On da street kickin' asphalt in yo face.
A wise man once said, "The street finds it's own uses for things."
This video is a reflection of the street finding a use for Raqs Sharqi. And this post is a comment on the increasing debate about those uses.
It doesn't matter what people think. Just as with Latin Dance, with Caribbean Dance, Middle Eastern Dance will get cribbed by the kids, and co-opted into other forms, other styles, re-made, re-manufactured, and resold. Will it have soul? I don't know.
I do know that you, and everyone, has a decision to make. Will you fight? Or will you accept? Can we teach as they re-make? And if we can, which history of raqs will we teach?
This blog is more and more involved with that question, because I think it's crucial to the future of the form, and it's ignored in a flurry of emotions and opinions. When will we, as a dance community, come to gribs with these issues, and actually try to solve them for all of our members?
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Who gives a rat's ass what style it is? It's impressive. It's, well, dance.
[...] And UNMATA is my New Favorite Band. As cool as their YouTube stuff is, I’m flat-out blown away by the niceness and wisdom of Amy, their director, and Rashel in person. And their work is part and parcel with the concepts I expresses in On da street kickin' asphalt in yo face. [...]
Ok, I've watched probably half of that video, and while I enjoy raqs sharqi, this didn't strike me as being remotely related.
The choreography seemed to be timed to the expressions of the music, rather than the music being timed to the expressions of the dancer's dance. (that's the feeling I get watching raqs)
I have felt music move me in this fashion - certain movements born out by the ebb and flow of the musical stream. It's like a stream of consciousness...(I doubt I spelled that right) nice, but not what I'm after in terms of raqs. tribal, maybe :) certainly a fusion of styles.