[KathyC]

Haven't been on line for ages and not likely to be on again for a while, so at the risk of a flaming in my absence (I'm not entirely sure what's been said here), reading the quote where the words "women" etc are highlighted, quite apart from the fact that it's excluding men it's not historically correct, is it? This dance, as far as I am given to understand, has always been performed by men and women.

It reminds me of someone who once sat and showed me a video she deemed "educational" about the history of MED and all it went on about was Egyptian dance, there was no reference to any other regions in the video and this person who took it upon herself to "educate" me touts herself as some sort of authority on the dance, giving lectures and stuff. We need to be very careful about what we write and what we say because the history is vague enough as it is. Exluding regions or whole genders ain't gonna help.

Right back to the packing for Torquay now, sorry if I've taken the thread even more off track.

Kathy x
PS I tried to teach two boys to dance - my sons. But they are the only ones who've ever asked me to teach them. And of course I taught them in a feminine style, 'cos that's how I dance. I'd be happy to teach more males my style of dance but wouldn't be able to teach the more masculine versions.