shanmonster | Do Clothes Make the Dancer?

From a conversation in the LiveJournal Bellydancing community:

What gets me, though, are people like one of my first students, who lives in a different city. She's a teacher now, and claims on all of her posters and business cards that she teaches/dances Egyptian belly dance. But she doesn't. What I see her doing bears little in common to the dances I see by native Egyptian dancers. She dances a patois of Turkish, raqs sharqi, Lebanese, and Rroma. It's fine that she dances this way, but misleading to say she's doing something she is not. And I know she is supplying misinformation to her students.

Recently, one of her students telephoned me to ask I was interested in purchasing dance costuming she had made. I asked her what sort of costuming she had, she said promptly, "Egyptian belly dance."

"Ahh," I answered. "So you have bedlah for sale?"

Silence.

"Bedlah are the heavily beaded bra and belt sets," I prompted.

"Oh, yes!" she answered. "I have some of those."

"What else do you have," I asked.

"You know. Belly dance clothes."

"I make some, myself," I replied.

"What sorts?" she asks, in a challenging sort of way.

"Well, let's see. I make folkloric, ghawazee, bedlah, as well as a fair share of tribal style clothing. I also do more experimental costuming."

"Oh," she said.

Although I wasn't personally interested in her costuming, I did give her contact information for a few dancers who may be. I hope that maybe this gives her an impetus to do a bit more research, and learn more about the various sorts of costuming (and dance!).