The bitchy factor* in Oriental Dance (as in Life).

Oh, oh! Here´s a tricky matter: what I call the "bitchy factor". Yeah: it seems a lot of people - not only dancers - presume that being a bitch and competing with others turns them into instant winners. I agree this may be true for most cases simply because we live in jungles where the best and the most talented are not always the ones who get the deserved recognition - but it SURELY does not work (at least in the long term) with ARTISTS.

I´ve been blessed to have learnt with some exquisite ARTISTS (always pinpoint Shokry Mohamed, Souhair Zaki and Mahmoud Reda as the MAIN influences of my Oriental Dance education) for whom the point was NEVER to be better than other dancers, to check other people´s grass, to envy and to presume they are the last coke in the desert. 

These artists and human beings showed me - through EXAMPLE, the only real way to TEACH - that ORIENTAL DANCE is, above all, LOVE, SOUL and VULNERABILITY: NOT trying hard to smash others and to be better than them.

It´s sad when I see great potential in some dancers who insist - for many reasons - to work on bitchy mode. The problem is that it SHOWS - and not in a good way. It´s the vanity, the ego, the fake sparkling face expressions, the physical postures that denote insecurity disguised in arrogance, the TRYING TOO HARD to be considered SOMEONE, the eagerness to show up as a Diva, the ambition without measure or ethics that gives them a SOUR, NEGATIVE and UGLY vibe- no matter how beautiful their fancy dresses are. Every movement becomes poisoned by that negative energy they carry and the point of the Dance - uniting yourself with your own soul and touching your audience´s souls - is lost in the process. 

It ruins the whole picture:  you can have all the technique, smart-ass tricks, know-how, experience, amazing make-up and the latest dance dress model and yet this will end up in less than ZERO if your purpose is to show off, to affirm yourself in competition with others and to move from your EGO - instead of moving from your SOUL.

It takes a lot of courage, maturity and character to be able to BE YOURSELF and always aspire to be better than YOURSELF - not others - on a daily basis. Yes: it´s hard, tiring, rocky and often maddening but it´s the only way I know for a real ARTISTIC GROWTH. 

Rewind the tapes- or going back to the basics:

*Oriental Dance is NOT a vanity exercise, although some teachers (specially male teachers who know how to use - in a very sneaky and dishonest way - all of women´s insecurities for their own benefits) insist on feeding  this illusion.

*Oriental Dance is NEVER about comparing yourself with others, trying to step on them or "having what they have" - it´s all about FINDING YOURSELF and being brave enough to use it and express it through your dance.

*Oriental Dance is never- EVER! - about hate, ambition without soul or a cheap affirmation of the ego. It is a Dance of LOVE, FREEDOM, HUMAN CONNECTION.