Thread: Bellydance, Shakira and Zumba on google Treads

I just discovered google trends and did a little research. This app by google creates popularity graphs through time, so you can see how popular a topic is and if it is gaining or losing popularity.

Of course I looked for bellydance and, as some of you stated in some threads, it was very popular around 2006, at the same time Shakira was popular but now it is slowly losing popularity even when Shakira is popular again. "Learn to dance" also have lost popularity in the same period but "weight lose" and "zumba" are gaining fans quickly... I already saw some posts about zumba here on bhuz, so this small study supports the hypothesis that people is now (or have always been but did not have zumba) looking more for fun ways to exercise than for dance lessons as an art form.

What do you think?
What can bellydance schools and the BD community do with that?

It's not surprising, but still interesting to see the graphs. I think, honestly, there isn't much we can do about it. And I'm pretty ambivalent about the whole thing. On one hand, I can see how it might be beneficial to increase our market but on the other hand there are drawbacks to having belly dance become a fad. Either way there are pros and cons. II am happy with where belly dance stands currently (in terms of popularity or lack thereof), I just wish there were higher standards in terms of how we teach and how we perform, especially for those who perform for the general public (professionally and otherwise). But that's a different matter entirely.

I think people are always going to be rushing from one fitness fad to anther, and having "fun" fitness classes is something that's been steadily on the rise for a while now. We've had our pass and apparently it is now Zumba's turn. I think while bellydance for fitness may still appeal to some people, what we might need to focus on is getting people to see the fun of bellydance as a dance form too.

It always annoys me when I hear someone talk about bellydance like "oh, been there done that fad. It's so 2006." well good for you for jumping from one thing to another? Some of us really like it and stuck with it. You may know a little of every fad that's hit the market in the last 10 years, but I know a heck of a lot more about my one thing and I'd sat I have more to show for it! If only it was easy to show people that something can be fun and rewarding just for what it is, not because some hit singer is doing it, or it's on TV a lot, or it's the most popular fitness class at the gym. I think as long as people think of it like just one more eccentric craze, they won't take it seriously. That said I don't have a problem with people trying new and different things, it just doesn't make you better than anyone who sticks to one thing and it doesn't mean a past "fad" has no merit.

Was there a difference between "belly dance" and "bellydance"? Just curious.

I honestly thought that the graph for bellydance (in terms of a decline) wasn't nearly as drastic as I expected. It seems more consistent over time than some of the other terms.