Gimme That Arabic Expression

Pic found here

We spend the first few months/years ( dependant on the person), of dancing feeling like the freshman trying to catch up to the seniors. We work on the elusive shimmy in front of the mirror, we practice traveling steps across the kitchen floor, and do hip lifts while washing dishes. We start to feel like a bellydancer. Then we perform and seemingly start all over again, our hands were too sloppy, we didn't make eye contact, our transitions didn't look as good on stage as they did in our head. We learn makeup and costuming, we perform and perform. Then, when our bodies can dance, our hearts can open, we get over knock-knee'd stage fright, we become comfortable with who we are as bellydancers, then it is time to learn expression.
  But Naaga, you say, shouldn't you learn expression right off the bat? Well, yes, of course, but until we get all the nuts and bolts of bellydance, all the wheels turning smoothly, can we really pay attention to our expression.
     It needs to be arabic expression.
Imagine a hip-hop dancer without that cool/street/hyper sort of attitude. Imagine a country line dancer without that " we-are-all-just-here-swigging-beer-and wearing-boots" expression. Try to picture a couple doing the Tango with a goofy expression on their face and not the one of passion that we are accustomed to seeing. Just like putting on a costume and neglecting to ,"dress up" the face with makeup and whatnot, neglecting arabic expression in dance, is missing a piece of the puzzle.
    So first I am going to tell you what Arabic expression is, a la Naaga. ( my opinion).
I used to live in Germany. Being an American I was used to the melting pot-ness of America,which is to say that Americans are all different. Sure, most of us are a bit spoiled, and we do have a bit of a collective "the world is our potato" kind of attitude, but because we are made up of so many nationalities, we tend to be so many different things.
    When I went to Germany, everyone was German. Might sound simple, but Germans are a certain way. ( and I have my German friends to vouch for me). Germans like things in order...( alles in ordnung)....Germans are hard to get to know, but once you are in you are IN. Germans have an odd ( to me) sense of humor, preferring the kind of joke that takes hours to wind up. Germans like to work for things. German craftmanship is legendary.
   So why am I saying all of this? To help those of you who don't understand, understand that Middle Eastern expression is its own animal.
      Yes, I know that it varies from country to counrty, but for arguments sake lets lump it all into the phrase "Arabic expression", and know that we are talking about the main bellydance influences AKA Egypt, ( mostly), and Lebanon. Yes, it is much more broad than that, yes there are many more influences, but these are what we will focus on.
      I once heard comedian Greg Proops do a bit on white people and dancing. He basically said that all GOOD dancing comes from warm climates, while he did a silly knees up to imitate the kind of robotic dancing that represents polka, raindance, etc. It was funny, and I got what he meant. When you think of warm emotion, hot blood, passion from every pore, tears that come like a rainfall, it ain't the Swedes that you think of. Or the Germans. It is the Middle Easterners, the Hispanics,the Africans, the warm climates, hot tempers, people that are living their lives to the fullest.
       My sister is married to a Filipino and was very surprised when at their son's first birthday party, everyone got up and danced. There was a feast for two days. Think My Big Fat Greek Wedding...........

I know I am making a rather tedious point but as  bellydancers we need to be able to show a range of emotions, and not just porn face and plastered smiles.

So how do we do that Naaga? Enlighten us. Don't worry I am gettin' ready to tell ya.

Ways to Not Look Like A Soccer Mommy at a Recital: ( also titled, ways to have some damn Arabic expression)

1. KNOW WHAT YOUR LYRICS MEAN!  Don't be grinning and be-bopping around to a song that is saying" I am going to go kill myself because you stole my goat".
There are a LOT of places that you can look up the lyrics to arabic songs.
oriental dancer.net
arabicmusictranslation.com
arabiclyrics.net

Take the time to do this.

2. Study arabic culture. Learn about the art, history, food. Get a better understanding of the dance and what life is like in the Middle East. Bellydance has a lot of unfluences, and a lot of hybrids, but it originated in the Middle East.

3. Be emotional. Yeah, like when you have a crying jag and your husband looks at you like he doesn't know what to do with his crazy wife, or you jump up and down like a freak when so and so proposes to so and so on All My Children. Let out all the emotions out puritanical society says are taboo. ( FYI, I am not saying to cry while you are dancing...)

4. Dance for pleasure first. In a lot of countries, dance is a big part of life. Just go to a Lebanese party, and witness the men getting up and shaking it like John Travolta. These people aren't thinking about their layering. They are just dancing.