Thread: Men in dance- Gilded Serpent article

Not sure if this is the appropriate place to post this & I hope you'll forgive a newbie jumping in like this.

It is both exciting and nerve wracking to have my article accepted & published in the GS- I would love to know what people think!

Lara writes of Men in Middle Eastern Dance for the Gilded Serpent, journal of Middle Eastern Music and Dance, including Bellydance

I love your article! I like that you have combined your personal experience, including your mother-love of your son, with facts, history and common sense. Bravo! The gallery is wonderful.

Your final sentences sum it up beautifully, "When we dance, no matter who we are or where we come from, we tap into something deep inside ourselves. Movement without soul is dead, and somewhere on the journey of learning to connect mind to body in order to dance, we put in part of ourselves. Walk gently; this dance belongs to us all."

Yes, a really good thoughtful article. Also the large and wonderfully varied collection of photos is very effective; it says something beyond words.
Thanks!
Rosette

I like the photo gallery - seems to be just about every male dancer on the planet whose picture was available. I've been waiting for this article to come out - good job! It will, no doubt, create a flurry of letters...

Well done! I'd also like to add that while men have danced in drag, a lot of the "drag" performances reported in the 19th century weren't drag at all - the viewers just assumed they were because, you know, the dancers were wearing long dress-like things = and that one of the reasons the dance has become more "gendered" is the shift in attitudes that occurred via British/French colonisation in places like Egypt and Lebanon.

Thanks for writing this!

There is kind of a wave of young male dancers coming up in Germany, many of them Turkish. So we'd better get used to the fact that men can shake their hips!
I like it

MEISSOUN

Not related to belly dance, but at a recent performance of the Nutcracker Ballet by young dancers (it was amazingly well done!), the directors of the school said that this year for the first time there were 30 boys in the production. They had boosted enrollment of boys at the school by offering free classes after school. The audience applauded enthusiastically.

The gentleman next to me, who appeared to be in his sixties, said that when he was growing up, there was NO WAY a boy could be in ballet classes and not get teased or beaten up by other boys. So apparently some progress is being made toward better acceptance of male dancers.

Great article! Down to earth and no BS, I enjoyed it a lot! And... that assuit-shirt on Ahmed Jarjour in the first picture of the gallery looks soooo good!!!!

Great article! Especially loved the last paragraph about how the performance is not masculine nor feminine but the expression of the deeper side of who she or he is.

yeah! glad everyone likes it so far (tho I know I'm going to get flack for the glitter & sequins line...)

Dunyah, that is really cool! I wish they did a free after school program here... (off to look under rocks for hidden grant money)

Thanks for writing the article! xoxo Mark

Lovely article !!!
I'm closer in terms of real friendship in real life and not only for bellydance with male bellydancers than with other people in general.
I've been critisized alot for this from the greek community.
Just adore Egyptian dance and know how it is "over there" for a man than dance.
But inside me, i find it deeply insulting and racists for our souls to cut someone from this beautifull art form, just because he is a man.

Bravo again :)

Loved the photos !!!

Originally Posted by Lara L

yeah! glad everyone likes it so far (tho I know I'm going to get flack for the glitter & sequins line...)

Nothing wrong with glitter and sequins! I'm rather fond of them myself!