BE AN INFORMED DANCER: As dancers we are familiar with our fantasy of the lives of the famous belly dance stars of Egypt, but are you aware that there are two basic tiers of dancers? One level are the famous dancers we are most aware of... on the lower level there are the baladi dancers who dance strictly for the money. On my visit to Egypt in 2010 I had the opportunity to experience multiple levels of shaabi clubs, including a few really, really rough places that most Americans never experience. And I did see some of the lower tier dancers at work. Do NOT get judgmental about this. I think it is important that we have a realistic view of our dance and the circumstances surrounding it. We all really should know this stuff. The following list about the lives of lower tier dancers and statistics on women in general was recently compiled by Lee Ali for a discussion in a Facebook group (I lifted it to share :D Too handy.): --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Video of lower tier dancers performing at a wedding] https://youtube/watch?v=nWDgsb9PIQ4 DOCUMENTARIES Dancers cultureunplugged/documentary/watch-online/play/1579/Dancers At Night They Dance https://distrify/films/3710 ARTICLES irinnews.org/report/26179/egypt-illiteracy-still-rife-among-rural-women english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/21158/Egypt/Politics-ss/Poverty-and-illiteracy-on-the-rise-in-Egypt-new-st.aspx unicef.org/infobycountry/egypt_statistics.html
Posted on: Fri, 02 Jan 2015 03:00:53 +0000