Thread: I refuse to do the "Now I'm doing Sha'abi" act! UPDATE: Post-show de-briefing

So there!

I'm dancing to a song by Saad in a belly dance show in May.

I will NOT wear jeans, or some costume that's supposed to emulate streetwear. I will be wearing a belly dance costume, and I'm not going to spend the whole song pantomiming the lyrics to prove that I know what the song means. I'm not going to pretend to chew gum, or to make my movements purposefully sloppy so as to pretend to be a "homegirl".

I find that stuff often comes off as pretentious and trying too hard to prove you Know Something. I do intend to go out there and give an energetic performance and have fun with the audience.

That is all.

Jeans? Sloppy? Pretend gum chewing? By all means, leave these things to the . . . ah . . . highly skilled, and stick to what you know you're good at...l;,
Rosette

You just made my day, Tex!

I think that going out there and dancing the way that YOU dance is more Sha'abi than any gum snapping sloppy routine could be.

Originally Posted by SatinWorship19

You just made my day, Tex!

I figured you'd appreciate it.

Actually, I dance to this song a lot in my shows and it's a big hit, but this will be the first time on a stage. Reading about sha'abi here, you'd think you have to do this Big Production or else the belly dance correctness police will swarm the stage to arrest you for not Proving That You Know Your Stuff.

Bah. If it's good enough for the Lebanese and Kurdish "boys" at the hookah lounge, it's good enough for the crowd at the big belly dance show. ..g.:

Originally Posted by Mahsima

I think that going out there and dancing the way that YOU dance is more Sha'abi than any gum snapping sloppy routine could be.

OMG....yes!

This entire thread makes me happy

I hate the gum snapping in some shaabi routines! It looks redonk

Originally Posted by tamrahennatx

I'm not going to spend the whole song pantomiming the lyrics to prove that I know what the song means.

..l;, thank God! yay!

Here's my favorite sha'abi video of the day (and I LOVE this song, too).

Yes, she obviously knows the words, but there's no big pantomime act, and she's just wearing a modern belly dance costume.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX2yWw-NtJk&feature=related]YouTube - Leila of Cairo Egyptian Bellydance Shabbi[/ame]

you go girl!

Have fun!

Qamar

I'm chewing gum and wearing jeans and I just halfheartedly bopped around my room to Luxor Baladna a few minutes ago. Does that make me sha'abi? Or does that make it cutting-edge sha'abi-saidi fusion? .w.:

Right on!

Well it sounds like there's a fine line between Sha'abi and shabby. Hey, somebody had to say it.
Rosette

Originally Posted by Rosette

Well it sounds like there's a fine line between Sha'abi and shabby. Hey, somebody had to say it.
Rosette

Can't believe NOBODY thought of that sooner! Good one

Originally Posted by tamrahennatx

So there!

I'm dancing to a song by Saad in a belly dance show in May......

That is all.

i think you can now change you're signature from "60% less" up to "now with 70% less BS"

It's nice to know people are less into the "drag act" side of stuff - not so long ago I saw posts where people were gushing about the gum and tackiness being necessary for melaya leff.

Personally I hate gum in all contexts so there is no way in HELL I would chew it or pretend to chew it. But I actually quite like dancing in jeans or similar. When everybody else is wearing four birds and a garden on their head and showing off how rich they are with this week's costume purchase, it can be quite liberating to get up there in a pair of jeans or a plain street dress.

Originally Posted by zumarrad

It's nice to know people are less into the "drag act" side of stuff - not so long ago I saw posts where people were gushing about the gum and tackiness being necessary for melaya leff.

Personally I hate gum in all contexts so there is no way in HELL I would chew it or pretend to chew it. But I actually quite like dancing in jeans or similar. When everybody else is wearing four birds and a garden on their head and showing off how rich they are with this week's costume purchase, it can be quite liberating to get up there in a pair of jeans or a plain street dress.

Agreed - I love dancing in street clothes (it's soooo much more comfortable), but I also dislike the idea that to perform a shaabi song in a belly dance costume is somehow wrong.

At a staged belly dance show with a large audience of the GP, I think they'd wonder if you forgot to pack your costume.

Awesome!

Attention all belly dance correctness police please put an APB out on Tex she is going to try and break the rules!!!

Just checking, you'll still be dancing Sha'abi, right? Even without all the OTT stuff...

Originally Posted by tamrahennatx

Agreed - I love dancing in street clothes (it's soooo much more comfortable), but I also dislike the idea that to perform a shaabi song in a belly dance costume is somehow wrong.

I'm with you!

I just got home from Egypt last night. Caroline Afifi took us to four different shaabi clubs. Three of these places had performers, the fourth was a "get up and social-dance yourself" place. We also went to see Camellia perform, and her roots are shaabi even though she does the higher-class Oriental venues now.

Almost all the dancers we saw wore bedleh consisting of bras, shebecka (body stocking), and lycra skirts. Out of about 8 or 9 performers we saw, only one was wearing blue jeans. I don't remember seeing any baladi dresses.

So, based on what I saw in Egypt this last week, I'd say that a lycra bra/skirt bedleh is more "correct" for doing a shaabi performance than blue jeans. (Note: I'm not saying jeans are wrong, just affirming that bedleh is fine.) Then again, it doesn't bother me to see someone in bedleh dancing to a baladi piece.

Also, the shaabi clubs don't limit their music choices to Saad, Hakim, etc. I heard a lot of orchestrated older music including several songs by Abdel Halim Hafez.

I have danced shaabi in jeans and loved it and will do it again, but good on you for doing what feels comfortable to you!

This is exciting! I've never heard of Shaabi before but the more I watch vids the more I love what I hear. I like this song. Plus, the teacher is hot. And sorry if he's a name I'm supposed to know. I'm a baby dancer, so I have an excuse. Haha: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nt3UlZkILug]YouTube - Shaabi by Mohamed Kazafy[/ame]

Sorry I just infiltrated your thread. Just really had to post that song. Continue.

Originally Posted by sblanck

Attention all belly dance correctness police please put an APB out on Tex she is going to try and break the rules!!!

Try? Ha! There is no try. ..g.:

Originally Posted by smuse33

This is exciting! I've never heard of Shaabi before but the more I watch vids the more I love what I hear. I like this song. Plus, the teacher is hot. And sorry if he's a name I'm supposed to know. I'm a baby dancer, so I have an excuse. Haha: YouTube - Shaabi by Mohamed Kazafy

Sorry I just infiltrated your thread. Just really had to post that song. Continue.

From the little I know about shaabi, it's more about social class and who you are than particular steps or costumes. It's fashionable to teach 'shaabi' right now but according to Caroline Evanoff, who lives in a shaabi area and studies it quite intensively, most of what is taught as shaabi is not shaabi. A bit like people call absolutely anything at all "tribal fusion" to get the numbers in.

Mohammed Kazafy is very very VERY Reda-style folklore in style. I love his dances, but I don't think this is particularly shaabi, even though the music might be. Shaabi is what working class urban people do when they are partying.

Originally Posted by zumarrad

From the little I know about shaabi, it's more about social class and who you are than particular steps or costumes. It's fashionable to teach 'shaabi' right now but according to Caroline Evanoff, who lives in a shaabi area and studies it quite intensively, most of what is taught as shaabi is not shaabi. A bit like people call absolutely anything at all "tribal fusion" to get the numbers in.

Mohammed Kazafy is very very VERY Reda-style folklore in style. I love his dances, but I don't think this is particularly shaabi, even though the music might be. Shaabi is what working class urban people do when they are partying.

Jumping in here because this is part of my own thought process - it (Shaabi) is also the music that comes from the streets - music that's popular among the people, not coming from the upper class "establishment" - a little rough in execution, raw in style, maybe a little bit low class in subject matter. ;)

I believe that a belly dancer can dance to a shaabi song in her chosen style - it doesn't make the dance "shaabi", but I don't think you have to conform only to those stylistic parameters we've seen previously defined here to dance to a shaabi tune. Leila's performance is true to her own style, though it's obvious that she's cutting loose and having fun in the above video, being conversational with her audience, rather than doing raks sharki.

Originally Posted by tamrahennatx

Jumping in here because this is part of my own thought process - it (Shaabi) is also the music that comes from the streets - music that's popular among the people, not coming from the upper class "establishment" - a little rough in execution, raw in style, maybe a little bit low class in subject matter. ;)

I believe that a belly dancer can dance to a shaabi song in her chosen style - it doesn't make the dance "shaabi", but I don't think you have to conform only to those stylistic parameters we've seen previously defined here to dance to a shaabi tune. Leila's performance is true to her own style, though it's obvious that she's cutting loose and having fun in the above video, being conversational with her audience, rather than doing raks sharki.

Yes! It's one of those elusive "vibe" things, not costuming or necessarily some special steps.