Sounds like your wife is a great dancer; I wish I could see her sometime. I hope she also appreciates how lucky she is to have a husband who appreciates the artform. :) My boyfriend seems to like my dancing, but I’d fall off my chair if I read a post from him like this one of yours. He *was* very impressed with Rachel when I dragged him to D.C. to see her dance in person, and said so, which was a happy surprise.

Send Amy down sometime and we’ll throw a hafla. ;) Have you ever thought about drumming?

You’re right about Rachel Brice. She’s jaw-droppingly good, and she’s one of those rare people in history who has actually pushed an existing art into new territory. My wife has learned a lot from her arm movements, and Amy’s “natural” style is probably closer to Rachel than Ansuya.

Rachel also is, from everything I’ve heard, a totally down-to-earth personality.

Personally, Rachel Brice is my favorite of the Superstars. If you get a chance to see her, take it. She’s got a very different style from Ansuya, but she’s no less powerful a dancer, and she has the same ability to absorb the music and radiate it into the room and the audience.

And I’d just like to correct the idea that bellydancing isn’t for men. In some of the Middle Eastern cultures, you’ll see men dancing just as much as the women. Here in this country, it’s hard to find many male dancers, but there are some, and many of them are *amazing*. I’ve heard great things about Jim Boz, and Tarik is a very well-known male dancer and teacher. I recommend reading his essay on the subject here. This is also a good collection of information.

If you want more information or have questions, feel free to ask. As my S.O. says, I’m obsessed with this stuff, and there are a lot of good online resources for information out there. Thanks again for posting this. :)

The Bellydance Superstars – a tour of the best dancers in the country (which Ansuya had been a part of up until very recently) – will be in Kansas City, KS and St. Louis, MO in March 2006.

Even though Ansuya likely won’t be there (she’s taking a very well-deserved break), you will still see some of the best bellydancing to be had in this country. I envy anyone who has the opportunity to catch their show!

To that point, belly-dancing is certainly a female domain. And from those I’ve heard who have tired it, the physical exertion is intense and painful at first. The art flexes muscles that most women have never even knew existed. Also, personally, although men do partake in this art, it certainly seems like a low center of gravity is much more conducive to high art.

One thing’s for sure, if Ansuya ever comes to KCMO I’m definitely going.

Well, I was thinking more of doing what Gretzky did than what she did. What I considered saying in my post — but didn’t because it would get me flamed, would go like this:

Most of the professional sports in our culture are activites that focus on the things men’s bodies do best. Often, women’s bodies just don’t do those things quite the same way. But belly-dance at its best is a pure atheltic that exactly emphasized what women’s bodies do best.

That’s one reason that, though men do it, it doesn’t really look right.

A few things…

At once point she put the zills to work, and for the first time in a live performance, I understood zills. She wasn’t just clacking along to the music but she was layering something over top of it all, like a soprano saxophone jazz riff dancing on top of a pounding melody.

What are zills?

You don’t forget those moments, when you see them. They’re times you lie awake and think about and think, is that really a mortal quality? Is there any way to produce that out of the same stuff that I’m made from?

I don’t know. A newspaper man shaking his hips? However hilarious that may be, I’d love to see it. ;-)