smile and sing a few words with them, it builds great dynamics between dancer and audience.

i like it if used like pepper, just a bit to add accent

I'm guilty ,f:: But I only do it if I know the meaning of the song I'm dancing to.

I think I have.

I think it's fine, as long as it isn't something choreographed into the piece and it's not the entire song

Guilty as charged. I try not to, but I love the music, I love the Arabic lyrics, and it's hard not to. Makes for some interesting expressions in candid pix sometimes. And I always sing along when I teach. Maybe I spent too much time studying Arabic poetry at Georgetown.

I think Mona Said and Dina are both great when they sing along. I haven't noticed Sahar Hamdi singing, but maybe it's because the pelvic thrusts are so distracting...

I try do avoid it, but I do it sometimes anyway! So I always have weird facial expressions on all my performance photos...

I don't mind a dancer singing along as long if it's done spontaneously.

If I ever do it it's because it's subcountious - never more than a few words / phrase at a time. (especially when like Sabrina said, if I dance for Arabs, they're having a good time, singing along, a few words will "come out" but that's it)

If the dancer is Middle Eastern: she grew up with the music, the songs, the lyrics, the context - sing away if you want to.
Non-Middle Easterner? She must have been exposed to this for a very very long time for it to come out unforced. It has to look genuine, spontaneous and joyful/passionate. But even then, a whole song is kind of pushing it.

When I did a Hungarian Roma dance with my friends a month ago I sang along most of the songs - I grew up with it, the music, the lyrics and the context: they meant something to me, I could relate and I knew the songs by heart. It sort of just came out. I know that must have looked authentic, because it came naturally, without planning or forcing it. (I wasn't trying to look authentic though, I was just enjoying the performance). If I would have taught the songs to a friend and she sang it along? I don't think it would have looked like it - she wouldn't have the right facial expressions, gestures, etc to go along with it.

I used to think it was a cute accent to sing along for part of the performance if dancer knows the Arabic words but now seems like a lot of dancers sing the entire time and that does not appeal to me at all. Because when they are standing there singing and gesturing, they aren't dancing very much. It's a matter of degree I guess but I'm kinda tired of seeing it at this point (Nisima runs, fast, to avoid scorching by flames and maybe even hot rocks).....

Originally Posted by Nisima

seems like a lot of dancers sing the entire time and that does not appeal to me at all.

I agree. It's always been kind of a pet peeve of mine, although I am guilty of mouthing the words to Esmaooni (but ONLY because there were a bunch of little girls in the front row and I wanted them to know that the song says "musch fakkerni" and not "who's F**kin" which is what it sounds like)! ,r:;

Unless your audience knows Arabic, it seems rude, almost disrespectful...

I am Turkish and especially when John Bilezikjian or other artists that can play Turkish songs and/or sing, I sing along some parts of it. Yes I agree that dancing and singing the whole song would not be my style at least, and may look distractive.
I also love classical Egyptian songs and sing the parts taht I know off and if I know the meanings, dancing with gestures like holding my heart, or pain or feelings that you can reflect to audience, I think it is very affective, especially in competitions, stage shows and even at the private events where the audience are from that country.

Yes, I'm guilty of doing it. I don't even know Arabic, but I pick up certain phrases, usually the title of the song or the first line of the chorus, and I catch myself singing along with it now and again. For me, it's hard not to, and I figure it's OK as long as long as it's once in a while because it feels natural and in character to me. It's funny because I see other dancers who naturally do it too and other dancers who seem surprised that we even hear words in the stuff we dance to.

I sing along and I can't help myself. I don't see how it could looked forced if it's happening naturally. I only sing along if I know the words & the meaning. Like, I sing along to shik shak shok in the parts where I know the words and the meaning - i.e. I can listen to the words in arabic and know what they mean - not needing a translation. I sing along to the 'gidyit gidyit' part of El Hantour. Why not? It doesn't bother me seeing other people sing either!

Heck, when the sound system went out once, it sorta helped that I sang the rest of the phrase!

My basic theory on a lot of these threads is: if it comes naturally, why not? We spend all this time learning Arabic, listening to Arabic music, watching Arabic dancers, so that we can look more natural like an Arabic dancer. Wouldn't it look more forced & unnatural if we were expending all that energy on being someone we're not?

I've always had the urge to sing along. That's why I try my hardest to find the phonetic lyrics so I'm singing the right words. I sing in the car all the time and I'm sure I don't always say the right words, lol. But in performance I only sing parts that I know are correct. And it's usually just the chorus or a particular line that I like a lot. Also when I'm out at the Arabic nightclub I sing along.