Explore the rich history of belly dance in the United States: Learn about the misinformation that has circulated through belly dance discourses for centuries, and how modern research has combatted common myths and stereotypes about male belly dancers. We will learn about the impact of several formative male belly dancers in the US and North America, such as John Compton, Bobby Farrah, Ahmad Jarjour, and Bert Balladine.
Men in Belly Dance
Explore the rich history of belly dance in the United States: Learn about the misinformation that has circulated through belly dance discourses for centuries, and how modern research has combatted common myths and stereotypes about male belly dancers. Get comfortable getting uncomfortable while we unpack the relationship between the performance of masculinity, choreographic embodiment, and Orientalism. We will finish the series by discussing how the influence of male belly dancers lives on in the contemporary belly dance community, and the future of this research.
Our course meets virtually at 1:30p–3p Central on:
Sunday November 26th
Sunday December 3rd
Sunday December 10th
Sunday December 17th
Saturday December 30th (rather than take a 2-week break for Christmas Eve and New Years eve, I decided to shift this class to a Saturday)
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Nov. 26: Google Meets link
This is where we break down how this course is going to work, go over some frequently referenced materials, and discuss research practices and ethics.
This is where we break down how this course is going to work, go over some frequently referenced materials, and discuss research practices and ethics.
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Find this week’s materials here
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Dec. 3: Google Meets link
The popular misconceptions and misunderstandings about men in this history of dances that preceded belly dance. Most scholarship on belly dance focuses on the practices of women. If men are mentioned at all, it’s often relegated to a paragraph or a footnote. The majority of it reproduces the same ahistorical information that I have aggregated under the titles “mother goddess theory” (MGT) and “impersonator theory.”
The popular misconceptions and misunderstandings about men in this history of dances that preceded belly dance. Most scholarship on belly dance focuses on the practices of women. If men are mentioned at all, it’s often relegated to a paragraph or a footnote. The majority of it reproduces the same ahistorical information that I have aggregated under the titles “mother goddess theory” (MGT) and “impersonator theory.”
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Find this week’s materials here.
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Dec. 10: Google Meets link
This is about my research into John Compton using the data collected from my sixteen oral history interviews along with extant published videos, interviews, and commentary. This part uses pivotal events in John’s life to explore cultural shifts in fusion belly dance in the US, and situate how John’s influence impacted those shifts. This discussion reveals how John had a strong hand in laying the foundation for the aesthetic philosophy of fusion belly dance as a concert dance practice.
This is about my research into John Compton using the data collected from my sixteen oral history interviews along with extant published videos, interviews, and commentary. This part uses pivotal events in John’s life to explore cultural shifts in fusion belly dance in the US, and situate how John’s influence impacted those shifts. This discussion reveals how John had a strong hand in laying the foundation for the aesthetic philosophy of fusion belly dance as a concert dance practice.
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Find this week’s materials here.
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Dec. 17: Google Meets link
This section details the relationship between John’s performance of masculinity, choreographic embodiment, and Orientalism. I use movement description, movement analysis, and multiple masculinities theory to tease out the ways John performed masculinity, and how that performance was reflective of broader attitudes towards masculinity and femininity in the West.
This section details the relationship between John’s performance of masculinity, choreographic embodiment, and Orientalism. I use movement description, movement analysis, and multiple masculinities theory to tease out the ways John performed masculinity, and how that performance was reflective of broader attitudes towards masculinity and femininity in the West.
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Find this week’s materials here
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Dec. 30: Google Meets link
I synthesize the interview data to illustrate the specific ways in which John influenced the informants involved in this thesis, and I analyze their responses to postulate on how these influences go beyond their individual experiences. I unpack some of John’s more problematic behavior that I evinced during this research. I end by sharing my final takeaways and proposing new questions and insights that this thesis elucidated.
I synthesize the interview data to illustrate the specific ways in which John influenced the informants involved in this thesis, and I analyze their responses to postulate on how these influences go beyond their individual experiences. I unpack some of John’s more problematic behavior that I evinced during this research. I end by sharing my final takeaways and proposing new questions and insights that this thesis elucidated.
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Find this week’s materials here.
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