Gypsy Tribal Fusion ATS, this is a bit of a rant.

This blog post pretty much wrote itself after I read the following Tumblr post from Golden Zephr (read it HERE):

No, I’m not a dancer

But, nevertheless I challenge all of you to REALLY look at the styles and forms that you are lauding here on the internet. No, not everyone uses the word gypsy. No, not everyone uses ‘afro’ or other fusion. Not everyone is guilty of the same degree of appropriation.

But, as far as I am concerned as a Roma woman (a gypsy) and as someone who has encountered, in person, many groups who call themselves “tribal” or “gypsy” it really annoys me.

I do think that the word ‘tribal’ is a problem, especially when paired with words like gypsies. We don’t live in tribes, nor do we have a tribal system (* yes we have something like a clan system in the way our families are organized, but you cannot go as far as to call it “tribal”). Yet, people ask me “which gypsy tribe” I’m from, if I can do the “gypsy tribal dance” or what I think of “gypsy fusion”.

I don’t know how you as dancers can claim that this kind of thing doesn’t exist and claim that simply because you don’t use the word personally, that frees you of all obligation. You say you never “see it” when you search the internet, but I see it every time I look for a dance from my people.

You do a form of dance who’s history is rooted in the “gypsy” people’s of North Africa and the Middle East—primarily the Ouled Nail and the Ghawazee, as well as others. I know many of you claim that ATS is new simply because it’s a fusion of styles—however, all of these styles were appropriated from somewhere.

Now, before you argue with me I am not saying not to use those styles of dance. That would be a little … presumptuous of me. However, I do think it’s problematic when there are many groups—starting with the biggest Ultra Gypsy and Romani—who actively promote their dancing as something it is not. Those two groups are either no longer together or have renamed themselves. However, there are other large groups such as “Urban Gypsy” in Texas, “Gypsy Fire” in Oregon (who actively label their clothing as gypsy and/or Romani), “Anaya Gypsy Dance” from my current city in Ohio, “Gypsy Caravan” from Oregon, who even do “Gypsy Caravan certified Gypsy Tribal teaching certificate… but the list goes on and on…

Gypsy Heart
Urban Gypsy
American Gypsy
Twisted Gypsy
Ultra Gypsy
Gypsy Rain
Free Spirit Gypsy
Barefoot Gypsy
Gypsy Dream ATS clothing
Tanjora Gypsy
New World Gypsy…

Gosh, will the list ever end?

This is not something I am making up, it’s a really big problem and you all can go on denying it if you choose. But, I refuse to. I am tired of people telling me it’s no big deal, or I need to not be so serious or sensitive, or that because it’s a fusion it’s not appropriation.

Really? Ugh.

There are so many things to address from this short post by the writer that I barely know where to start.

Like some clichéd high school essay, I will start with defining a word, what it means to me and what it means to the rest of the world and then I’ll go from there.

The word ‘gypsy’ originates from the Greek word for Egyptian, as people believed that those groups originated in Egypt. The term ‘gypsy’ is considered to be derogatory by members of the Roma community.

In North America, the word gypsy is commonly used as a reference to lifestyle or fashion and NOT to the Romani ethnicity.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Now, this is how I, as a young child, saw gypsies:

This, is how I believe most people see gypsies:

And JUST the other day, I Google Image searched for “gypsy skirts” and this came up (this is gorgeous, btw):

I think that this is a case of people holding onto old feelings, because the people I speak to and converse with do not see gypsies in a bad light. My intention with using the term ‘gypsy’ is to encompass an entire community and culture of people that I might be referencing OR to describe a Westernized fashion or lifestyle choice. I don’t intend to use it in a derogatory manner, and if I were to use the term gypsy and somebody accosted me for that, I would be very upset. Mainly because my intentions are not to be derogatory or rude, but just to describe something in a wide radius that I can’t think to describe in any other way. If I were accosted or accused for using the term gypsy, it would seem to me that it is a case of putting an insecurity and old feelings onto me. It’s almost like you’re making the word bad just by attacking somebody for it. Like a child that is drawing something that looks like male genitalia – if you make a big fuss about it, it gets a negative connotation. There’s no reason to correct the child because they don’t know that it’s not an ok thing to draw willy-nilly (heh) all over the place. Obviously, you don’t encourage it, and maybe distract them with something shiny. But the bigger you make the issue, the easier it is for people to see the negative.
If that makes any sense?

As this is my blog, it’s not a perfectly written, ready to be published article, but just a mish-mash of my thoughts on digital paper.

I do think that the word ‘tribal’ is a problem, especially when paired with words like gypsies. We don’t live in tribes, nor do we have a tribal system (* yes we have something like a clan system in the way our families are organized, but you cannot go as far as to call it “tribal”). Yet, people ask me “which gypsy tribe” I’m from, if I can do the “gypsy tribal dance” or what I think of “gypsy fusion”.

I can understand the frustration of the writer when she says that gypsies are not in tribes and that the word association bothers her. I think that’s pretty fair and is just a rant in the style of Peter Griffin’s That Really Grinds My Gears.

Now, we’re getting down to the dance part of all of this, and I can only speak for myself and not the numerous troupes that were mentioned in the original post. Firstly, this writer says upfront that she is not a dancer. Therefore I don’t expect her to understand ATS or Tribal Fusion Belly dance. So I thought it was quite unfair for her to comment on what ATS is, or isn’t. (When I say ‘ATS’, I’m talking about the FCBD Carolena Nericcio style)

She is right in saying that ATS is not purely a new type of dance, because it draws from other cultures and places, and if it weren’t for those things, ATS would be very different. The way that the writer is ‘speaking’, you’d think that this was a negative thing – drawing from other cultures and places to create something new and different. I don’t see that as a negative thing. I see that as a way of life in dance. If we weren’t to challenge ourselves and change how we see things and do things, we’d all still be here:

Her attacking or criticizing ATS is completely unfounded as ATS does not claim to be affiliated with the term ‘gypsy’ in any way. Yet, something about the word ‘gypsy’ and ‘belly dance’ rings a bell in my head. And the entire time I’ve been thinking about this blog post and trying to sort the ideas out in my head, I realized that I had read the two terms together somewhere before.

When I was in high school (all those millions of years ago) I wrote an article for the school newspaper about belly dance. I had just started dancing, so my knowledge was shaky at best, but looking back now I didn’t say anything too scandalous. I had read that a common thread of thought by belly dancers and historians was that belly dance came to be because of the Gypsies. They had carried the dance throughout the world in their travels and had drawn on the places they visited for their own style of dance. They then, in turn, inspired the places that they visited and so took what we call ‘belly dance’ all over the place. On that note, something that I had always believed about gypsies/travelers was that they were inspired by the places they visited and they acted as pollen spores – bringing their ideas and cultures and traditions all over the place.

There was also this, from another Tumblr blogger (ilove-bellydance) about the same post:

It’s always good to read a different perspective in whatever you are passionate about so I’m reblogging this here. I have always wanted to learn ATS but I know now it’s problematic roots. Truth be told, ATS and Tribal Fusion seemed to be appropriative to me with regards to the costuming and make up. I wouldn’t feel comfortable wearing jewelry from Afghanistan or places in North Africa or styling myself in the Indian fashion (complete with bindi and other facial markings). It’s just…not mine to wear.

I need to do more thinking about this. Any advice is welcome. -Corinne

This irritated me quite a bit, because this blogger describes ATS as having ‘problematic roots’ and she didn’t want to learn ATS because of that. She also says that she doesn’t feel comfortable borrowing from other cultures. I can respect that, few people would see it that way, and I commend her for that thought. What irritates me about it is that it seems like a somewhat ignorant statement. Belly dance (all forms and variations) are in the end performed as theatrical arts. This gives them some kind of creative license to take what they will from other forms of art & dance. Wearing African jewellery is a COSTUME, not a cultural statement. A culture does not belong to one person – I can wear a sari if I so chose to. I don’t wear a sari in my day to day life because it’s not appropriate to my day to day life. However, if I choose to wear it to a performance as a costume, I don’t see why I can’t do that. Half of the time, the costuming is worn in a way that is not traditional. Ie. A sari as a skirt or cut into a headband.

I just laugh at the purists who wear bedlahs and dance Egyptian style belly dance and then moan about how Tribal Fusion has sullied what belly dance is all about. I laugh because the bedlah is a WESTERN invention, a Hollywood corruption of what used to be a folkloric dance form performed for women only.
Instead, you’ll find these ‘purists’ dancing in a bedlah at a restaurant for men & women to music that was influenced by Turkey.

Back to the original article – I can understand the frustration of the writer. But as I said in the definition, what is NOW known as ‘gypsy’ in Western society, is a lifestyle and fashion thing. It is not indicative of the Romani or Gypsy culture in any way. And if it were, it was probably based on some Hollywood/Disney version of it and wasn’t intended to be affiliated with the Romani or Gypsy name.
It also bugs me that the writer of the original post is attacking dance, but seems to be ignoring all the other pop culture references to gypsies that are more questionable with their motives.

There’s so much to still say on this topic, but I’m fast reaching 1500 words, and I’m not even sure any of you are still reading. So I’ll leave you with this photo which I think describes ATS perfectly, and how it respectfully has borrowed from other cultures and dance forms to create something essentially NEW. It is (if I’m not mistaken) the only form of dance that is performed as a group improv on stage. Therefore it is a dance form all on its own. I think there is a whole other blog post about what ATS is and isn’t, and where the word ‘Tribal’ fits in with it. That, is for another day.

Please note that this is a rambling post on my thoughts, and before you attack me, present your thoughts in the comments and/or in an email and I will respond. I may very well agree with you, but just can’t think of the words to use right now.

Blue Costume Remake – a blog post of photos

Remember a while ago, I said I’d be remaking my blue costume? If you don’t remember, click here to view that post.

Well, I went to the fabric shop and got a bit carried away, as usual. BUT, I managed to buy some gorgeous fabric to use to remake this costume! And since I had finished my purple costume (A blog post for another day!) I was on a bit of a roll and I just kept going. So instead of writing out a whole long post, here are some photos of all my hard work.
As a side note, I have never done intricate beading on a costume before, so this was a first for me!

A lovely blue skirt my mom made for me. Yay mom!

I chose this style of costume because of the incredible SUPPORT it gives to my… erm… girls. I’m definitely going to be doing this in future.

Another choice of skirt, I like the purple in this skirt because it brings out the purple/blue fabric in the bra.

 

As a final note: This costume is not done, I still want to add fringing to it – a small amount on the bra and then heavier fringing on the belt.

 

What do you think?

x

Cabaret VS Tribal

Tribal VS Cabaret – this is a long and involved debate, with purists and experimental types bashing heads over this argument. Since this is my blog, I am going to give my opinion, so prepare yourself!

To start off with, I am a Tribal dancer, so I am obviously inclined to Tribal and Fusion belly dance. However, I do love to do the occasional cabaret piece and of course, watch great cabaret dancers. We can all agree (I hope) that good dancing is in the end exactly that – good dancing. Just because it may be a different style doesn’t mean that it’s not good. I am not a fan of contemporary style dance. At all. But I can appreciate the skill and dedication that the dancers have. I think we should always strive to do that – appreciate a dancer, be polite and clap at the end of their performance even if it’s not our personal style.

Art is like religion (yes, I said it!) it’s a very personal thing and our life experiences and emotions will drive our receptiveness of a piece.

I don’t believe the “versus” argument. I have seen a world of belly dance where, at a Tribal Hafla, a cabaret performer was cheered on and zagareeted to. I have seen a world of belly dance where dancers from all over the country dance together at festivals, regardless of shape, size, age and dance style.

I have (and always will) believe that there is no versus is dance – people create those arguments based on their own insecurities, their need for validation and are fueled by a lack of education in dance and dance history.

I have compiled a few videos that I think illustrate my thoughts on this segregation in the society.

I wanted to start with a clip of Rachel Brice dancing at Cairo Caravan, but it seems that the video has been removed from YouTube. How odd.

Here is one I have always loved, called “It’s All Bellydance” – I love dances where we get a taste of a bit of everything!

The Bellydance Superstars – I think always good at keeping the balance of Tribal and Cabaret dancers. Here they are, each doing the same thing, at the same time but it looks so different because they have stylized it to suit the style they dance. *YIP!*

Last but not least, this is Zoe Jakes and Kami Liddle at Massive Spectacular. They are dressed slightly cabaret, and do a lot of cabaret inspired moves but they still manage to keep it Tribal!

Let me know your thoughts – I’d love to see a reply post or “proof” that one is better than the other. Go ahead. Try me.

x

Bitchiness in Bellydance

Lately I have been having some issues regarding bitchiness in bellydance. I have been hearing from quite a few people that a particular teacher (let’s call her X) has been bad mouthing our studio to other dancers. Unfortunately, I first heard of this when 2 ladies were watching us at a festival and were chatting amongst themselves about joining our studio.  X overheard them, leaned over and said “Oh, you should rather join us, we are MUCH better!” On another  occasion, a troupe member went to say hello to X, and X (without any prompting) offered her opinion of our dancing with: “You guys were… um… ok…”

When I heard all of this info, I was quite taken aback. I have never liked X’s dance style, but that’s because it’s so totally different to mine and I can’t connect with it. It has nothing to do with her – she was always polite to me and I had no reason to dislike her. I couldn’t understand why she would say such nasty things about our studio – especially when to my face she always spoke to me about how we need to stick together as dance studios and support each other. I can’t help but feel a bit betrayed!

With all of this going on, there were other things happening in the local dance scene that shook my thoughts on our community. Studios had split in two and dancers had stopped talking to each other, another dancer had stopped entirely – closing down her studio.

While in the dressing room at the Tribal Angel’s hafla this weekend, I was chatting to another dancer about a past dance event. When I mentioned to her that I hadn’t attended, but had seen photos on X’s Facebook profile. This dancer then went on to tell me that she didn’t want to invite X and her studio to perform at her show at the end of the year, as she was also recently snubbed by X. The dancer then went on to say that she feels less animosity from the Tribal dancers VS the Cabaret dancers (“cabaret” being the vague term encompassing all non-tribal styles) who she found to be very bitchy. I thought about this for a while and I’ve realized a possible reason why the cabaret dancers come across as bitchier is because there are SO MANY of them. The tribal dancers have less competition, so I think they feel less animosity towards each other.  *

With that being said, however, I have noticed a trend throughout the bellydance community. As a relatively young dancer (Been dancing for 4 years, in the industry for about 2 or 3) I feel that some of the older, more experienced dancers can be VERY cold towards the newer girls. They are perfectly polite, but to the point of being rude. I can name several dancers that I often chat to at events, but I can also tell you that they don’t actually even know my name. I’m not expecting people to go “Oh! It’s the great Alex!” but knowing somebody’s name can go a long way in any industry.

Another negative that happened recently was a discussion on the Bellydance Teachers of SA forum about prices of hen parties (kitchen teas/bachelorettes). One of the ladies suggested that we should all conform to one price and those that don’t conform to it will not be accepted as part of the “sisterhood” as they clearly don’t care for the well being of their “sisters”. I had two problems with this (which I will address quickly, because there is a whole other blog post in that!!). I felt that forcing people to choose the same price was too close to price-fixing and just felt wrong. I feel that as I am not dancing in town, but rather in a smaller town with a lower income bracket that I can’t charge the same as those who dance in town. I’m not talking about a big difference in price, only R100. The other problem I had was the level of bitchiness that exuded from the suggestion that we all conform or we are deemed “un-sisterly”. It bothered me that people believe that have the RIGHT to push others out and exclude them from a group. In suggesting this, I felt it was the most un-sisterly thing that they could do.

But this past weekend, some of my faith in the industry was restored. I performed my solo (yay!) at the Tribal Angel’s Hafla and I received some really wonderful comments from some dancers that I hold in high regard! They were SO friendly and the whole dressing room had this great vibe of TRUE sisterhood. We chatted, laughed, complimented each other and posed for strange photos. I was so happy to see everybody joining in and including each other. I have been to other hafla’s where some of the dancers wander backstage with their iPod in their ears and they ignore everybody else – this sets up a tense and uncomfortable vibe. To me, half of the excitement and prep for dancing comes from the vibe of the people around you!

During the Sunday workshop, Heather said something to us that really resonated with me and has stuck with me in such a positive way. This also reinforced my love for ATS. Heather said that in ATS there are NO egos. You can’t have an ego if you need to dance as a unit. You support and encourage your sisters and HAVE to work with them. (this was paraphrased!) I think that this is why so many of the great tribal dancers who have a large ATS background are so humble – they don’t dance with egos, they just do it for the pure, unadulterated joy of it!

I think that the SA community has a long way to go in terms of bitchiness. I think that those who are bitchiest have low self esteem and are intimidated by others easily and try to put others down to make themselves feel better. This is sad, I just hope that we can work together and help each other more.

What are YOUR experiences with bitchiness in your area? Please, your opinions are welcomed!!

* Please note! This just something I’ve noticed with a handful of dancers and it’s pretty specific to my area. I’m not saying that the cabaret dancers are all bitches and tribal dancers are all saints. (This is definitely not the case!)

Miscellaneous Catch up

Welcome back!

I know, I’ve been absent for 2 months, but a lot of dance related drama has been going through my head and I’ve had a bit of stuff to deal with. But it’s all sorted now and I can look forward to 2012, which is already looking better than 2011!

I have been doing a fair bit of costuming, I made a new Tribal Fusion bra from bits and pieces bought at Geka and lovely faux suede fabric in a chocolate brown colour – ooh! I realized how many things I have in browny shades for my bottom half and that I only had 2 black fusion bras, but nothing brown to go with my brown pants or cream coloured wraps. Below is a very bad photo of this new bra – just taken with my phone. I will find and upload a nicer photo at some point.  I still want to do a bit of work to it, without overwhelming it with things. The problem is that it looks full and great up close but when I wear it in the studio it doesn’t look like much from far away. Hmm. Ideas? Also, the dark brown lace on the sides is insanely itchy which is great for keeping my arms up and not letting them drop but it does leave ugly marks on me after I take my bra off. Ah, the joy of sensitive skin!

In other costuming news, I have taken apart my blue cabaret costume. I realize I never posted photos of the finished product, but I have one or two from our show that I will post. After seeing the DVD of the show, I realized that there was too much wrong with it. Firstly, I am a rather short person (1.58m = 5 feet 2 inches) so having a belt on that was so wide just didn’t suit me and made me look shorter, especially with such long fringing! Then the bra had collapsed and gone soft so it didn’t fit properly, the straps were badly designed for my body type… I could go on. I’m sure you understand now why I decided to take apart the old bra and belt and make something new. Also – the shiny fabric was awful to work with and I wouldn’t mind working with just a plain cotton fabric.  So that is a future project… I have ideas of what to do with the long fringe because it’s too long, but I don’t think I’ll say what the plan is until it’s done. Otherwise I might fail miserably and then be the laughing stock of all belly dancers ever.

In other news – Kash from Rhythm Nouveau Dance Company is hosting Heather from Tribal Angels up in Joburg for a few ATS workshops! I am unfortunately dirt poor so I can only attend ONE of the workshops – boo! – however, Maya has also been asked to perform at the hafla which is being hosted on the Saturday night. I will be performing my solo from the BellyRing Hafla last year and Maya will be performing Lunar which we also performed at the Oriental Festival last year. I just need to wait a bit of time and then I can upload our performance of Lunar at the Oriental Festival. It’s an amazing dance and we loved learning and performing it.

In preparation for the hafla and workshops, we are doing ATS  every week until the end of February. We haven’t done ATS in a while, and I had forgotten just how much I love it. I am the first person to admit that it’s not always exciting to watch, but performing it and doing the moves and having great interactions with the other dancers is AMAZING. I might be in love all over again!

Well, that’s all for now. Hopefully I will be posting more and more… if there is a topic you would like me to cover or an argument you feel like having me rant about, then please email me or leave a comment! At the top of the page you will find a “contact” page and you can find my email address there.

How the dancer lost her mojo, and found it again…

Once upon a time there was a dancer who lost her mojo. That meant that she had no enthusiasm to dance and no lust for costuming or music. This dancer just wanted to curl up and watch Sex and the City until it came out of her ears. That dancer was me!

Notice how I used “was”? That dancer is no longer me. Just when I was beginning to despair and update my Facebook status about it, it all came back to me. I’m cured!

I wasn’t sure whether it was the end of year blues, the fact that I’ve just spent this year prepping for performances or if the state of belly dance was just tiring me out. Whatever it was, it had made me uber depressed and rather unhappy. I think that it was because we had our show at the beginning of the year, which was a really big deal and we had a lot to work towards and we spent the whole of the first term prepping for the show, and then the rest of the year we’ve been preparing for the International Oriental Festival (which would get its own blog post, but there’s not much to report). Preparing for dances is great and it’s always nice to learn new choreography, but I feel like I need to learn something NEW. I have so much on my list of “things to learn” and I’m not covering any of them, really.

But there is always a light at the end of the tunnel, my light was called Balkanology.

A couple of weeks ago, Paula got hold of Leoni and myself to ask if we’d like to go to an event with her. This event was Balkanology. I’d heard about it via Facebook and some people that I am connected with, but never really thought more about it or looked into it at all. Paula found a brilliant half-price deal online and we promptly decided we wanted to go. Without really knowing what it was about, we booked and paid for the tickets.

It turns out, it’s exactly what it sounds like – Balkan inspired/styled music with a side of crazy(that’s the “ology part). The theme was “Animal Farm”, the whole evening followed this theme, with the pigs declaring their command over the “farm” and telling us humans what we could and couldn’t do. As the evening progressed, people dressed in freaky animal costumes paraded around with signs and generally mingled with the crowd (and by mingled, I mean growled and pranced around) while bands like Manouche, Nomadic Orchestra and Mr. Cat & the Jackal played awesome tunes for us. Towards the end of the evening, the animals all took over and threw the pigs off the stage, and tore down their piggy decorations. We were then told that the building was now open and that Toby2Shoes was going to be DJing for us inside and we were to party it up in there!

What has pulled me out of my mojo is the music that they played that night. It was so refreshing to go out and listen to real music, honest music with instruments. We had a people playing wooden spoons, guitar, drums, saxophone (what a sexy instrument), violin, accordion and a tuba. It was fun, and light and it was so easy to just let go and dance. Also, the tuba player was very sexy.

The head-pig telling us what we can and can't do

More pigs

A lovely guy who came dressed as "my little pony"...

It was this music that has “saved” me from myself and brought back my mojo! I am so inspired to create choreography to this music (which is up for free download on their facebook pages!) and I just want to tell everybody about it. But I think that I will quietly go about creating choreography and maybe one of the bands will notice and they will ask me to dance at the next event. Now wouldn’t that be something!

A member of Manouche - after this I put my camera in the car and got ready to dance.

One of the many animals - excuse the blurry pic. It's difficult to take photos of moving targets in the dark!

Go and listen to all these band’s music. Go go go!

Photo shoot tips for belly dancers

As I’m sure many of you know by now, I am a photographer as well as a dancer. It’s a fairly unique combination of skills and I wanted to share some of the combined knowledge with you. At some point in every belly dancer’s life, they will want a photoshoot. If you are going professional, this is a MUST!

So here are some tips from a photographer and a dancer to you:

Costume

Make sure that you’re comfortable in your costume and that it fits well. A photographer may be able to edit a few things here are there, but don’t rely on it. If you are unsure whether your costume fits well, ask a friend or your dance teacher to help you with it.

Don’t pose with unfamiliar props

Posing with props can be great – if you’re comfortable with them! The last thing you want to do is pose with a prop that you don’t usually use. This will show in your body posture and facial expression, because you won’t look comfortable and you’ll usually be holding the prop awkwardly. You don’t have to pose with a prop – while veils and the like look great in photos, sometimes it might be better to leave them at home.

Practice poses

Before you arrive at the photoshoot, practice your poses! It’s ok to be a little vain here and stare at yourself in the mirror for hours because in the end you need to know how your body looks good. If you are unsure which poses to do, think of poses from dances you have done, perhaps an end pose of a dance or a mid-movement pose. If you are conscious about a certain part of your body, tell your photographer so that they can make sure they don’t accentuate it.

Weather & Lights

Weather is only a factor if you are shooting on location, which can be absolutely beautiful but also an absolute disaster! Keep in mind that if there is wind, veils and isis wings can become redundant  as the wind will dictate the direction the veil and wings go. While a light breeze is nice, it can quickly become irritating. Make sure you arrive at your location early so that you can scout out areas you’d like to use for your photos. If you are shooting in a studio, it’s important to know what kind of lighting you’d like – dramatic or even lighting.

Make up

Remember that photo/film make up is very similar to stage make up in that it has to be exaggerated in order to show up well on photos. Look on the web for ideas for make up by looking at other dancer’s photoshoots. So if you look like a drag queen, you’re doing it right!

Don’t waste time, come prepared!

Remember that you are paying the photographers for their time. You don’t want to waste their time because you are not prepared. Coming to the shoot full of ideas is a photographers dream – it makes it so easy and so much more fun to shoot!

Don’t be afraid to talk and ask

If you have questions or suggestions, TALK to your photographer! We are always open to ideas and always willing to ask questions!

Listen!

Listening to your photographer is essential to a great and productive photoshoot! Photographers know what they are doing, and you have chosen your photographer for a reason, so listen to them. Sometimes they want to try something a little more creative and that is almost always rewarding if both sides cooperate!

Choose wisely!

The most important thing to do in preparation for your photoshoot is choose a photographer you are comfortable with. Being uncomfortable is not something that can be Photoshopped out of your face – and believe me, it will show.

Although a (good) photographer will be thinking of all of these things anyway, it is also your job to do research and come to a photoshoot prepared!

I recently did a photoshoot with some dancers, and I will be putting the photos up on my Facebook page sometime soon, so if you want to see my work, you can have a look at it here: Alexandra Graham Photography

Good luck to those planning shoots, I hope this advice was useful!

Belly dance in South Africa – according to me!

Ok, so last night I started writing a long ranting blog post based on this article posted on The Gilded Serpent (read HERE). 3 ladies who are involved in belly dance in South Africa had written little article pieces that were accompanied by a video interview with Charlotte who lives and teaches in Joburg.

Unfortunately, I disagreed with a lot of the answers Charlotte gave on the video, and I’m sure it’s because of the area she’s from rather than ignorance. The problem is that when you are asked about issues that are about the entire country, you can only really answer for yourself and give your opinion about your area. It’s not to say “These are the facts!” but rather your perception of things. So I thought I’d post the video, you can have a watch and then I’ll answer the questions/talk about the topics briefly like she did. I thought it would be an interesting experiment. J

So first up, she spoke about POPULAR STYLES of belly dance in South Africa. If belly dance as a whole is new to South Africa, Tribal Fusion is even newer, and a much younger form of dance. I disagree with the fact that ATS is not popular in South Africa. I get the feeling that PURE ATS is popular, but not performed as often as it isn’t as much of a “crowd pleaser” here, so rather the girls learn ATS as a base for fusion dance and perform ATS moves in a fusion setting.

WHAT IS MOSTLY PERFORMED IN SA?

I would honestly say that American Cabaret is mostly performed in South Africa. And when I say AmCab, I mean the westernized style of Middle Eastern Dance. I think that there are very few teachers who can honestly boast that they teach Egyptian or Turkish style of dance. Dancers here (and all over the world, I’ve noticed) like to fuse the styles together to perform their own brand of dance – and I personally think it’s great, creating your own dance identity!

VARIOUS STYLES IN VARIOUS AREAS

Of course, I can only speak for Cape Town and surrounds, but I’d say that most of the studios here perform the more AmCab style of belly dance. Or as I like to call them “Glitzy dancers” But there are plenty of fusion dance studios, and not necessarily tribal fusion either – just belly dance fusion.

FESTIVALS

There are loads of festivals here in Cape Town. There are two that I attend every year – the International Bellydance Day in May and the Oriental Festival in October. There are many other smaller festivals that I don’t/can’t attend in the middle of the year sometime.
Now something I strongly disagreed with Charlotte about, was her saying that the local girls (in Cape Town) don’t support each other. Now, as Charlotte is not from Cape Town I am sorry that that was what she took away from her visit here. I feel that the studios here are all very supportive of other studios as well as other dancers. Maybe I just know some really good people? But as you come off the stage, you get greeted by a bunch of arms giving you a squeeze and saying “Well done!” Of course, South Africa is very small and the bellydance community so big in relation to the size of our country and of course we will step on each other’s toes from time to time. It will happen in any organization any art form, any business, really.

TRAVELLING

Many dancers travel overseas to seek out dancers or particular workshops that may not attract much interest or attention to bring the dancer here. It is probably cheaper to bring a dancer out here if there is enough interest than it is to travel overseas. We have had many international dance stars in South Africa such as Sharon Kihara, Samantha Emanuel, Bozenka, Danisa and Yasmina of Cairo – to name a few. Besides the weakness of our currency, it is also expensive to travel due to flight costs, and visas. DVDs are expensive to bring in, but cheaper if you are a bunch of people ordering together and can then split the shipping costs.

COMPETITIONS

There is a whole other blog topic hidden away in this heading, so I’m going to try and touch on it lightly. I like competitions. I think that they can be good for you. I don’t feel (like many do) that it detracts from the dance itself or the emotional connection of the dance because competitions are voluntary. Those that want to be assessed on their skills will do a competition, those who want the crown of “Miss Bellydance South Africa” will be the ones entering. It doesn’t mean that competition is bad. In fact, it can be exactly what an artist needs to push him/herself to that next level, to get out of a rut. That is exactly where I will be leaving this topic – for now!

As for PERFORMANCE OPPORTUNITIES in South Africa, Charlotte was right in saying that there are only a few restaurants that will accommodate a dancer properly. Mainly dancers are asked to dance at festivals, corporate events, birthday parties and themed parties. This isn’t to say that a dancer can’t find work elsewhere, it is just few and far between. Luckily, we’re not in this business for the money!

I guess that’s the end of my post. I had written another piece concerning “feminine ideas” in dance (a new age “spirituality” thing going on) but it was a bit mean, I cussed a bit and I thought perhaps it’s better left in my archives and I will post it later perhaps when I’m brave enough/calm enough to write about it diplomatically.

There were a few things in the written article on the Gilded Serpent site that I didn’t agree with, as well as in Charlottes video interview – such as sexuality in Tribal dance. Unfortunately if I were to tackle these topics right now I would probably end up attacking the person who said it and that’s not right. So until I can think of a blog post idea that doesn’t directly relate to the article, I will be writing it. I have been in a feisty mood lately and I want to share that loveliness with the rest of the world!

Where ever you are in the world or in South Africa, I’d love you to answer these questions/tackle these topics – leave a link to your blog in the comments or just leave a comment! Also, SA dancers, let me know if you disagree/agree with me and what your experiences are!!

A Belly Dancer Special!

As most of you know, besides being a dancer and teacher, I am also a photographer. That is infact my career.

A few weeks ago, Kash from Rhythm Nouveau Dance Company got hold of me and asked me to be a sponsor for Miss Belly Dance South Africa! The idea being that a Cape Town winner would win a photoshoot with me. A location shoot to the value of more than R1500!  So I came up with this bright idea to celebrate my sponsorship. I would do a bellydancer’s special! I am doing a 20% off ALL photoshoots (if you’re a bellydancer!).

 

I’ve done this so that the dancer’s who are coming down for the Oriental Dance Festival in October can also book shoots while they’re here.

 

If you’re wondering “Why should I ask you to take photos of me, when I have a hundred photographers in my area that can do it for me?” Here’s why!

I am a dancer. I understand how dancer’s move, I know what looks good, I know what poses to suggest – you don’t have to be uncomfortable with me, or worry about somebody looking at you strangely. I can GUARANTEE that I will get beautiful pictures of you! I am very good at what I do, and I have a passion for it.

 

Even if you’re not from SA (or the Western Cape), you can like my photography page here: Alexandra Graham Photography

 

I promise to have a proper post up soon! Hope everybody is well!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tribal Jewellery

Any tribal dancer who reads my blog will know how difficult it is to find something that looks authentic for a decent price. Too often, I find cheap looking tribal jewellery pieces that are chipping or have cheap faded plastic pieces. On the other hand, you often find the most exquisite pieces and they’ll cost you an arm and a leg – and honestly, who has that kind of money?

So… recently George, owner of GEKA Trading Tribal Jewellery, has been doing amazing specials with his Tribal (and even non-tribal) things! You’re looking at a collection of items with a value of over R800 for around R400! I’m going to post a few photos of the specials from the last week…

Miao Silver!

I was SO close to buying this... SUCH a great deal at R380! (Approx. 38 Euros)

George does ship internationally, as far as I know. The shop is located at 7 Rheede Street, Shop 3 in Rheede Mall in Gardens, Cape Town. So if you’re not from around here but are coming for the Oriental Festival – I suggest making GEKA one of your stops! If you have any questions, send George an email and ask! He’s super friendly and supports the local dancers like you won’t believe – seriously one of the nicest people I know!

If you don’t see something you like in the specials, you should check out GEKA’s Facebook page – I can guarantee you’ll find something there!

See? It's not just for the Tribally Inclined!

If you’re not a Tribal gal, but know of one that doesn’t read my blog, send her these links – I’m sure she’d appreciate it! Hell, even if you’re not into Tribal, there are some amazing silver pieces that are to DIE for that are perfect for somebody with more of a cabaret flare!

I hope that this post brightened your Monday, and inspired you to put some money towards some quality Tribal things!

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I want to live in this shop...