Those Bothersome Dance Reviews or “Don’t bother me, I just wanna dance”

I was discussing the idea of the differences between recitals, haflas and shows with another dancer, and we moved into the difference between the BD dance community and other art forms as related to reviews. The truth is, in MOST arts, there is at some point a college degree or an arts academy degree involved, whereas in the BD community, the students seldom attend any training outside one of the basic  dance forms- raks sharqi, Tribal, Am/Cab, Fusion, ATS, Synthesized Dance, etc- or a combination of these forms. In addition, most students of these dance forms begin their dance studies as adults, and that many adults struggle with accepting a public review or critique.

In most cases, outside of direct competitions, the dancers feel they should be immune from peer review, critique or assessment. This seems to be because they do not realize that the originating inspiration- raks sharqi- is both a traditional dance form with its own parameters and a distinct cultural background, and they don’t realize that the dancers ARE “judged” by those who employ them. In other words, a dancer performing raks sharqi who doesn’t meet the dance/cultural/performance standards in her own culture simply doesn’t continue to be hired- what you see in top clubs are those performers who “made the grade’ of technique, audience appeal, musicality, understanding of the emotional essence of the songs and music, etc- because her audience knows the music, song and essence of the dance function as well as the dancer does.

When I spoke with Deborah Majewski (A’isha Azar), a noted highly-respected raks sharqi instructor for many years, on the concept that raks sharqi dancers are adjudicated, she agreed  that, up until recently, standards in the dance had to be met, and dancers had to understand the cultural elements of the dance- its essence, as it were- and be able to express that in a way the audience understood and accepted

Sadly, while dancers were “judged“ in the past by the audience, as I suggested, Deborah added “Any more in Egypt, often the European and American girls are being hired just as often as the Egyptian dancers because they will work for less; so even in Egypt, we see the quality of dance going down. But, I think until that time when foreign dancers started being so prevalent in the market in countries of origin, it was definitely true that dancers had to understand the cultural elements, as well as be beautiful according to native standards. For example, Mouna Said did not get much work in Egypt because she was considered too dark skinned to be attractive by Egyptian standards of her time.” Deborah added “Here in the States it is definitely true that dancers feel they should be immune to peer critique, etc….I think part of that is the “sisterhood of Dance” myth that started on the West Coast. Most natives would just laugh.”

The truth is, an absence of honest review has led to a demise of dance standards, or even an ignorance of what the dance standards might be, for each type of dance style or level within each style.  This, in turn, has led to many dancers not even knowing what style of dance they are performing, let alone whether they are at a beginning, intermediate, advanced or performance-ready level. Even in the beginning-Ongoing type classes, there should be a division between those who are learning to perform and performance-ready dancers.

In most dance arts, as a performer moves through levels of training, they are subject to critiques, reviews by peers and outside experts. The purpose of these reviews or critiques is to make the dancer understand what she is doing correctly, and point out what she needs to improve on, practice more, refine or develop to a higher skill level.

This is why recitals are important. The recital is where the dancer works on performance skills and technical improvement. She is observed by a “friendly” audience, and is critiqued by her instructor after. No other critique or review should take place.

A hafla, if a private party, is NOT subject to review, unless a dancer requests a critique of her performance from an instructor, a peer, or an outside expert (this could be another teacher, a director, etc). However, a hafla promoted as a paid public event, with open ticket sales to the public, is open to review, and that can include a public review in a local paper, an on-line review or a dance publication. This is why any dancer who performs in such a public event should come with an understanding that her performance is open to review and assessment- or “judgment”- by those who paid for a ticket. This means that if a sponsor is going to host a public-included hafla with ticket sales, the dancers have to be prepared to read an assessment or a review of the overall program, along with seeing individual dancers reviewed from the point of view of the observer. Such a possibility should motivate the dancer to practice her skills and musicality to a higher level of execution.

A show, on the other hand, is always subject to review by peers, outside experts, performance critics, and the paying public. A level of professionalism is not only expected, but required. There are two types of shows and these are 1) the shorter program usually presented at fairs, festivals, clubs gigs, fundraisers, etc, and 2) the full stage productions that usually run about 2 hours with a brief intermission and often feature a guest performer or troupe of recognized expertise in a particular dance form- but both ar subject to public critique, review and assessment regarding quality and value. This is why professionally promoted and advertised shows should only present performance-ready dancers.

There are so many possible ways to perform- recitals, haflas, showcases (and yes, showcases are subject to review), competitions, lecture-demos, short programs, stage shows, touring company,  and so forth- that every dancer, at every level, will find an opportunity to perform- but it is critical to know your level of performance and understand the differences in these venues and the level of dance and performance standards applied.

This is why I continue to stress that performance is not just putting on a costume and dancing in front of an audience as soon as you can. Performance art is a craft that must be mastered before subjecting the public to an exhibition of your skills, unless you are performing in a student venue such as a recital, a closed hafla or a student demonstration at a public venue.  And public performance requires being open to being reviewed, assessed and critiqued by your peers, your teacher, outside experts and the public. Being a dancer means having enough integrity to accept critiques and reviews, understanding that reviews and critiques have a function: to help or compel a performer (and/or a director) to improve.

I think the underlying difference between the “bellydance/bellydance-inspired dance community” and other arts is that in most arts, the performers know they are open to being reviewed, because they are adjudicated along the way, at every level, as they move into dance as a career, whereas in bellydance offshoots (Am/Cab, Tribal, Fusion, Synthesized, etc), there has usually been little to no tradition of being reviewed (I will add here that in the 1960s through the 1980s, reviews were more common), even though the BD community has adopted a “public performance for pay” position- it is like we want all the reward with none of the risk of a review,  when in reality, the point of a review- an honest one, warts and all- is to show us how we are perceived as a dancer/producer/director/ performer and make improvements from the negative observations and enjoy the positive…we will never be taken seriously by the arts community until we are as willing to be both peer-and- expert reviewed, as any other art form. Or, as Deborah Majewski asks, “Why should other dance genres take us seriously when so often dancers in our field refuse to live up to ordinary dance standards and follow performance dictates?” Because in the end, bellydance-and its offshoots and cousins- is performance art and all performance has standards and parameters. ,

And for those who might be wondering- yes, even if you perform for free, you are subject to the same review as dancers who are paid for their work. And subject to the same demand to present an audience-worthy performance.

All that said, it is also just as important that those doing a review are actually qualified to do so- in other words, the person doing the review must be qualified din the style of form presented, or be a qualified dance expert or expert in show standards. A person who doesn’t understand what they are seeing, or who doesn’t know the standards of each dance form, must know their own limitations! A review or critique is not the place for petty revenge, childish dishing against a dancer the reviewer has a personal dislike of or vendetta against. A good reviewer knows the differences between, and standards for, the different styles and forms; understands stagecraft and the performing arts, and writes with integrity.