"Learning to walk sets you free.
Learning to dance gives you the greatest freedom of all: to express with your whole self the person you are.
" -Melissa Hayden.
Yes, we are talking dance here.
The art of Middle Eastern Dance.
This contradictory subject keeps raising its head.
Those of us in the business need to be especially careful of our behavior in all facets of life as we are always being scrutinized.
To be accepted by main stream dance we need to raise our levels of behavior and acceptance.
There is a lot of talk about professionalism these days.
I doubt if I could find a teacher or performer who does not claim to have the training, experience, credibility and expertise to either teach or perform, the things associated with being a professional.
But do you really know what being professional is? How educated are you in the dance profession on either side of the discussion? Even if you have all the so-called attributes, one more thing is needed, presentation.
If you come across as careless, uninformed or even worse uneducated you have blown your professional image all to bits.
I was provoked to write this as it falls in line with what I see out in the field and find very disturbing.
I read an article in a Middle Eastern dance magazine plus watched a couple of DVDs where there were blatant mistakes that should not have been.
These people on DVDs claimed to have the expertise not only to teach but to produce their DVDs demonstrating Middle Eastern dance technique when they did not even know how to spell the terms or how to technically present it.
We are not professional in everything we tackle.
Know what you are good at and turn the rest over to the ones who do.
If you are in a position where you cannot afford to hire someone to do your extra work for you, then take time and learn the basics so you can come across knowledgeable.
Learning to dance takes time and so does everything else you want to try.
Do not be in a hurry.
Learn it well, start small and take baby steps so you will catch your errors and learn more as you go along.
Maybe some will say who cares? I know what I am doing.
These things were no slip of finger or tongue.
Spelling and its nasty companion grammar are critical, visible parts of a professional image.
What would you think of a doctor or lawyer who could not spell their terms? Would you not begin to doubt his professionalism? This is the first place people pick up on the lack of education.
Learn the correct way to say and do things.
Learn dance terminology and how to execute it.
Be professional whether you are performing in a restaurant, night club or whatever venue.
eg.
Never wear your costume to a job.
Watch your behavior.
No matter what! Spell things correctly in handouts to your students.
Know your business.
Everything you do in public that says belly dance is scrutinized by the rest of the world.
You represent every belly dancer in the world.
Remember that!