Crazed: The Bellydance

Hey! Hope all is going well with all of you. I look forward to seeing more of your productions here a Current in the near future.

I have been away from the website for a while, working on a new project. When you have a moment, please come take a look at my latest pod BIG BUGS , and let me know what you think about this reversed perspective on the world. Thanks in advance for your time!

enter your post herei love this video.it is soooo ture.

Good job. Honorary GL. Are you guys planning on making "Crazed" into a series for Current? What brought the three of you together to work on films? Any way, Great stuff.

By the way, check out my Sony V-CAM. link I'd be interested in hearing what you have to say about it. It's just a bunch of foolishness really, so be prepared.

Very educational, wonderful work!

Great piece! I am really looking forward to more from you three and want to support you as much as possible! Even though more and more women are getting into this, I still feel a bit surrounded by men. It's nice to see so many women involved on current! Good luck to all of you.

If you get a chance, come by and take a look at my current short, "Shoe Shine Man". Any feedback would be appreciated! Thanks.
Jaime
link

damn can i join in ladies

Jordan, Jelani and Cielito,

Marvelous. I like the magazine style of organization and the use of titles. I like how brilliantly articulate these women are. Clearly it's an artform with roots and a visual vocabulary. And a great therapeutic, cathartic experience.

Not that I'm against the feminist or post-feminist analysis, but why not include the positive aspects of it being alluring and sexually provocative? Sure it's got to help women reconnect to their bodies, and to experience their bodies positively. I'm sure that's why my teenage daughter dances. But what's wrong with men enjoying it on their own terms?

More please!! - informative, casual style. People need to be informed about this much misunderstood dance X

PLEASE LET US KNOW WHEN!!!
We need more of bellydancing on tv.

You vid is going to be on TV! Great!

I'd love to get our opinion on our new video "Navajo Weaving" link

Excellent video. Congrats!!

Thanks Ladies for your comments and support, hope you are working on your next submission!

It was great to watch your pod climb through the ranks, and finally reach its destination: TV. Congratulations! I wish you the same results with all your future projects.

If you get a chance, please check out my new pod ( ”A Humane Society” ) and let me know what you think. Thanks!

Congrats on going to the tube ladies, you supported my new pod Shadow Boxer and yes, he's single but lives in San Francisco. Can you help me? I need to know how to imbed Shadow Boxer html and can't figure out, you seem to have. You might also like Twilight Ballet, shot in same NYC location. Getreel

Great job ladies! Makes me want to take it up...now maybe I will. Congrats on making it to air. Check out my v-cam when you can: Freshman Fifteen. Show a fellow NYC film gal some love and let me know what you like or don't. Thx!

i liked the video. very informative to a nonbellydancer. though i never realized that belly dancers are sometime viewed as strippers. been dancing for 3 years.

i liked the video. very informative to a nonbellydancer. though i never realized that belly dancers are sometime viewed as strippers. been dancing for 3 years.

i liked the video. very informative to a nonbellydancer. though i never realized that belly dancers are sometime viewed as strippers. been dancing for 3 years.

Fabulous, I will be letting my bellydance friends know about this. This is an absolute must for TV. Well done!

As a kid I remeber a lot of my friends taking dance class. Now as adults a majority of us are spectators. Watching the adults in your film having fun makes me want to skateboard. Thanks!

My mother used to belly dance way back in the day hehe.

dont click this

Nicely done! Very informative and well-paced. Keep 'em coming! Cielito, thanks for the heads up!

Very nice! Can't wait to see it on the air!

Congrats Ladies! You got picked for TV.

More productions like this. Shola

very informative. good work. gl

Forgive me for those who thunk it, but I've never thought of Bellydancers as strippers. Anywho, fun pod, G to the L. Did that sound cool?

Hello girls. Nice job with pod. ILL Mitch was hypnotize. GL! Thanks

Thanks for the new insight into an old art. GL

Thanks again for all the supportive and insightful comments!
If you want to know more, here are the links for the dancers we featured:

Teaching/performing in New York and around the world:

The legendary Morocco
www.casbahdance.org

Kaeshi Chai/Bellyqueen
www.bellyqueen.com

SharQui, the Bellydance workout, taught by Oreet
www.sharqui.com
BellyCore, taught by Melissa Michalak
www.melissasdance.com

Bellydance taught by Arianna Al Tiye
www.nubianmoondaughters.com

Performing in New York
Zan Asha
www.chovexani.com

Performing in Seattle
Hands of Kali
www.handsofkali.com

Music/Performing in New York
Maduro

www.maduromusic.com
Pharoah's Daughter
www.pharaohsdaughter.com

Quite interesting indeed. I must also say that I got a little hot and bothered with all those girating hips. The light is GREEN.

I really enjoyed watching this....I had no idea that belly dancing had such a huge community. I've done Tahitian dance & other Hawaiian cultural dance & can realte to the bond and energy you mention that woman & men alike build with group dance (both as individuals & each other). I'd love to try bellydancing too! GL

A really wonderful Pod. The clarification of what Belly Dancing is and isn't was very informative. I especially liked the cultural information and the references to womanhood and mothering explianed in the piece. Great work!

Excellent! It's about time that a documentary encourages women of all walks of life to take up bellydancing. It's educational and inspiring. Awesome job!

Bozenka

GL
I've been interested in belly dancing for some time. This inspired me to go out and do it. For some reason it intimidates me, but this broke down for me. I also like how it emphasizes the individuality. What city are these classes in?
Great job

Ladies, wonderful pod. You've earned my GL. Thanks also for the feedback on the Black Trumpet Pasta. Any chance you would consider performing at one of my dinners in exchange for enjoying an 6-8 course meal on me? :-)

A very informative pod for someone who knows nothing about it, esp. the guy's dancing! Keep up the beautiful art!

As a professional bellydancer as well as a broadcast editor, I have mixed feelings about this piece. On one hand, getting the word out about misconceptions and other aspects of the dance is great and I'm all for that. I love watching my students get that "wow!" look in their eyes when they learn what their muscles can do, and I encourage people to try it out.

But I agree with another poster regarding the lack of focus; I would have enjoyed seeing two or three angles explored more rather than the numerous ones chosen. I understand that the piece isn't meant to be the full story--and really, that would be impossible anyway--but if you're going to make a short piece, I think it would be good to make it much more focused. Talk about the BD scene in New York, for example, or the sisterhood aspect. But to cram in male bellydancers, bellydance as fitness craze, sisterhood, the emergence of tribal fusion, where it all came from in the first place, etc. seemed too much, especially since each of these things have a significant amount of backstory involved.

Technically, I wish this piece were more grounded with better camerawork and less quick cuts. But I appreciate the effort to get the public more educated on this amazing dance form, one that I've spent the last six years obsessed with :)

Wow. What's not to love, a bunch of women explain the origin, the art, and the health benefits while bellydancing! Both informative and entertaining. GL.

I am so glad this was made. I love the way the stereotypes are confronted right in the begining. Also love all the real dance classes that were filmed and showing how intelligent and real the dancers are. thank you thank you for doing this. I think if I did not know anything about belly dance I would feel informed and intrigued.

I liked the approach you ladies took for this piece. Very interesting. GL from me!

I didn't know abouT WOMEn BELLY dancers before. GL
If you have time would you check out mine? Same dew new view

fantastic positive message! how amazingly proud I am to be part of this culture!

VERY informational. I like how you addressed the misconceptions of belly dancers. I know a lot of people would appreciate this pod.

Check out my DTJ pod when you get the chance.

Thanks everyone for all your feedback! We are thrilled at the discourse that has taken the topic beyond what was presented in the video. There seems to be a couple of misconceptions and we'd like to address them.

This mini-doc is not meant to be a thorough history of bellydance; our interest is in the personalities behind the craze. We approached this project in a way that our subjects guided the film. At times they do contradict each other and this is intentional because, as some of you have pointed out, there are many differing theories about many aspects of bellydancing. Everyone has their own facts about bellydance as they do about almost anything else. To truly explore many of the claims made in the video, a feature-length film could probably be made with different voices telling their theories and there would likely be lots of contradictions there as well. To us this makes it interesting! And for the average person who knows nothing about bellydance, it offers a peek into a rich world historically, culturally, and personally, which was our main intention.

I agree with the comments that opinion or theory is stated as fact. Anyone who claims to know the origins of belly dance is mistaken because no one knows for sure. Also, tribal style belly dance was started with the creation of Bal Anat in 1968. Also belly dance was brought to the US before the 1920s. I find it hard to believe that the dancer in the film studied "traditional" belly dance. I am not sure the purpose of the video. It seems to lack focus.

Your documentary echoed many of the feelings I and my friends have about this dance. Dancing in community with other women has brought so much joy to our lives. Thank you for sharing.
Shimmy on!

I love the title - I am a bit crazed, or addicted to the dance. People think that we're crazed! I also appreciate the definition which calls this a traditional folk dance. I rarely hear that mentioned. I do think that there is an over-emphasis by some of the interviewees on the female aspect of the dance. Men love this dance, too! "Bellydance is a dance by women, for women ONLY" - quote from teacher who instructs men. If I were a man who loved this dance, I would feel so discriminated against. I have an all-male class and troupe, and they experience great connected through the dance. "It is a basic movement vocabulary that you use to illustrate the music" - I think I got that right - a wonderful quote from Morocco.

I really enjoyed the documentary, and the number of styles covered. I have to admit that Oreet's interviews about the origins of the movements were off-putting because there is no clear documentation about the history of the dance.. Interviews with Morocco on the subject would have been fantastic, as she's spent much time IN THE FIELD researching, and is a great source of information.

I agree with Tribaldancer above. Nice production, but the information is not necessarily accurate. Truth is, nobody is 100% sure the origins of bellydance, and different cultures claim ownership as well as different purpose for the dance. Please don't present opinions as fact! Also the description of Tribal should be revised or removed-a simple started in the 80's as an alternative to the glitz of cabaraet. would suffice, trying to quantify Tribal as tattoos and piercings does it a great disservice. While I appreciate the nod to tribal (though it encompasses most of the performance footage), ATS is not represented at all. If you want to mention tribal and it's beginnings, ATS and group improv is extremely important, and an immediate illustration to teh claims of sisterhood which are frequently made but not illustrated.

You applied, without a doubt, great production values to a great topic. Congrats for putting together such an educational pod. Good luck with all your future productions. GL from me!

Fascinating! And, I love that there's so much movement and color and excitement while I'm learning. Thanks for this pod! If you have a moment, please check out my latest pod, GLAMAZONIA, and let me know what you think.

I have been dancing for over a decade. Thanks so much for producing this well-rounded perspective.

This is really great, GL!

Check out my mobile movie - The Clown Wig. Thanks

Very well filmed and edited, but beyond that, the interviews with some of the dancers contain so much misinformation and fantasy/myth, I don't even know what to say. Information that should have been presented as opinion or theory was presented as fact, which misrepresents the history and evolution of this dance form. The filmmakers should have done a lot more research, or perhaps presented the information in such a way as to be clear that the opinions expressed were OPINIONS and not fact.

I appreciate any documentarys that are created in regards to bellydance. So often, in the male dominated world I work in, there is still the thought that bellydance is a form of erotic dance. Little do they know, anyone can consider any dance erotic..its in the eye of the beholder. Some guys might even be turned on by classical ballet. Of course us bellydancers know that pigeon holing bellydance just into erotic dance is false and it is truely a female dance form based on folk dance rituals. I think men and women have to be educated past their "conservative" or "victorian" roots mind set and be shown that bellydance is not a "strip club" or erotic type dance at all. Maybe some people dont know the difference between sensual and sexual. Kind of like a rectangle is a square but square isnt a rectangle analogy.

Thanks everyone for your comments and votes so far! We're really excited about how this story turned out and it's great to be able to share it with you all. It's really nice to hear that this is helping to banish some stereotypes around bellydancing. Thanks!

Educating GL

Check out my POD.

Well done. I especially like the diversity and perspective added by the presence of the very professional, beautiful and blessed Arianna Al Tiye. She and the women dancing in her classes were amazing to watch.

nice piece, very cool take on the matter and some good original content. i could have used some of their skills for my spot: link me know what you think (also, not strippers). GL.

-A

This was really very cool. I had no idea. Particularly liked the goth girl who danced to Sabbath. GL.

Please click on my head and check out my latest rant… shot for a toy.

(also a bellydancer) I loved this. I'm planning to send this link to all my non-dance friends to educate them!

Very informational. GL

enter your post here
I have been Belly dancing for over eight years I LOVE it! This video is Excellent!
Very good over view and informative! I am going to purchase this I want to see the whole thing!!

gracefully done, fun to watch.

Covers a lot of ground in not a lot of time -- love how you take in all aspects from emotional to sensual to physical to cultural. And getting in the Goth dancers was a nice touch. Fascinating and informative -- giving it a GL.

Side Note: My newest pod, Living Iraq. is now up -- please have a look. Thanks!

I love to belly dance. Women in my family will do it at any chance - weddings, parties, going out to dinner (at Middle Eastern restaraunts, of course)... I'm glad to see a pod about it, as it seems to have really grown in popularity over the past five or ten years, and yet some people still don't "get" what it's all about. Nice overview.

Very good. I live in Glenwood Springs and there's a large community of Bellydance enthusiasts in the Western Slope region of the Rockies. Sometimes they have a gathering and symposium here as well. It's always good to see efforts to educate people about the artistic, cultural and otherwise non-sexual/stereotypical reality of such ancient arts. Being both a massage therapist and a practicing contortionist and trainer thereof I've always dealt with the constant widespread misrepresentation and misunderstanding of a variety of ancient physical arts. Opa!

I've only seen belly dance a few times and have never actually met a dancer before. It's great to get a peek into the minds above the bellies.