#raqs sharqi

[adaradin]

Snippet of my level one choreography. 8.26.23

#bellydancejoy #bellydance #belly dance #raqs sharqi #middle eastern dance #dancer #dance

[saraia]

I AM YOU

(Refaat Alareer, 1979-2023)

Two steps: one, two. Look in the mirror: The horror, the horror! The butt of your M-16 on my cheekbone The yellow patch it left The bullet-shaped scar expanding Like a swastika, Snaking across my face, The heartache flowing Out of my eyes dripping Out of my nostrils piercing My ears flooding The place. Like it did to you 70 years ago Or so.

I am just you. I am your past haunting Your present and your future. I strive like you did. I fight like you did. I resist like you resisted And for a moment, I’d take your tenacity As a model, Were you not holding The barrel of the gun Between my bleeding Eyes.

One. Two. The very same gun The very same bullet That had killed your Mom And killed your Dad Is being used, Against me, By you. Mark this bullet and mark in your gun. If you sniff it, it has your and my blood. It has my present and your past. It has my present. It has your future. That’s why we are twins, Same life track Same weapon Same suffering Same facial expressions drawn On the face of the killer, Same everything Except that in your case The victim has evolved, backward, Into a victimizer. I tell you. I am you. Except that I am not the you of now.

I do not hate you. I want to help you stop hating And killing me. I tell you: The noise of your machine gun Renders you deaf The smell of the powder Beats that of my blood. The sparks disfigure My facial expressions. Would you stop shooting? For a moment? Would you?

All you have to do Is close your eyes (Seeing these days Blinds our hearts.) Close your eyes, tightly So that you can see In your mind’s eye. Then look into the mirror. One. Two. I am you. I am your past. And killing me, You kill you.

#poetry #poem #refaat alareer #palestinian poetry #peace #compassion #stop war #stop bombing gaza #dancer #bellydancer #belly dance #bellydance #raqs sharqi #dance #i am you #empathy #stand up for human rights

[greenstonebellydance]

How to learn choreography quickly

I recently learned a pretty tricky drum solo by another dancer in 5 hours, over 3 days. When I was cast in Jillina's stage production of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, I learned 7 choreographies in about 6 weeks. Here are my main tips to learn quickly!

I recently learned a pretty tricky drum solo by another dancer in 5 hours, over 3 days. When I was cast in Jillina’s stage production of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, I learned 7 choreographies in about 6 weeks. So here are some of my main tips to learn choreography quickly! 1. I watch well Mirror neurons are a type of brain cell that fires both when we perform a specific action (like an…

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#belly dance #buikdans #danse orientale #Greenstone Belly Dance #Greenstone Dance Arts #how to learn choreography quickly #learning choreography #oriental dance #raqs sharqi #Siobhan Camille

[dismantlethekyriarchy]

#stop fetishization #arab girls #raqs sharqi #Instagram

[2kawaii4u-bishes]

INKTOBER 2023 | day 12 : core

Fell behind posting my inktober because I was belly dancing all weekend working my core

It was an amazing weekend of learning our choreography and visiting and bonding as a group!

Shout out Yasmina Ramsey for making two incredible choreographies with us :3

I actually used this art as the playlist picture on Spotify for all our songs were dancing to.

But keep an eye out the rest of my art!

I made my own prompt list!

#Inktober #Inktober 2023 #Drawtober #Drawtober 2023 #Belly dance #Raqs sharqi

[palipunk]

“The reason why people draw Dorian as a bellydancer is because he’s from a hot climate-” I’m begging you to drop the ‘hot climate = less clothes’ thinking

#raqs sharqi originated in Egypt and I can tell you as someone with fam there #they do not wear bellydancer outfits #and that has never been the traditional clothing there #i cannot believe I am hearing this #everyday I question why I remain in this fandom lmao #dragon age fandom critical #orientalism #there are cultures from warm climates who wear less clothing #but in the lense of bellydance outfits it’s particularly racist #and has a history of colonialism behind it

[feluka]

might fuck around and start making a gif series of my favourite raqs sharqi scenes but if i hear the word 'exotic' i will blow up all of tumblr forever

#i loooove raqs sharqi and i want to share my favourite scenes with my beautiful intelligent mutuals of excellent taste in art #but then there's everyone else

[toxix-st6]

Lowkey want to make a au where Ballister travels around the world as a hit man/ practicee of raqs sharqi, not sure where ambrosius is in this, suggestions? Comments? Concerns???

I’m weird for that.

(If I said anything wrong correct me!)

#ballister blackheart #ballister boldheart #nimona #ambrosius goldenloin #nimona au #nimona fandom #gay #is this weird? #yea but it’s ok

[eatmangoesnekkid]

Belly Dance Week 45 I honestly have lost track of "time" which doesn't surprise me as I'm not sure if I'm on week 45 or 48, and that's perfect. It means that I have been in my body and not in my head with calculations and configurations. My specific style of Egyptian Belly Dance has a cultural name that I find important to say, "Raqs Sharqi," because in North Africa, where belly dance originates, there is no word that specifically translates as "belly dance." As usual, the western world waters down truth in order for it to be more consumable to bland pallets that are too lazy to learn how to say words that involve the most unused neglected part of the body of native English speakers, the back of the throat where click sounds and other mother tongues stimulate energy to flow up and out. Heaven on earth. Light. No wonder people who speak native languages tend to be smarter. More energy gets to flow from the back of their throats and up into their brains, you see. That's one of many reasons I want to learn a cultural language: Igbo, Afrikaans, Xhosa, or Zulu. I want to learn how to use my whole back throat area for advanced energy and to communicate with indigenous people. What a gift. Kind of a segue, but also health-relevant: Deep throat work is not gross or nasty and we have to get used to threading intelligence about female body health into anything we are talking about and not po*rn-ify anything sensual or sexual. Because female health creates female vitality. Our female vitality not only makes us more aware, intuitive, and magical, it raises the vitality of our lovers, children, and community, all genders because generally, the mother is the first teacher to all. Deep throat connection is not only healing to the brain but also to the vaginal canal and cervix. Oral sex done with a grateful heart, whether sucking your lover's fingers or genitals, favorably changes the quality of your entire female body. In our most recent belly dance class, our soft aim was to bring sensitivity into our movements. "The divine is in the details," my teacher beautifully said, so we worked on recycling our energy from our feet (earth) to our shoulders and arms (tree branches). When you recycle your energy, you don't need to take/steal/manipulate in order to receive anything. You are capable of being filled up and energized off your own natural supply which makes you more magnetic to anything you desire. We also did sensuous movements that reminded me of one of my favorite cultural dances from Ethiopia, Eskista, that emphasizes intense neck and shoulder movement--I was so buttery while doing this because of my love for Eskista is tactile and deep. With all the ass and hip shimmies, breast shimmies, figure 8s, hip drops, and neck and throat opening and that intelligence invoked therein, I left class glowy, and that glow I inhaled even deeper as I biked home, allowing it to add value to my cells, tissues, and organs, and in how I love. More water in a world that is burning is also how we fight back and forward interests of our community and those we love. --India Ame'ye, Author

[tellmewherethelightis]

I made a fan design for a Freak Du Chic Cleo! See under the read more for more about her design!

I'm an aspiring designer, and I've always loved Monster High, so I love making my own designs for the characters. I've finally worked up the courage to post some of my art, and first up is my FDC Cleo, based on belly dancing and snake charming.

For her design I went with snake and lotus patterns everywhere, her mesh bodysuit is meant to evoke snake scales while also being a triangular version of FDC’s checkerboard patterns, and she has a peacock feather in her turban bc they were associated with Amon-Ra and the eye of Horus, and lotus were a common motif in ancient Egypt and not something Cleo often has in her designs. Her outfits is based off of bedlah, an outfit often worn by raqs sharqi performers, more commonly known in the west as belly dancers, but modified to be more age appropriate for a character that’s in high school (despite her being thousands of years old, but I wasn't very comfortable with putting her in a super revealing outfit tbh), and also being true to modern Egyptian dancers, since it is illegal for women to publicly bare their midriffs, so the mesh bodysuit underneath was a good fit for her. It was tricky to strike the balance between what people think belly dancers wear and more traditional styles of outfit, but I hope I managed well enough (my mother belly danced frequently in my youth, and her costumes, albeit not Egyptian but Turkish in origin, actually covered her from head to toe. The peacock feather was actually inspired by some of her outfits!). Her sheer harem pants have two different designs going on, the jagged stripes found on many FDC dolls, and a starry diamond pattern that was partially inspired by diamondback rattlesnakes. She has some snake designs on her shoes and hidden in her clothing, and the dangly jewelry and coins all over are both inspired by real life costumes and Cleo’s own triangle and gem designs.

I hope people like her, I'm not the best artist, but I tried to replicate the Monster High style as faithfully as possible, since it's so different from my usual style. Please let me know what you think! <3

PLEASE Tumblr don't compress these images too much I'm BEGGING you

#monster high #cleo de nile #freak du chic #my art

[2af-afterdark]

DACATT

"Hey there! Did you come to see me dance? That makes me so happy! ...Huh? Y-you didn't..."

Profile

Height: 169cm/5'6"

Birthday: April 11th

Age: 18 years old

Horoscope: Aries

Information

This performer of the arena is highly popular. He grew up in a happy family. When he was young, he used to feel insecure about his smaller stature. Now, he bursts forth with astonishing charm during his performances.

Theme Song

Raqs Sharqi

"Hello, care for a dance? It's gonna cost you though!" Amidst the crisp sound of dazzling gemstones clinking, the young man began his graceful dance at the center of the cheers.

Singer：大神勇太郎 Lyrics：梅野繭 Music：黒巨塔 Artist ：小鹿

#noctilucent: before dawn #noctilucent dacatt

[saraia]

Photo by Catrin Langeland

#bellydance #dancer #raqs sharqi #dance #bellydancing #egyptian #bellydancer #oriental dance #photography #forest #nature #norway

[greenstonebellydance]

What's the difference between Egyptian Raqs Sharqi and American Cabaret Style Belly Dance?

What's the difference between American Cabaret and Egyptian Raqs Sharqi? Defining belly dance styles is tricky! Much like music styles, lines blur and definitions change over time. 

Defining belly dance styles is always tricky!  Much like music styles, lines blur and definitions change over time. Do you know Def Leppard used to be considered a heavy metal band? Today they’re probably more considered to be in the rock category, with heavy metal bands sounding much heavier. Much like the Ramones were once considered super punk, but now there are much louder, noisier sounding…

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#American Cabaret #belly dance #dance styles #raqs sharqi #What&039;s the difference between American Cabaret and Raqs Sharqi?

[arlechinav-blog]

As a dance ethnologist, can you say anything about the history of belly dance/rRaks Sharqi? I've been trying to do some research, but the sources I've found mostly talk about recent history, so I was wondering if you can point me to any sources that go back further than the last century or so.

This is a very spicy topic. Raqs Sharqi is a modern invention having only been around for about the last hundred years or so. Though reasonable arguments can be made that a budding form of proto Raqs Sharqi has been around since about the 1830s. It is based on a lot of things, some of those things are traditional & indigenous and some of those things are bloody & colonialist. There is a lot of entrenched racism involved and because this is a style of dance that exists out there right now, that drama is still playing out so there are some very heated opinions on it.

For anyone reading who may not know, Raqs Sharqi is the Egyptian word for what is sometimes called Oriental or Oryantal Dance or Bellydance. If you were to go back about 200 years ago in Egypt, the dances closest to Raqs Sharqi would have been done by a non-binary entertainer class known as khawal. English resources still often refer to them as "dancing boys" but this is misgendering them--which colonialism has a really long history of doing. Dr. Anthony Shay has written quite a bit about the non-binary entertainer class of that region and beyond. I recommend checking out the anthology, "When Men Dance: Choreographing Masculinities Across Borders," for a deeper history on that.

The khawal were the Egyptian equivalent of the more famous Ottoman (and then Turkish) köçekler--which I wrote about in a post titled, "The Aegean Gender Tour." That post also goes into why dances traditionally done by non-binary performers prior to the 19th century were suddenly handed off to AFAB persons but it bypassed some of the uglier history. (There is a lot of rape and murder involved in the history of this dance form, let alone a history that closely mirrors minstrelsy.)

If you want to study indigenous dances of Egypt, check out the work of fellow dance ethnologist Sahra Saeeda. Or the work of Carolina Varga Dinicu.

Hope that helps.

[palipunk]

Okay, so I have spoken about misconceptions and issues with the exotification of belly dancing before on this account but another issue that is conjoined with this is the nonsensical and fetishistic gaze that jewelry from Asia and Africa are often presented with. As someone whose special interest is traditional jewelry, I see this often. 

The problems with the amount of Belly dancer-esque art on this website and beyond is not only about how Belly dancing has been sexualized and far removed from its origins and meaning but because traditional clothing and jewelry also become subject to fetishization within this art and performance - this has been happening for hundreds of years - and it’s an echo of colonialism and racism.

What are some examples of this? 

Probably the easiest way to find examples is just by looking up “tribal belly dance jewelry” - this will show you results of hundreds of different types of jewelry from all over (though most commonly Romani, Yemeni, Afghan, Turkmen, Palestinian, Indian, Kabyle, and Kel Tamasheq jewelry) all being sold under the label of “belly dance garb” to primarily white buyers regardless of how different the cultures or practices are - Orientalism homogenizes cultures and sells an exotic fantasy.

Below is a listing for a “Belly dance headdress” but it is actually a Palestinian heirloom, it is not worn for belly dancing or appearing sensual to an audience, it’s a ceremonial headdress for weddings with talismanic properties. 

Most of what people draw or take inspiration from for belly dancer-esque art and performances is an amalgamation of different cultures with little to no understanding of what the jewelry is for, what contexts it exists in, and where it is from.

In the realm of West Asian jewelry, a lot of pieces are not only a display of wealth but often have magical/talismanic/religious prosperities. This is another reason why adding these pieces on a drawing which is intended to appear “sensual” is deeply inappropriate. I’ve seen some artists include a hirz necklace (a style of jewelry used throughout West Asia) which are purely religious and contain verses from the Holy Quran within them - so no, not appropriate (none are appropriate but this one especially so). Everything has meaning.

Example: 

Traditional jewelry from cultures that are not yours is not free range to sexualize and apply to exotic fantasies, this kind of perception has real consequences. It isn’t just an “I drew it in art and it can’t hurt anyone”, it’s a connected issue. As a Palestinian, I often see Palestinian artifacts (which are mostly stolen and their original owners will never see their belongings again) being added to a belly dancer’s collection for their “tribal dance” act because of the orientalist association with sensuality.  

For anyone who wants more context about Belly dancing (raqs baladi/sharqi) to better understand this post - this article explains a lot and part of the history involved - belly dancing, to many of us, was an expression of joy and never meant to be sexualized. Again, the sexualization of the dance has consequences for us. 

I’m not going to call out any particular artist or person here since the point of this post is just to explain and talk about why these portrayals are bad and harmful. Please don’t tag anyone but share the information along to them, cultures are not playgrounds. 

#this is a very foundational understanding of the issue but i didnt want to write an essay #I know this is from a mainly Palestinian perspective but others are welcome to include or add on #asia #africa #cw Fetishization #orientalism #orientalism discussion #long post

[feluka]

why is it when white people do raqs sharqi they try so hard to make it slow and sensual. it's CELEBRATORY sure it's also sexy but that's just a byproduct what's important is the high energy! the whimsy! the joy! the spirit! focus on that and the sexiness will follow effortlessly. grandpa joe from charlie and the chocolate factory would do a much better job than you. he gets it