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Yame
September 25th, 2011, 12:39 PM
This thread is a long overdue one I wanted to post. It's a topic that's very interesting to me, and I thought perhaps I should share over here as well. I am not sure if this is the right place to post... I hope it is!

As many of you know, I am a belly dancer, so naturally, I am drawn to Middle Eastern dance and dance in general. There are many dances out there in the world, especially all over the Middle East, that involve tossing the hair, showing it off, or otherwise using it to dance or compliment the dance.

I would like to share with you a few of my favorites, with examples and explanations:

Khaleegy
Khaleegy means "from the Gulf" and in this context it is a dance from the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, the Emirates, etc). There are men's dances and women's dances, the women will usually dance in each other's companies at home or at segregated parties, weddings, etc. Of course each country and even each region has its own different version, but unfortunately for those of us who are interested in it, it's very hard to find videos of actual Gulf women dancing because these places are generally very conservative and it's taboo for women to be seen dancing in public, to be recorded dancing, or sometimes even to be seen at all outside of their homes.

In any case, it's a very beautiful dance. We generally get a chance to see it performed by people who went and studied "over there" or who learned from someone who did, so the version we get is surely diluted in some way but we can get a sense for what it looks like. The footwork is bouncy and the attitude is playful. The women show off their beautiful hair by tossing it from side to side, they also show off their expensive jewelry and beautiful intricate thobes with movements that draw attention to them.

Here is an example of Khaleegy performed by Aziza Mor, a belly dancer from Brazil
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhyQKMgqdaQ

Here is one of my Khaleegy performances, although I don't believe it's the best example of Khaleegy and it's been cut to pieces due to bad camera work http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLldTRuZXHQ

This one I believe is closest to what it actually looks like, albeit adapted for the stage, but it's more mellow than the videos you see above
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-_LsMTUVAg

Here is an example of a UK dancer performing Kuwaiti style Khaleegy. It's different from other Khaleegy styles I am used to, it looks to me like almost a cross between Khaleegy dances and Iraqi Qawliya (explained below), which would make sense geographically.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_P4yE6eiX8

Qawliya
Qawliya means "gypsy" and it is the dance of the Romani (gypsy, I use Romani as "gypsy" can be used as a slur in some places) people in Iraq. I don't know nearly as much about this dance as I would like, but from what I have seen of it it's a LOT of fun, my favorite one of all these dances. You will notice how it's somewhat similar to Khaleegy but it's got a lot more booty and is more high-energy. For this one, I have clips of actual Iraqi women doing them but they are music videos so the dance parts are scattered:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeWO_t7apK0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDHlpcIDQ7o&list=PL9488ECA30540D032&index=2

And here is a video of Myriam Fares dancing Qawliya. Myriam Fares is a Lebanese singer, but she dabbles in other Arabic styles as well, and here she is singing an Iraqi-style song and dancing accordingly. The reason I am including this video is because of her gorgeous curls... so you can see them in movement, it's a nice variation from the long, straight, black locks seen in almost all of the videos above.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf6Wy2kF-cA&feature=related


Chabi Maroc
This is a Moroccan dance which, admittedly once again, I don't know as much about as I'd like. But I've seen many videos of it... it looks really fun and even funny, the dancer will do a lot of interesting, random, and ridiculous things to entertain the audience, including sometimes hair tossing and spinning and whatnot, but sometimes even rolling around on the floor or doing somersaults... I can't say I understand it, but it's certainly cool to watch!

In this clip there is a belly dancer performing, and she calls another dancer up on the stage to join her for her Moroccan performance, as the other dancer is trained in that style and was dancing in the audience, sort of playfully challenging the performing dancer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kapN6t6KGR4&feature=related

Zaar
This is a ritual done in some places of North Africa. It is often called a "trance dance," although many people don't consider it a dance. Its purpose isn't to be performed nor to show off or have fun socially, but to heal a person who is tormented or sick. I include it here because there is a lot of hair movement. This is another one that is very hard to find actual footage of, because it isn't exactly done in public. The person being "healed" will be surrounded by friends and/or family and neighbors but this doesn't happen out in public for random strangers to see. In addition, because of the religious connotation, many people are not interested in making a performance out of it because they do not wish to offend others. However, I have done so, as I do believe in its meditative power and power to release negative energy, and although I am neither a religious nor spiritual person I think the people who practice this ritual are definitely on to something. So I'll just post my own video. Once again this isn't the best example, especially because it's been adapted for performance, but I think it might give you the gist of it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMW73DfVWkw


Headbanging
Hahaha I know a lot of metalheads cringe at the thought of their headbanging being called a "dance," but in my opinion whenever you are moving to the rhythm of music, you are dancing, therefore by my definition headbanging is dancing.
I chose Dragonforce for my video example because of Herman Li's epic thigh-length hair.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jgrCKhxE1s


I'll leave it at that, for now at least. I know I have posted wayyy too much already and most people won't go through even 2 videos on this thread, but who knows, hopefully it will peak someone's interest and if it does, perhaps I will post more in the future :)

As always, feel free to add your own or ask any questions!

AngelAblaze
September 25th, 2011, 03:54 PM
I love these!! and your hair is amazing!!

archel
September 25th, 2011, 04:23 PM
I love bellydancing and I'll never be a performer (arthritis/fibro prevent me from getting really good), it's so much FUN. I can't wait to have enough hair to swoosh around as I dance!

Yame
September 25th, 2011, 05:37 PM
I love bellydancing and I'll never be a performer (arthritis/fibro prevent me from getting really good), it's so much FUN. I can't wait to have enough hair to swoosh around as I dance!

APL is long enough to swoosh around. I sometimes wish I had shorter hair, because then it would take much less effort to make it move!

Yame
September 25th, 2011, 05:38 PM
I love these!! and your hair is amazing!!

Thank you! I was afraid this post would go by with no answers. I know it's a long one so thanks for watching!

MeganE
September 25th, 2011, 05:44 PM
Oh my gosh there's enough information here to teach a whole workshop about hair dances. Thank you SO MUCH for compiling this information, it's AMAZING!!! I'm definitely subscribing to this thread, and will be studying all of these dances. :D Thank you!!!!

battles
September 25th, 2011, 05:51 PM
Interesting videos! Thanks for posting them.

archel
September 25th, 2011, 05:54 PM
Well that's true, but it was way more fun when I was at waist :)

Lostsoule77
September 25th, 2011, 06:08 PM
Thank you for posting this! It was really interesting. It's funny that you included the headbanging because while I was watching some of the other videos I was thinking some of it was similar to headbanging.

Cainwen
September 25th, 2011, 06:12 PM
I realize its not really head banging, but your Dreamforce video reminded me of this video by Amon Armath http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGINLisYN9Y&feature=relmfu, particularly about 15 seconds in.

I find their syncronized hair-spinning to be both awesome, and terrifying. Imagine trying to detangle afterwards.

Great thread, Yame!

Yame
September 25th, 2011, 06:25 PM
Oh my gosh there's enough information here to teach a whole workshop about hair dances. Thank you SO MUCH for compiling this information, it's AMAZING!!! I'm definitely subscribing to this thread, and will be studying all of these dances. :D Thank you!!!!

Wow, that is quite a compliment! I tried to really condense the information I do know (mainly on zaar and Khaleegy which are the ones I've had the chance to study outside of just videos and the internet), but I have a lot to learn! I see that you are from NY, so if you are interested I can recommend a few workshops on these topics that are happening in NY and NJ, all in October. If so, just PM me and I'll PM you back.


I realize its not really head banging, but your Dreamforce video reminded me of this video by Amon Armath http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGINLisYN9Y&feature=relmfu, particularly about 15 seconds in.

I find their syncronized hair-spinning to be both awesome, and terrifying. Imagine trying to detangle afterwards.

Great thread, Yame!

I love Amon Amarth... most of these men don't really care about detangling their hair, so not too terrifying :)

As for myself, some of these dances are the only things that are actually able to tangle my hair. But I am not willing to give them up :)

MeganE
September 25th, 2011, 06:36 PM
<snip>I see that you are from NY, so if you are interested I can recommend a few workshops on these topics that are happening in NY and NJ, all in October. If so, just PM me and I'll PM you back.

That sounds awesome!!!!!! Thank you!!!!

Cainwen
September 25th, 2011, 06:59 PM
<snip>

I love Amon Amarth... most of these men don't really care about detangling their hair, so not too terrifying :)



I suppose they wouldn't really be as concerned as most of us here, so for them probably not too terrifying. I just remember DH looking at *my* hair and saying, "Can you do that?" :p

KwaveT
September 25th, 2011, 08:43 PM
Thank you! I was afraid this post would go by with no answers. I know it's a long one so thanks for watching!

I really enjoyed these videos. I watched about five of them myself. I would have watched every single one if I weren't so tired. It's getting near 11 at night here.

owlathena
September 25th, 2011, 09:40 PM
Oooh interesting!

Panth
September 26th, 2011, 07:26 AM
I realize its not really head banging, but your Dreamforce video reminded me of this video by Amon Armath http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGINLisYN9Y&feature=relmfu, particularly about 15 seconds in.

I find their syncronized hair-spinning to be both awesome, and terrifying. Imagine trying to detangle afterwards.

Great thread, Yame!

See, this is why most metalheads have enormous neck muscles...

I have to say, all the nice bellydance videos did just remind me of headbanging... Guess you can see who I hang out too much with.

Alaia
September 26th, 2011, 07:55 AM
I enjoyed the videos a lot!

Reminds me also of "Hairography" - actually I suppose it is hairography.

Lots of epic hair in those vids, including yours Yame!

SouthernBelleUS
September 26th, 2011, 09:35 AM
That is soooooo friggin COOL!

HairFaerie
September 26th, 2011, 09:55 AM
Wow! What an incredible thread, Yame! Thank you for posting this and the video links. I enjoyed it tremendously!

Alacris~
September 26th, 2011, 12:19 PM
Headbanging is always awesome to do. And the detangling isn't always that tricky!
But I have to admit..sometimes it is:cheese:



See, this is why most metalheads have enormous neck muscles...

I have to say, all the nice bellydance videos did just remind me of headbanging... Guess you can see who I hang out too much with.

I had to laugh at enormous neck muscles!
I hope I don't have that:D

Intransigentia
September 26th, 2011, 01:00 PM
Wow, I just loved all those videos. Most of the dancing I've done is ballroom, so most of my dancing time has been with my hair contained for my partner's protection. But I'm thinking maybe next time I go out clubbing, I should turn my hair loose. Thanks for the inspiration!

Yame
September 26th, 2011, 04:13 PM
I enjoyed the videos a lot!

Reminds me also of "Hairography" - actually I suppose it is hairography.

Lots of epic hair in those vids, including yours Yame!

Thanks! What's Hairography?



Wow, I just loved all those videos. Most of the dancing I've done is ballroom, so most of my dancing time has been with my hair contained for my partner's protection. But I'm thinking maybe next time I go out clubbing, I should turn my hair loose. Thanks for the inspiration!

You should!

ElusiveMuse
September 26th, 2011, 05:21 PM
George Balanchine choreographed lots of hair-down ballets. Many of the NYCB ballerinas have gorgeous long hair.

Tigermama
September 26th, 2011, 05:34 PM
Awesome! These videos are so cool and informative. I love the dancing, especially the shoulder shrugs and shimmies. You did such a beautiful job in your preformance, and I love your outfit too! I did not know about this style of dancing, but now I want to study it and try these moves out. Thank you for taking the time to share this with us.