NOTHING SACRED: Sex and the single dancer.

[First Written 2/4/2002 -- Commentary at the end.] So what is it about sex that makes some people want to drown our dance in it? Oh, make no doubt -- I have no problem with dancers being sensual, sexy, or whatever, so long as they are "real". I'll even go so far as to say it's a false dichotomy between sensuous and sexy, that the subtle elements that some people tend to attribute to "sensuous" can equally apply to "sexy" as well. But some people go even father than that. Some folks have seemingly taken, deep into their heart, the concept that this dance is inherently sexual. They see the hipwork, and the bras and flimsy skirts, add 2 + 2 and come up with -3. "We're sexy!", they shout from the rooftops! "We're all about sex, and you old-fogies who deny it, you're just fools!" Well. Kids today. Of course we're sexy. Anybody dancing can be seen as sexy. But, then, so can a girl or guy with a tight butt in jeans walking down the street. The question is, is there something about raqs that makes it sexy aside form the viewer's viewpoint? If you boil it down to its essence, is there still a strong sexual element? Well, no. And the best example is the fact that, in the Middle East, everyone in a family dances raqs, if that family dances. Young and old, men and women. Sometimes separate, sometimes together. Now, you can argue for ignorance on the part of all these families as to it's so-called "true nature", and you won't get very far. Rather, see that it's a family thing -- that joy, not sex, is being expressed here. See the context of the original raqs, the wedding parties and the like, and you'll see where the fundamental nature lies. Our core isn't just in the nightclubs, where the dance was polished and presented to Westerners, technique layered upon technique, and sequined up to pull in the male tourist trade. No, it's with the people of the Middle East, the people who still get up and "kick it" raqs-style to this day. In their homes, in the lives, this dance reflects just a little bit of all they go through, and their hopes for the future. Rather than trap our concept of raqs into one little emotional box, we must spread of presentation to encompass all the emotions. This dance we love deserves that much, at least.

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This was the beginning. Something that, in retrospect, wasn't at all cutting-edge. In fact, you can kind of feel the banality pouring off of it. My point is solid, however; we raks dancers are blessed with a wide variety of material, ideas, and concepts to steal from. It's a shame that we keep forgetting that we can take it to the clubs, and show out, and have fun with it. That every dance floor can be a hofla floor, if we so wish it. In that act, we see one way to break into the mainstream. Oh, and the title is not a play on a certain HBO series. Rather, a play on my own marital status, as it informs my viewpoint on these matters. Being the token male belly dancer menas I have a million stories...