It's Nothing More Than Shaking Your Butt

[shanmonster]

It isn't unusual for me to get a phone call which goes something like this:

Caller: Hi! I'm calling about the belly dance classes you're offering, and I have a few questions.

Me: Sure! What would you like to know?

Caller: How much do we learn in a class?

Me: Uh, well that really depends on the class, and how quickly they pick up on concepts. Everyone learns at different rates, and what might be easy for one person will be very difficult for another, and vice versa.

Caller: Will I be able to dance professionally after one set of classes?

Me: I find that highly unlikely. You'll have received about nine hours of training. I can't imagine someone becoming a professional hockey player or a doctor after just that much training. The same thing applies with dance.

Caller: Then how long does it take to become a professional dancer?

Me: Again, that depends on the individual, but it usually takes a few years. And most people never become professional dancers. They dance for their own enjoyment, instead.

Caller: (sounding unsatisfied) Ok. Thanks.

Generally, I don't hear from these people again. They don't show up at class, or, if they do, they only last for two or three classes. It would seem that when they realize they're not going to be a professional dancer in just six easy classes that they head for the hills, maybe to find an easier dance market to break into, like ballet or flamenco (heh!). Do you suppose people call up riding schools expecting to be a professional show jumper in six lessons? Scratch that. I'll bet it happens all the time. Ignorance certainly isn't limited to aspiring dancers.

A few years ago, while I was teaching dance at the university, I had my usual drop-off rate in class. I find that when I teach at the university, I have fewer longterm students. This is due to a few factors. One is that many students find it difficult to balance a heavy courseload along with a part-time job and dance classes. The dance classes are what usually suffer. The other reason is the aforementioned one: learning to dance actually requires work, and students want me to sprinkle magical instant-dancer dust over their heads.

The woman who hired me to teach at the university approached me, wondering about the dropout rate. I told her about those two major reasons, and she said she was going to phone some of the drop-outs to find out why they'd left. Sure enough, the reasons were what I thought. One of them had to deal with a sick kid, a couple had too heavy a courseload, and a few found the dance classes "too hard."

After hearing that last reason firsthand, my employer said, "Too hard? But it's nothing more than shaking your butt around!"

Er, no.

So I invited my employer to attend one of my classes, and she did. She decided that no, I wasn't teaching the class in an incompetent way. She somehow still thinks it's a whole lot of butt-shaking, even though the class she attended was technical and dealt with independant muscular control. Go figure.

The other common response I get, when people find out I teach "belly dance" is this: "I could take belly dance! (reaches down and grabs own pudgy stomach, bouncing it in their hands) I've certainly got the belly for it. Hah hah hah!" That joke was old the first time anyone ever said it. It also highlights one of the reasons I really dislike the term "belly dance." Trust me, there's a whole lot more to it than shaking ones guts around. Calling Oriental dance belly dance is akin to calling ballet tippytoes dancing.

Another time, I was leaving the dance studio as another dance group came in. I struck up a conversation with one of the dancers. She asked me what kind of dance I did, and I told her Middle Eastern dance.

She wrinkled her face. "You mean belly dance?"

"Yeah, that's the one. It's a lot of fun. You might like to try a class sometime."

"Oh, I already know how to shake my butt," she scoffed, and waggled her hips in a big, exaggerated movement.

"Er, there's a lot more to it than that. The whole body is incorporated."

"Really?" She looked doubtful.

"Yes, I said. And then I showed her a few non-butt movements, like snake arms, candle dance arms, undulations, rib circles, etcetera.

"Oh," she said, chastened.

There's plenty more ignorance, where that comes from. When I talk about male dancers, sometimes I get incredulous looks and gasps. Some women become indignant. "Don't they know this is a woman's dance? How dare they interlope on divine feminine mysteries? That's just sick." Or, they might say, "Men dancing? That's a new one! Hah hah hah! They must be gay or something."

Yes, some of them are gay. Some of the women who dance are gay, too, but that's beside the point. As for Oriental dance being the domain of the dickless, well, go to an Egyptian discotheque, and when the dumbek rhythms kick in, you'll see lots of men doing articulate fluid and staccato hip movements, just like the women do. It's just dancing! You don't need a vagina to do it.

And that brings me to one final point: the prurient aspect. Here's an excerpt from a recent email I received:

i really think your pages on bellydancing are really cool.......i use them, the pictures,.......and combine them with a song from my favorite group, U2, the song of course being 'Mysterious Ways', off their achtung baby album..........if you know anything about U2 you'd know how they've put a whole new 'twist' (pun intended) on bellydancing............from Morleigh Steinberg to the bellydancing images they have put on giant and smaller screens, U2 have made bellydancing more of modern thing and fun, combining it with rock n roll music, as Bono has said that "bellydancing is not tits and ass like playboy, it's not so skinny as european sexuality, but it's playful, mysterious, as rock n roll should be......" well what a mouthful, umm, lol, i was wondering if you know where i could get pictures of topless bellydancers, and even naked bellydancers, as well as VHS videos, DVDs, music, more...........and how to get in touch with real bellydancers that perform tdday...........?

I believe this fellow missed his own point. If it's not tits and ass, why does he specifically want to find naked dancers? Oy.

This education business is hard work.

Comments

[wiliqueen.livejournal.com]

"Oh, I already know how to shake my butt," she scoffed, and waggled her hips in a big, exaggerated movement.

A dancer? *facepalm* Oy.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I was surprised.

[rachelbutoh.livejournal.com]

Thanks for bringing light to the dance world. People think butoh is about painting yourself white, drooling and acting "retarded." So you can see how misconceptions flourish. It is difficult also when I find dance is a way of life and it is sacred, beyond the physical. I learned from teaching yoga that most people don't realize that their hips and pelvis ar not fused together. It can be enlightening.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

I remain fascinated by butoh, and still hope to study it at some point. I'm closer to that goal. I finally found someone who does it who lives relatively close--2 hours away.

Painting yourself white, drooling, and acting retarded, hmm? Well, maybe a bad dancer might do that, just like a bad ME dancer would just stand there and shake their butt a lot.

[rachelbutoh.livejournal.com]

Exactly, some people here where I live kinda did that. It was "bad butoh" So, I hope our audience will know a good thing when they see it, whether or not they understand it. Who is the dancer that lives 2 hours from you?

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

His name is Sebastien. I don't know his last name. He studies a lot of dance styles, and I think was one of the major dancers/instructors at Dance East in Moncton, NB. I've only met him once or twice, but I've heard really good things about him.

[balthcat.livejournal.com]

I saw something about Butoh on the CBC at one point. If I recall, it was rather hard to appreciate. Then again, I think it was also mostly segments of rehearsals I saw.

I don't suppose you know of any video files online that might demonstrate good butoh? I'm interested in being convinced!

[rachelbutoh.livejournal.com]

Tood video is hard to find. the best stuff I have seen on viedo is on a documentary called "dance of darkness" My teacher has some of his work on his site, it is OK, he is so much more passionate in person. www.diegopinon.com

If I run across any more I will let you know.

[rachelbutoh.livejournal.com]

Tood is not a word I don't even know what the hell I was thinking about when I wrote that. It made me laugh. Butoh footage is hard to find. That is what I am saying. Ha. I am sleepy...

[zydee.livejournal.com]

Very good points.

I've taken some classes in it, and respect those who are good at it very much. It's a very demanding discipline.

I also know some men who are absolutely wonderful at it.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

I love watching people who are good in any sort of movement discipline. There's something absolutely wonderful in seeing a person move like a master, whether it's in dance, sports, martial arts, acrobatics, or, I suppose, even porn!

[f00dave.livejournal.com]

"But I havent' slapped my ass yet!"

"GET IN THERE!!!!!!!"

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Yay! Orgazmo!

[cissa.livejournal.com]

Sigh. It crosses well beyond dance. I get people in the beginning jewelry classes who expect to be setting diamonds in gold (except they're mostly too cheap to want to pay for that...). They have completely unrealistic notions of what they can do, and generally fight learning the basics because these basics aren't what they envision. Depending on the student, I either bully them (nicely!) into doing the basics (which works well with some people- they even appreciate it in a bit), or let them wreck a lot of materials in their enjoyment of their own stubbornness. Sigh. It's a nuisance, and I sympathize.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

I think it's pretty common in most disciplines which don't already have a well-known tradition of prolonged study. For example, I don't hear of many people who think they can be a medical specialist or a university professor in just six lessons.

Most people don't have an inkling just how much work is involved in creating jewellery or working with sterling silver. I guess that's why they get upset when I say a handcrafted ring with a real set stone is going to set them back over a hundred bucks instead of the fifteen they might be willing to pay (which doesn't even cover the cost of materials, of course!).