Legendary Lebanese Dancer Nadia Gamal All art is expressive; its purpose is to evoke an emotional response in the viewer, listener, reader . . . .
Belly dance is no different in these respects, but it has been my experience that the movements of middle eastern dance bring the dancer more in connection with herself and thus create a more personal connection between her, her students and her audience.
Raqs Shaqri is, in my opinion, one of the most expressive forms of dance with deep connections to the music. This is not to diminish the emotionality of other forms of dance, but my experience has shown me a vast array of emotional responses to music in Raqs Sharqi.
It has been said that belly dance is a dance that expresses joy, love, community, family, and culture. These categories are vast and encompass more than what appears at first on the surface. In order to experience joy, one must know sadness to actually celebrate joy; in love there is often heartache; families are wrought with care and devotion, strained communication and resentment, and unconditional love; and culture is deeply imprinted with celebration as well as sorrow and loss.
It is in belly dance that we see not only a celebration of life, but also the true expression of human emotion from sorrow and loss, to joy and ecstasy, to sadness and anger, and to love and hope. The musical nuances of both traditional arabic and other middle eastern rhythms as well as modern interpretations of this music allow dancers to access a full range of their emotional spectrum. At times this can be disconcerting and unsettling; so often our American culture is ingrained to experience a limited number of emotions and to express those few emotions individually.
Bellydance offers people opportunities to fully express their lives, thereby releasing sadness and sorrow through each undulation, each wave or flick of the wrist, each slow figure 8 . . . . It is in this community we can heal, we can feel, we can fully live our lives. It is through bellydance so many can find a rich connection to humanity and feel a sense of community, oneness, and belonging simply through moving and letting the music the movements that express your innermost emotions. It is no wonder so many styles of belly dance share the same movements, as members of the human race, we all share the same rich, deep emotions, which beg to be released in similar ways.
Belly dance is no different in these respects, but it has been my experience that the movements of middle eastern dance bring the dancer more in connection with herself and thus create a more personal connection between her, her students and her audience.
Raqs Shaqri is, in my opinion, one of the most expressive forms of dance with deep connections to the music. This is not to diminish the emotionality of other forms of dance, but my experience has shown me a vast array of emotional responses to music in Raqs Sharqi.
It has been said that belly dance is a dance that expresses joy, love, community, family, and culture. These categories are vast and encompass more than what appears at first on the surface. In order to experience joy, one must know sadness to actually celebrate joy; in love there is often heartache; families are wrought with care and devotion, strained communication and resentment, and unconditional love; and culture is deeply imprinted with celebration as well as sorrow and loss.
It is in belly dance that we see not only a celebration of life, but also the true expression of human emotion from sorrow and loss, to joy and ecstasy, to sadness and anger, and to love and hope. The musical nuances of both traditional arabic and other middle eastern rhythms as well as modern interpretations of this music allow dancers to access a full range of their emotional spectrum. At times this can be disconcerting and unsettling; so often our American culture is ingrained to experience a limited number of emotions and to express those few emotions individually.
Bellydance offers people opportunities to fully express their lives, thereby releasing sadness and sorrow through each undulation, each wave or flick of the wrist, each slow figure 8 . . . . It is in this community we can heal, we can feel, we can fully live our lives. It is through bellydance so many can find a rich connection to humanity and feel a sense of community, oneness, and belonging simply through moving and letting the music the movements that express your innermost emotions. It is no wonder so many styles of belly dance share the same movements, as members of the human race, we all share the same rich, deep emotions, which beg to be released in similar ways.
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