Finally putting in on this one, in the laziest fashion imaginable: through someone elses words. I have read dozens of responses to this in the last 24 hours or so, but this was my favorite. Thoughtful, respectful, intelligent, spot-on. And the comments below her personal post contain more of the same. So if you want to know my opinion on this article, ask Mahsati Janan because she clearly has been reading my mind, and saying it a lot better than I ever could. In Mahsatis own words: Thoughts on an article So, I am sure that many of my dance friends have seen this article today: salon/2014/03/04/why_i_cant_stand_white_belly_dancers/ Rather than get involved in the many discussions going on about it, I wanted to put my thoughts here so that my friends, students, clients, and others will be able to read and understand my reactions to it. First, I get it. I understand that the author feels like white women (which I am choosing to read as non-Middle Eastern women) are appropriating a cultural art, and, in some cases, she would be correct. There are many misrepresentations and racist portrayals of cultural art forms in both current and historical depictions done by people who have not gone through the work to be culturally sensitive and educated. Where the author goes wrong, in my opinion, is in interpreting all belly dance as performed by white women as cultural appropriation. I look at the many women and scholars who have dedicated their lives to understanding the cultures and nuances of these dance forms and who have sacrificed in order to continue to pass on that extremely important cultural knowledge and understanding to others, and I dont see appropriation, but appreciation and love. These dancers know that we dont own belly dance. It isnt a new creation that stands free of culture. Its a collection of dance forms that have been and will continue to be loved by the home cultures of the dance for many generations. It is a dance that people love so much that they have taken it with them to the far corners of the world by teaching, performing, and sharing their art with every culture they have had contact with in history. Its a loved art. Its many loved arts. Dancers like Sahra C Kent, Pepper Alexandria, Cassandra Shore, Andrea Deagon, Artemis Mourat, Morocco, and many more work tirelessly to support the dances and the dancers both in the home cultures of the dance and to the rest of the world. I dont consider wearing the appropriate costumes for the dance as wearing some sort of cultural drag any more than I consider wearing the appropriate costumes for ballet, hip-hop, clogging, or any other dance form with a standardized uniform type of costume as cultural drag. I dont find having a stage name to be problematic - many actors, actresses, singers, and dancers around the world have stage names. I think that being mindful and respectful are the keys to being a participant in this dance in ways that are good for the dance as a whole. As dancers, we should be thinking about what we are communicating with our dance, we should be thinking about this dance as a reflection of cultural living arts and real people, but I dont think that those things mean that we have to stop dancing or be limited to only ever participating in the cultural arts developed by those of our own specific ethnicities. So, while I respect the authors opinions and her feelings are valid and meaningful to her experience, I dont agree that dedicating yourself to learn and share a cultural art form is racist or appropriative at its root. We should all be conscious of our own biases and cultural shorthand to avoid stereotyping, othering, or promoting orientalist fantasies, but I dont think that studying an artform with true respect and love is ever a bad thing. With that said, I cannot even express how thankful I am to my dance mentors, dance community, and the people who support and love these art forms. While there is no doubt that there are people who are dismissive, appropriative, racist, and otherwise cling to stereotyped and cliche orientalist fantasies of belly dance, I have found that those people are far outnumbered by those who deeply respect the people and traditions of those who originated and continue to transform these dances in their home cultures.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 23:10:17 +0000
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