What it means to be an Oriental Dancer.

I am often covered with senseless critics (usually against my person, not even my work) and much more wonderful comments that bring tears to my eyes.

It has been an incredible journey, one where I have found everything and learnt pretty much what it means Oriental Dance and BEING an ORIENTAL DANCER.

One of the most common and nicest comments I receive from dancers who study with me all over the world is an assumption that I teach them "much more than just dance".

Well, the thing is that there is no such thing as "just dance" for me.

Being or becoming (oh, yeah, it is a work in progress, no matter how much you think you know) an ORIENTAL DANCER is not about becoming a technique expert or knowing all the songs, styles and rythms by heart. That is a big part of the THING but it is NOT ENOUGH.

Becoming an ORIENTAL DANCER requires qualities such as:

*Humanity (very challenging to BECOME a HUMAN BEING as this is also a work in progress).

*Sensitivity to ourselves and others. A curiosity for the world inside and outside of ourselves as they feed and mirror each other.

*Knowing and loving your body and re-educating your brain in order to be able to ENJOY being in your own skin. This will add that SPICE to your DANCE that differentiates pale, tasteless, clone made "dancers" from a DANCER who stands out in the middle of the monotonous crowds.

* Knowing about the WORLDS. Arabic and egyptian worlds included, of course.

* Knowing about Religion, Politics, Societies both in the East and the West in order to understand why Oriental Dance is still practice, in most cases, as a low level form of entertainment and seen as an exotic streap tease taken from male´s sexual fantasies.

*Discovering what is means to BE a WOMAN, know yourself, your muscles, bones, blood, brain, heart, soul, feet and hands, emotions and self-imposed limitations. Knowing your instrument - YOURSELF with ALL that you are composed of - is ESSENTIAL to know how to use it while DANCING.

* Understand Human Nature in order to express it while DANCING. Remember Oriental Dance covers pretty much all the colours of the rainbow where emotions are concerned. To express all these colours, you must have lived through them and understood what they mean and their place in LIFE.

* Not being afraid of critics, judgement from others and their prejudices. Knowing the "enemies" of this dance and the stupid rules society tends to impose on women is half way to BREAK those rules and kick the ass of those enemies.

* Educating yourself as this will be reflected in the way you DANCE.

All of yourself must be fed (brain, body, heart and soul) in order to CREATE a rich DANCE that will, finally, change the commonly spread perspective that Oriental Dance is not an ART but a cheap entertainment of cute girls shaking their hips to seduce men.

Educated DANCERS make interesting choices when it comes to movement, expression, criative decisions, soul comunication. Who told you that is no need for a BRAIN in dance? Who told you there is no need for an OPEN HEART in dance? Who told you there is no need to be an INTERESTING PERSON in dance?

ORIENTAL DANCE ´s image in the world will not change unless ORIENTAL DANCERS change or, better said, KNOW what it takes to BECOME an ORIENTAL DANCER.

I am doing my path, with bumps in the road, imperfections, mistakes and lessons learnt.

Wish you all do the same.

P.S. I know it´s easier to wish for the easy way out of every puzzle but, as far as I´m concerned, if you want to bring back Oriental Dance as an ART form, you have to build YOURSELF as a work of ART.

With Love, from Egypt!

(Launching Oriental Dance SOUL´s REBIRTH)