Bellydancing My Way: Tunisian Dancing And Others

In doing some research on Tunisian Dancing, I have found that there is a great debate going on between those who hold the Tunisian Dancing high in their culture and those who have created the adaptations for belly dancing. Quite interesting to read although too many hot heads are not realizing that belly dancing today has become an adaptation from what it was way back when. So it is kind of silly to be arguing about it now. It's one thing to talk about the history of it, but to sit there and say that these dances are not the true Tunisian Dance, well it is a given and a waste of breath really. Just my opinion on the matter. I hope those reading this understand that I realize that most of these dances are adaptations and have been fused together with modern ideas/dancing to some extent. But I thought it would be worth talking about the arguments going on right now about it since most dances these days have changed over a period of time to become something more or less than their original form. As long as it is fun to dance and you respect the original dance, I really don't see the problem.

But enough about my personal thoughts on this matter. Jen was kind enough to email some more examples of the Tunisian Dance. Examples are kind of hard to come by, but she found more than what I did. I will not be posting them though, unless it is requested by people.

Our first group meeting will be taking place this Tuesday to start discussing what we will be doing for our performance. We were told that the maximum time of our number is 9 minutes. What has been decided as of yesterday, is a 7:12 minute dance incorporating 2-3 dances. One dance being a routine Jen and T.C. have done with another person who is no longer with our company. I will be learning their spot until the person returns. Then there will be the Tunisian Dancing.

We are considering several options for clothing. The Tunisian Dance will require robes as seen in the video posted in the previous entry. No set idea/design yet on how those robes are going to look, but we are going with an idea that they will be easily removed for the last dance in our performance. This last dance will be the routine already learned by Jen and T.C. But over the next few classes, we will be choreographing the beginning and middle portion of the performance, then end strong with a dance that I loved watching when we performed at Vintage Days (a vintage fair held at a local university).

On a separate note, for anyone who is wanting to ask me to perform a dance for them, I would be more than happy to do so. It will be a while before I have my own choreographed list to choose from, but that doesn't mean I can't do a solo from one of the group choreographed pieces I have so far. I am also experimenting with some free style, or improve, dancing so I am not stressing if I am put on the spot lol. So I am placing the notice out there for anyone interested.

With that, I leave you with a few videos that I wish to share with everyone.