Ari Siletz

Lol...You're too funny!

You should be kidding, Ari-e aziz! Who are we kidding? Is there any Orhan Pamul fan club that I might have missed? 

BTW...Happy 2011! 

ماندا جان

این حقیر را شرمنده نمودید. افتخار ما بوده است که از حضور شخص شوخ و فهمیده ای مثل شما برای یک سال فیض ببریم. حالا امسال که کوفتت شد امیدوارم که سال جدید زخنبوتت نشود و سالی باشد برای شادی روزافزون شما و اری و دیگر دوستان.

دیوانه عزیز

از این فرصت استفاده می‌کنم و به شما اطلاع میدم که در سال کوفتی گذشته از حضورتون در اینجا خیلی‌ مستحفیض شدم. ممنون از تمام نوشتها ی شوخ و جدیت. 

با بهترین آرزوها،

ماندا

Hilarious!

That was so interesting

Man, you are too smart!

Best wishes for the New Year.....and more power to you.

Have a safe trip.

The good behavior of the people, warms our heart and make us thankful.....  And the bad ones, just make us to recognize and appreciate the good ones!

Happy New Year everyone!

3. For Redwine, Finish off a bottle of Bordeaux with him in Paris.

4. For Monda, no more Rashti jokes from me.

5. For Azadeh, never to put the words "men" and "women" in the same article, even in jest.

6. For Omid Hast, get him to do a cartoon with Ahmadinejad as a belly dancer.

7.For Humanbeing, trigger a dance rivalry between Tel Aviv and Ramallah.

8. For MM, throughout the year check how the belly coin flipping exercises are coming along.

9. For Divaneh, write an IC avatar art review and nominate his avatar for "best visual support of comment content."

10 For Azarin, join the Orhan Pamuk fan club.

11. For dirty angel, figure out what her avatar is suggesting.

12.For Fatollah Write a film review panning Makhkmalbaaf.

13. For statira, overthrow the IRI.

very interesting and enjoyable blog

- :)))

know nothing about the subject, but do remember seeing/hearing somewhere that belly dancing has it's roots and was associated with childbirth, otherwise, I enjoyed Sadie's belly dance a whole lot ...

...

آزاده جان با اصل صحبت‌های شما موافقم،باور بفرمایید که در برابر موضوعات هنری بسیار باز فکر می‌کنم و تقریبا هیچ وقت شکایتی ندارم و همیشه از نظرات دیگران استفاده کرده و می‌کنم.

بحث شرع و شر باشد برای وقت دیگر.

بسیار خوشحالم که شما را میبینم و افتخار صحبت دارم،همیشه سالم باشید :)

آری عزیز

دوست من، هر چیکه بگی‌ بازم من نمیتونم این آقای مشکین رو با هیچ جور عسلی قورت بدم!

نه خودشو نه اون فرفره بازیشو و نه اون موهای افشونشو......این هام همه
حرفه که این رفتار و اخلاق از خود راضیش، عکس العملیه به رفتار مردم، من
یکی‌ اصلا این شرّ و ور‌ها رو قبول ندارم. مردمی که پول میدن و می‌رن که
رقص یک نفر رو ببینن، مسلما به جزٔ علاقه و احترام چیزی برای اون هنرمند
ندارند و بجز اینهم چیزی نشون نخواهند داد. ایشون در جایی گفته: ایرانیها
رو فقط من شناختم، باید فقط پولشون رو گرفت و خودشون رو محل سگ‌ نگذاشت!

نه، اصلا اصرار نکن ، آری جان:)

بذار ما با همون عقاید قدیمی‌ خودمون خوش باشیم دیگه

این یکی‌ و نه لطفا :)

سال نوت مبارک، امیدوارم که سالی‌ پر از سلامتی و شادی و موفقیت باشه

The good behavior of the people, warms our heart and make us thankful.....  And the bad ones, just make us to recognize and appreciate the good ones!

Red Wine

Take it easy! Ari's blog title is ''Battle of Sexes: Belly dancing,'' which in my opinion is a wrong question. We already have enough battles; we don't need any more of them, even not the humorous ones. He is the only one who decided to compare men and women when it comes to Belly Dancing. Yet, I don't see any objection coming from you in your first comment when you address him specifically. None!

However, as soon as other people come up with accurate historical information that does not contain sexy stuff that you like so much, you get upset and talk about people comparing men and women and turning ''Shar'e'' into ''Sharrrr!!!''   This doesn't make sense.

Keep your mind open, aziz, and don't think that other people haven't travelled or studied as much as you've done!

Just a friendly advice!

Azadeh

ماندا جان

    با تشکر فراوان از شما و شراب قرمز گرامی برای این ویدیوهای دیدنی که قسمت ما هم شد ببینیم. شراب جان راست میگویند که این خانم را باید از جلو دید. البته ما از عقب هم ایشان را دیدیم و بدمان نیامد.

Moshkinghalam is excellent

Ari Jaan I also like Khordadian. He makes me laugh and I think he really enjoys his own dance and passes that feeling to the audience.

I have found Moshkinghalam one of the best and a very unique dancer. He combines the strength, great skills and excellent choreography to create beautiful performances.

Reading Azadeh'z comment I now think my mom may have been dancing the belly dance when she was pregnant with me, and that is why my brain has been twisted (Takan khordeh).

Another Wonderful belly dancer: Amelia Zidan

She is Amazing, Red Wine is right!

(skip to about :40)

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8OoqwFBZTM&feature=related 

Mamnoon!

الهی خداوند قسمت کند و خودم از جلو ببینم

One of Dear RedWine's recommendations, Dina Jamal, Gorgeous! Enjoy:

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K3tOXG7Gos 

خداوند قسمت کند و خودتان از جلو ببینید

افرادی هستند که گمنام و چندان شناخته شده نیستند در سطح بین المللی و میبایستی اینان را خودتان از نزدیک مشاهده بفرمایید اما ما از آملیا زیدان،دینا جمال (کشور عزیز لبنان) ، دیدم (دوست و برادر ترکیه)، عزیزه مفروقی، نور جمال ، دلیلیه سعدی (مصر القدیم و صحرا) در بین خانمها بسیار خوشمان میاید.

الهی خداوند قسمت کند و خودتان از جلو ببینید... مجذوب میشوید.

رد واین عزیز، فرمایش شما بسیار درست

بهترین رقاص رقص شکم به نظر شما کیست و از کدام کشور است؟ که من دستگاه جستجوگرم را راه بندازم. 

...

نمیدانم آخِر این چه اِصراریست که شما دوستان دارید تا مرد را با زنْ مقایسه کنید و یک صحبت ساده را از شرع به شّر تبدیل کنید،بنده مطمئنم این هدف جناب آقای آری خان (بزرگ مقام،اَبَر محقّق مُحترم) نبوده است.

اگر جریان یک نظر و یا نقطه نظر شخصی‌ است،قابل فهم است،غیر از این سخت میشود باور داشت بعضی‌ از مطالبی‌ که دوستان مکّرم در اینجا فرموده اند ! دلیلش هم واضح است،باید علم را به نحوی شناخت،تنها با یک دیدن و شنیدن نمیتوان آسمان و ریسمان بافت و بنای تخّلف عقیده دیگری را.. سر داد ! در این مطلب اصرار داریم چرا که اگر کسی‌ ساز بلد نباشد بزند،درس ساز و موسیقی‌ نخوانده باشد،تنها با یک نظر ساده باید قضیه را برگزار کند و دیگر هیچ !

یک جریانی از قلم افتاد..اضافه می‌کنم :

اکثر کاباره‌های بزرگ که در آن رقص‌های مورد بحث انجام میشود،زیر نظر کامل استادان مرد هست ! به خصوص ترکیه که صاحب مکتب آرابِسکْ هست و بسیار نظر بالا و قابل احترام در تمام مدارس رقص و تعلیم و تربیت آن !

چند ده سال بود که یک عده آمدند و در ایالات متحّده و اروپا مدرسه باز کردند،اینها از رده آن چیزی که ما میدانیم خارج هستند و اصلا قابل مقایسه نیستند.

توصیه می‌کنیم دوستان اگر سفر نمیکنند لآَقل از دستگاه جستجوگر استفاده کنند و مطلب بخوانند،ویدئو ببینند تا حّقِ اَمر بیشتر برایشان نمایان شود.

ارادتمند شما . .

شراب قرمز [عاشقِ ساز و آوازْ ​ رقصِ شرقی‌ و غربی،درس آن را خوانده و چند ساز زده و هنوز یک شاگرد از ۵ سالگی تا به حال :)  ]

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hips don't lie

Now Shakira has my admiration and respect any time of day:(this video is not so much about her skills - there are better clips attesting to that piece -  but I'm sending you this one since it's festive.) Happy 2011 Ari!

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUT5rEU6pqM 

factfinding mission

this was very interesting. 

i remember dancing my way through births, but because i had bach piano concerti as accompaniment (and like azarin prefers ilhan/orhan, perhaps i was inspired by thoughts of glenn gould as much as my mitochondric legacy). or so i thought. too bad i can't test it out again (giving birth once to sadie style and another time to ilham style etc etc).

 well, ari, perhaps you should include a comparison of palestinian and israeli belly dancers as part of your factfinding mission on your upcoming trip.

Ari, Joaquin doesn't cut it for me either

Again, he lacks that Haal factor, even if he doesn't call himself a belly dancer:

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ED8lRiRNalQ 

There's somewhat a turn off when a male dancer tries too hard to look sensual, don't we agree? I mean women can be sensual without even trying. And I'm not biased in this matter, just an objective observer :o)

My vote goes to Ilhan!

Dear Ari,

Maybe I like Ilhan better since his name rhymes with Orhan...but kidding aside, I think he needs a more complex set of technical dancing skill to accomplish such beautiful performance. I have seen a few women-belly dancers on stage way better than Sadie!

Of course, I prefer Moshkin Ghalam's dancing to any kind of belly dancing. I am no expert but I find Sharokh's work totally mesmerising!

Dirty Angel

Very good points! Teamwork  (camera, lighting, sound, choreographer, director, audience, etc.) all play critical parts.

Some replies

MM: Funny you mention flipping a coin. A not uncommon belly dancing trick or exercise is flipping coins with your belly muscles.

Redwine: as soon as time allows, I'm packing that khorjeen for a global art experience soujorn. Will definitely drop by for wine, chat, and live performances of your selection. You're right, "live" is where it's at.

Souri: Moshkinghalam isn't so bad once you get to know him. In conversations with him I get the impression he projects an arrogant front as a preemptive defense mechanism against our culture's disapproval of serious male dancing.  He's actually quite a sheitoon jokester (and extremely knowledgeable about the world dance scene). I hope to find an occasion to write about him.

Azadeh: one of the world's leading belly dance researchers agrees with you about the child birth ritual angle. Here's Jamilah (Sicilian) explaining her take on the dance.

All: Start  this flamenco video on 3:10 with the androgynous singer (Duquende) and watch how the male dancer (Joaquin Grilo) and the female dancer (Belen Maya) play out the male-female tension that Ilham Karabacak tries to express in one body (video directed by Carlos Saura).

Monda: does Joaquin Grilo work better for you visually than Ilham?

Ari Siletz

If one may. Forget gender, styles, training, music and all the rest of it for the moment. Watch the videos again, paying attention to how little Sadie uses the stage - can't be more than a metre radius. It's bloody boring to watch, especially as the camera doesn't do much either. (It could have focused somewhere to make the repetitive movements more interesting...) Play Ilhan's and notice your own eye movements following the camera, following him, using more of the stage. Basic audience "engagement".... 

Btw Moshkinghalam usually has excellent light technicians highlighting specific muscles and their movements. Makes a huge difference to any stage performance. I suspect that he very aware of that (didn't he have an exhibition at Seyhoun LA , entitled something about light? ) and again notice how he uses the entire stage and like Ilhan, vertical space too.

"Stuff happens and some, one way or another, get stuffed"

Azadeh Jan Thanks!

No wonder it really felt un-natural for me to consider the male dancer, a belly-dancer. Intuitively it felt awkward. Aside the fact that, his movements visually don't ease or soothe anything for me.

Wrong question, Ari! Resistance is futile, gentlemen :-)

Belly dance has primitive religious roots in the process of pregnancy and childbirth.

By its real nature, it is NOT a dance of seduction for the glare of a male audience, but a female communion with the Mother Goddess. Belly dance has been depicted 5,000 years ago in a tomb in Saqqara, Egypt, where it reveals its origins in the "the mystery of childbirth". Even earlier it seems in the Ice Age, 13,000 years ago, someone in Creswell Crags, England, drew a picture of women dancing around similarly.

 From the first dance communities of women to the present day,  variation of this female dance expression has traveled the world and has even led  some men to take it up. Nice try!

Belly dance is a celebration of the growing womb. It has a rhythm, akin to the instinctive rhythms of delivery. Belly dance movements are coordinated with breathing, which brings oxygen and energy to every part of the body. The rib cage rotation can stimulate lactation and release tension. The horizontal pelvic rolls tone the pelvic floor muscles, which are essential at childbirth. Strengthening the legs and whole body prepares the pregnant woman in the best way for childbirth in an upright position which reduces labour immensely and uses gravity in the best way.

It seems that Morocco witnessed an original childbirth ritual of belly dance, where the woman squatted above a specially prepared hole in the earth and had a painless easy birth supported by the women community.

Childbirth is strenuous, though not painless, for a woman who has learned to trust her body and has built the stamina to deliver. The vertical movements of the pelvis, which have become second nature in the dance, excite the pelvis, stimulate the uterus and usher the baby through the birthing cannal with ease and grace. The circular movements of the hips make a kind of massage to the baby through the waters while in uterus, and during childbirth help it to rotate in the right position in order to get out. No twisting from a birthing attendant is required; since the synchronicity of birthing mother and baby are perfect and natural, the movements come from the depths of the vegetative mind, which carries the memories of the thousands of millions of births the species on earth have given in a natural way with the undulation motions of the primitive brain.

Guided from this sure source of intuitive knowledge both mother and baby are in the prefect position at each stage of delivery, in each second, and the most beautiful, painless, natural and ecstatic birth results.  The Belly Dance is not only a wonderful preparation for birth, building stamina and agility,  it also gives the woman a chance to express herself emotionally, spiritually and physically. It is a celebration of womanhood, pregnancy and birth. A way to learn to love one’s body and the female power within, to learn to trust it, not to resent it and let it be. The belly dance is a celebration of female power of fertility.

In Middle-eastern countries, it is essentially a dance for women’s gatherings and community.  

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=njW7mPNGoBM

I watched 20 seconds of the top video,

... 53 seconds of the bottom video.

How about this one?

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDKtayQh5S4

Ari jon, about Shahrokh MG, he is so arrogant that I can't even stand watching him dancing. I mean it's a real turn off for me.

The good behavior of the people, warms our heart and make us thankful.....  And the bad ones, just make us to recognize and appreciate the good ones!

I flipped a coin and Sadie won!

.

...

آری جان .. آخر کار انگاری فایده ندارد که ما دائم بگوییم و دیگران این چنین کنند اصل قضیه را متوجه نشوند،آخر با دیدن فیلم و عکس که نمی‌شود پی‌ به ریزه کاریها برد... :) .

شما میبایستی به این طرف دنیا یک سری بزنید.زیادی در ایالات متحده مانده اید،مایه کار یک عدد خورجین است و یک پاسپورت ! ما چند تا آدرس در ممالک برادر ترکیه (کلهم استانبول و ازمیر)،مغرب (رباط و الغدیر و چند قبلیه از ریشه طوارق که مردمانی بزرگ هستند !)،المصر (این یکی‌ بسیار مفصل است و بستگی به آن دارد که شما چه بخواهید ببینید،اما خود قاهره،بافت و محلات قدیمی‌ آن توصیه میشود!)،لبنان (فقط بیروت شمالی‌ توصیه میشود !) به شما میدهیم و خودتان قضاوت کنید.

-تا میتوانید سعی‌ کنید که نگوئید آمریکائی هستید،حساسیت قضیه بیشتر شده است.

-خیلی‌ پول احتیاج ندارد،در این کشور ها،به خصوص شمال آفریقا ..آب آشامیدنی مساوی با طلا است،در این زمینه هوشیار باشید.

-زبان فرانسه کمک بزرگیست.

..و مسائل دیگر که اگر خواستید،ما به شما خبر میدهیم.

خوش باشید دوست عزیز.