Are you inspired?
One thing I’ve been thinking about over the past couple of years is the use of the word “inspired” in our dance vocabulary.
There has been a lot of discussion amongst dancers of USA-derived Fusion styles about the terminology we use and how it represents the MEHAHT source material. For a long while now I’ve chosen to avoid the use of Arabic, Egyptian and Turkish as the names to describe just one step. But I’m also concerned about whitewashing the dance and removing the cultural connections.
Some of the steps in the fusion vocabulary do have a more direct inspiration and therefore the word “inspired” could be used “cite your sources” and demonstrate the cultural roots.
One step this seems to work with quite well is the “Hagallah” - which I have been referring to as “Hagallah-inspired shimmy”. I believe it is widely used throughout Raqs Sharqi and different belly dance styles to refer to a ¾ shimmy on the down with a 1-&a, 2-&a timing. My understanding is it comes from a repeated step in a specific folkloric dance originating in Libya - for more info check out these articles:
And click here for a video of Mahmoud Reda’s company performing the dance he created inspired by the dance he saw (see Shira’s article.)
Another example is a flat-footed ¾ shimmy with a swing in the hips and upturned palms - originally known in FCBDStyle as the “Ghawazee shimmy” - more recently I’ve been referring to it as the “Ghawazee-inspired shimmy.” Check out this video for what I think is considered the source material for this step.
However, a recent terminology update from FCBD to “Mazin-inspired shimmy” has led me to think about this further and have a bit of a facepalm moment!. Not only was the previous name again using a large group of people to describe just one step, the name Ghawazee itself is not these days the preferred name, at least for Khyria Mazin, who prefers “Fannana Al Shibeya” meaning “folkloric artist”. Please watch this video where she explains in more detail herself.!
(Side note: Last week I did learn a forward and back ¾ shimmy, with opposing arms, albeit soft and flowy ones, in a class with Turkish dancer Sureya. It made me giggle to myself, given that there was no real understanding of why the “Turkish Shimmy” in FCBDStyle was originally named such and has since been renamed…. Though of course there’s plenty of different shimmies in Turkish dance and I think the name change is a positive one.)
A final example I’ve been playing around with is “Raqs Sharqi inspired” - as one way to describe my style of dance. The more I’ve been exploring the roots of the dance that’s in my body, the more I learn that so much of it is derived from Raqs Sharqi, and although I know that’s not the only MENAHT source incorporated in the USA fusion styles I have studied, it’s the style I’ve been mostly delving into personally. For now it fits, and allows me to demonstrate the source culture without claiming to be “the real thing” (although what does that even mean…? A conversation for another day!)
I’ve been wanting to write this post for quite a while and I’m glad the FCBD announcement spurred me to do it! I get nervous about putting these thoughts in writing publicly - I’m worried about getting something wrong, offending someone, or of showing my ignorance. I have to keep reminding myself that by putting my thoughts out there, with an open invitation for correction, allows the opportunity for my thought processes to be continually challenged and to learn further. I also think it’s so important for these discussions to keep circulating, to keep marinating and evolving and to not disappear and get swept under the carpet. I also think when a discussion goes big on social media it’s easy to assume that everyone has seen it and engaged with it - but with the vastness of these platforms and the fact not everyone is on them, that's just not the case!
So, please comment below - let me know your thoughts on this - how has your dance terminology evolved? Or not? I would love to hear and discuss different views on the subject and I welcome any corrections on any of the points I have made so I can learn and do better!