It´s known: travelling is a School in itself.
No amount of books, university degrees or diplomas can cover the realm and depth of Lessons one can gather from travelling the world (specially when working in such a sensitive area as mine).
My last trip to Ukraine restored some of the hope I, sometimes, lose in the future of Oriental Dance and Dancers. The "Clone Making Factory" that I easily observe in dancers from all over the world made me gasp in fear, breathless with frustration. My heart stopped beating every time I saw a "professional" dancer copying her/his teacher, favorite dancer and so forth. It stopped even more painfully when I confirmed how many "teachers" consciously feed this "copy machine factory" that goes totally against the CORE of Egyptian Dance.
Sure it is commercially appealing for the majority to offer a quick fix and an express formula for Stardom ("dance like me and you will be a star like me; look like me and you will be a star like me; do your make-up like me and...behave and walk and live like me and...you know the rest...or not"). Building dancers who will carry the teacher´s banner and be portable marketing machines for him/her is still a frequente attitude but I don´t consider a Teacher´s job is to use students/dancers to promote him/her. I believe a Teacher - more so if we apply the word "Master" - creates INDIVIDUALS who can shine for themselves and leave their personal mark in this world. When I look at my students dance, I don´t want to see myself. Why would I? Nobody can do it "my way" the way I DO, first of all. Secondly, I am proud if I can prepare dancers to need me the least (yes: not the regular comercial approach but, hey, if I was here for the commerce I would own a supermarket) and to REMEMBER what their bodies already know. I am a bridge, not the final destination. I may give you the tools to EXPRESS yourself but the juice that comes out from you is YOURS and only YOURS.
Such joy to see students of mine spread around the world: all diferent from each other and from me; alive, brave, delighted to be who they are. NOW: THAT* is my job.
I know...almost every one dreams about Shangrila la la la - the land of easy and fast success. They imagine a glamourous life they presume they want for themselves without wanting to go through the Road to grow and reach a proper mountain with their own two feet.
It´s also about the ego trip for many dancers who claim to have "followers" who copy their every step, hair twist and facial expression. They actually feel "proud" to have an array of copies repeating their every single movement as if they were gods they should reproduce to the smallest detail. I work so that the dancers I teach become FREE, INDEPENDENT from me (as much as possible) and find their own way of doing things. These copy machine factory teachers do the opposite: they behave like Divas, create dependente and weak personality dancers who do not dare to even question them, teach them how to worship them and become "their followers" (Frankenstein comes to my mind immediately...outch!).
The question: why do you do what you do becomes - once more - urgent*.
It gives me the creeps when I listen or read the word "my followers" - it quite sounds like a fanatic fascist movement or worse.
No doubt I can see how this clone machine factory helps the marketing of certain names that know much about smart ass publicity/business and close to zero about ART, ARTISTS and the NOBLE WORK of TEACHING.
I get it - believe me I do. I´ve been swimming against this - and other - tides for a long time and lost a lot of work for keeping my stand and conviction:
Oriental Dance - or egyptian dance, as you prefer calling it - is all about BEING YOURSELF and finding your own personal, unique, soulful language INSIDE* the dance´s language. It is NEVER about being a clone of another person - no matter how much you admire your teacher or other dancers. I know the path towards YOURSELF - or what someone wisely called "becoming yourself" - can be harduous, full of doubts and uncertain and being a copy of an already tested formula seems ridiculously tempting, specially if you´re ambitious.
But let me tell you something: in the long run, copies will not pervail. Only authentic* dancers-individuals.
If you´re an ARTIST, you will have to walk the line, baby! YOUR PERSONAL LINE.
Yes, it is risky - jumping off a cliff with no end in sight - because YOUR FORMULA has never been tested. If you are your full self and expose it with no masks, you cannot be sure of how people will react to it (will they like you, understand you, appreciate the WAY you DO things, etc?). Guess what: that´s a risk every artist, from every area, has to assume. Talent is not enough, dears; discipline and serious work are not enough; perseverance and stamina are not enough: you need COURAGE and a thick skin to get into this business, to survive to its dark sides and fly above them.
If you don´t dare to be yourself and copy someone else´s way of Dancing-Living, then you presume you know how you will be appreciated because someone else - the person you copy - has already tested it and succeeded at it. Yet TIME is a m.... f....., thanks God.
Quality and truth - or the lack of them - always end up showing on the surface and only ORIGINALS will remain in the History of Oriental Dance.
BE YOURSELF: BE FAITHFUL to your heart, spirit, personality, taste, UNIQUE way of listening and re-acting to the music-life. TAKE the lip of faith: fail, if necessary. Open yourself to that great possibility of failure and know that, if you work hard and push your TALENT* towards the true voice of YOUR SOUL, you WILL succeed.
Ukraine restored some of my lost faith in this (mine:our) Path. Many of the dancers I had the honor to teach and judge were - indeed - UNIQUE and that made my heart sing. Hope that many more of these original artists-human beings are awaken and multiplied and that teachers understand that their craft is not about vanity and ego self-indulgence: it is ABOUT LOVE, GENEROSITY and educating human beings for the FREEDOM of being themselves, using their potential and being more loving and brave human beings/dancers.
It takes courage to release the birds from the cages (including your own bird from your own cage: remembre you teach what you need to learn). It does. Courage is an ARTIST´s middle name. And from such courage is Oriental Dance made of.
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