May 2006 Archives
Most folks know I have a bit of a passion for the SCA. The whys and wherefores aren't important, but suffice to say I'd likely not be a raqas[1] if it was not for my friends in the SCA supporting me through the years. And one of the new, but most energetic supporters has been AJ and Andrew of Your Inner Vagabond. They've stepped in at Pennsic and elsewhere and provided something amazing -- a place to go, hang out, and drink authentic teas and coffees. Morevoer, the feel of the place is so close to the sumptuous, rich sense we expect from something "exotic"; their Pennsic coffeehouse might be a simple design, but it has enough rugs and pillows from "over there" to choke a horse. Amazing work.
And, sadly, lost work, as a fire devastated not only Andrew's Mom's house, but also the storage unit for their gear. Years of collections and work, up in smoke:
This cannot abide, folks. There are too few friendly places at Pennsic these days, too few folks who open up their lives and passions like these guys do. If you want to know more about them, they have a blog which has turned into Diaster Reporting Central. Moreover, they offer a email subscription to their blog, so you can follow along without having to remember to visit!
And if you will help, please do so. Yes, they need many items, but are still in the process of determining what's needed. They are offering Gift Certificates for YIV for those who can help, as the cash flow will aid them greatly, no matter what direction they go in.
More Bully Pulpit in a day or so.
[1] Dancer, esp. "belly dancer"
In her blood
Originally uploaded by BohPhoto.
Stumbled over this excellent photo taken by a lady named Beth, and it struck me hard, as did the other two of the dancer, Ayat.
Especially in this other photo, with her so modest, quietly dancing at home, she's unlike so much of the raqs that we're used to "over here". Fully covered, with only a hip scarf and native talent...
...and it's the native talent that's amazing.
Let's face facts -- to a generally unacknowledged extent, what Ayat Shendy is doing here is raqs, is belly dance at it's heart. The glamor comes from within, from the same heart and soul that people show whenever we get on a dance floor and dance for ourselves. The core of great dancing, especially "social" dancing, is the joy of movement. The joy that Caliph Haroun al-Rashid showed when he danced is the same joy that Ayat displays in her dance, separated as they are by centuries, genders, and even lifestyles.
I submit that there's much work to do, to support the arts surrounding raqs. I submit that there are many forces -- the quest for money and fame above all else, the power of repressive regimes and religions, the ignorance of historical lessons -- that hold raqs back from the role it should play in both Western and "Eastern" societies. And I submit that there is a strong need to support the arts as they are now, to highlight the best of raqs shaquri and ensure it's survival into the next century.
Yet it's also important to recall that raqs shaquri was not the beginning. The social raqs, the raqs Ayat is performing, is closer to the role that this dance has performed in period than the high-technique glamor raqs that many dancers aspire to, both here and in the Middle East. It's not about writing down the "best technique", it's about sharing with family and friends. It's not about the coolest costume, it's about bringing yourself out "on the floor", and the joy of movement.
Survival as a performance art will mean we move and change to differ from that model of simplicity; raqs shaquri is one evolution, the Tribal sub-genre another. Yet it's critical to keep in mind from whence we came. Remember Ayat, dancing quietly and modestly, keeping us grounded -- and yes, keepin' it real!
(My thanks to Tomanbay for posting the image that first brought these to my attention.)
Even if you count in the scary guys with bellydance as a "Dance/Performance" option (WTF?), we still have a fuck-ton of dancers within the MySpace system, compared to other forms. And elsewhere; Belly Dancers pretty much took over Tribe.net.
This hints at an intriguing look at the number of people who feel "connected" to our dance form. We're not small. We're all over, and we're growing, but no one seems to know the numbers. We can get a good est. on almost any other dance form, save raqs, and no one seems to care.
But... if you think about it, think about what areas of your city have no dancers, and might be an opportunity for dancers to find new gigs, new students, new friends and comrades...well, it begins to make more and more sense.
