Philosophy

Barefoot Muse Productions is dedicated to the woman who dances in my dreams, providing me images and inspiration to keep growing, sharing and creating. I love when I see glimpses of your face in my friends and my students. Dance on sister!

Right now this page is just a "stream-of-consiousness" brainstorming to get my thoughts on paper. Later I'll clean it up and be more coherent. It will allow you to get to know me a little better and see if we are a good fit for each other. Following is my theory and philosophy of the dance form with references to others when their words work better than my own.

Belly dance is "the dichotomy of control and abandon"(F. Fahmy). It is a dance of isolation and undulation using your body as an instrument to interpret the music. At it's heart it is a solo improvisational dance. Belly dance is a modern, celebratory folk dance. A supple, serpentine dance of strength, balance and flexibility whose infinity symbols and spirals, individual movements and rhythms evoke echoes of the past...a dance of seduction (though Morocco reminds us that there are much easier ways to seduce a man!), a dance of freedom, a dance to amuse and entertain your girl friends, a dance to show off your musicianship, a court dance, a dance to attract a mate, a dance of fitness, a dance of boredom, a young girl's dance of potential and budding womanhood, a dance of the sheer BUSY-ness of motherhood, the dance of wisdom. A dance of slaves and matriarchs, Gods and Goddesses, a dance of healing, a sacred dance, a dance of humor, a dance of community (Saqra calls it the Egyptian Hokey Pokey), a dance of education and procreation, a dance for money for sheer survival of yourself and your family, a secular social dance, an ecstatic dance, a dance to commune with spirits from beyond, a dance of excorcism, a dance of childbirth, a blessing dance, a way to find yourself, a way to lose yourself, a way to communicate without words, a disciplined training regimen, a link to the past, and simply "a trade like any other" (van Nieuwkerk). Our dance is claimed to be derivative of movement forms of hundreds of distinct cultures in 22 different countries (today) over hundreds and perhaps thousands of years.

Wow, that's a lot of pressure to put on shaking your bum. In it's simplest incantation, it's fun, it's social, it's low impact great exercise and it looks beautiful on a woman's body.

American Belly Dance as we know it today doing snake arms in the beaded bedlah (costume bra and belt) with the belly showing wasn't born until around 1926 in Badia Masabni's Casino Opera in Cairo. The tree (thanks Kajira) of American Belly Dance has roots that can be traced to the sources listed above and more and branches ascending into even more diverse directions including the Tribal revolution of the last 20 years and it's offshoot, the Urban Tribal revolution of the last 10. A lifetime of study would not be enough for a dance ethnologist to fully study and comprehend this art form.

It is athletic, artistic and rooted in the ancient.
It is supple, serpentine, sexy
It has been misinterpreted, misrepresented and misunderstood
It is both romanticized and reviled.

Melissa's Top Ten (um...Eleven)

1. Respect yourself. Always dance from a position of dignity and strength.

2. Respect your dance community. We are all on the same path. The community is small and easily fractured. Honor the experience of your teachers and give credit when appropriate. Don't undercut and remember that every public performance represents the dance community and how outsiders view our art form. Be nice. These are the women who will pick you and dust you off when you are down, kick your bum when you need it, inspire you to improve with their successes and celebrate your milestones on your journey when your family and other friends' eyes glaze over when you mention the word belly dance.

3. Channel Kali. The flip side of creation is destruction. Pay attention to when your Kali energy needs to be rechanneled into a more postive light.

4. Be Switzerland. The dance community has an enormous amount of Kali energy and we love and fight like sisters. Stay out of it if you can. It nearly always blows over.

5. Keep the door open behind you. Great talent can blossom quickly. That new dancer you mentor or support today could be your teacher tomorrow. I know because it has happened to me more than once.

6. Belly Dance is both an art and a craft that can be approached as an artist or an anthropologist. An educated dance artist will learn and respect the craft before pursuing her art. Be patient. On average it takes about 2 years of study to develop into an intermediate level middle eastern dancer and develop (or replace) the tools in your existing dance toolbox with those authentic to the belly dance vernacular. With that said, it's minutes put in on a day to day basis, not years put in that make you a dancer and performer.

7. Simultaneously work on both technique and performance skills. Learn to turn up the volume on your aura (heart, soul, chi). First to encompass your fellow dancers, later an audience member or two and even later the entire audience. A dancer who shows a bit of her soul through her eyes can trump a dancer with perfect technique. When you have both, you are unstoppable.

8. Don't be surprised if your dance persona, when it bubbles up, is very different from who you are. Don't worry about it.

9. The first public performance is like the first pancake. You generally throw it away. Don't worry about it. Get it over with. Don't have great expectations and you can only surprise yourself. The rest will be better, more fun, less stressful. Early performances are best performed for families and friends, at hafla's and low stress, supportive student showcases.

10. You never need to perform publicly if you don't want to. 98% of the fun of this art form takes place offstage anyway (thanks Mira!). Your dance path is yours alone. Seek as many teachers as you can and take from them what will make your own dance stronger. Don't endeavor to be a copy of another dancer (even a great copy is still just a copy). Be authentic. Dance with your own voice. Make it your own. Only you can make you a great dancer. Inspire us. (oh...and see suggestion 6.)

11. You won't die from stage fright and it can be overcome. I'm living proof.