Fusion

I don't really know what it means anymore. I mean, I know that most belly dancers (at least those who are being intellectually honest) consider themselves fusion artists at some level. Truly, how can an American dancer learning a dance form with origins in Middle Eastern cultural contexts be anything but a fusion artist?

It is interesting though, that other dance forms are struggling with notions of "fusion." This from a letter to the editor in the March 2009 edition of Dance Magazine:

"But pushing the boundaries of traditional dance does not mean always fusin it with a contemporary dance vocabulary. There are so many aspects that must be developed beyond the movement: rhythmic complexity, ability to improvise within the structure, as well as storytelling, poetry, singing and recitation."

Ouly

Just finished another choreography workshop with Suhaila. Today we learned a choreography from the mid-1990s set to Warda's "Nar el Ghera" -- which is sometimes referred to "Ouly" at the school.

I'm not yet sure how much I will retain but I just feel that my capacity to learn choreography is developing like a "muscle" in my body. It is as though I am so much able to receive information from Suhaila. I don't mean to suggest that her work is predictable -- it is anything but that! Rather, the learning process itself is becoming much more clear.

There is something very incredible, delightful and truly marvelous about learning an artist's body of work. Each choreography I learn from her has its own story....its own voice. They are like individual personalities/identities.

"Ouly's" personality feels different to me. I cannot fully fathom why or how yet....but I'm so intrigued!