some distraction and a lesson about men

Yes, some of them have a very feminine style of dance, oddly, even in Egypt, where machismo reigns. Try Tito, one of the most famous Classical Egyptian dancers, for instance, http://egyptianacademy.com/jml2/tito . Note his very conservative dress. There are other videos of him performing in overseas dance festivals where his costuming is very 'lycra and sequins'.

I find it a little hard to digest this style, but he is adored widely for his ability as a great dancer. Check out the way the women respond in the second video, where he clearly is seen as a very intimate performer, who is no threat to women at all. They love him!

ps I don't think my man in the red satin trousers has been sitting down too much! Lunging is not how I would describe his movement. I just love the way he is able to use his abdominal (and other!) muscles in any way he wants to, for many different effects. He is very springy, like a well- established sapling, capable of so much bending and torsion, yet so resilient and relaxed. This video is not by any means traditional dancing. Ah, to be a sapling again!

Yes, it does scream Michael Jackson. He lives on in the dance of others. This is a very contemporary dance.

Michael Jackson's way of moving came from his African heritage, which is allied to the roots of middle eastern dance. It is the same with music, where the roots of blues and jazz come from African heritage. Dance and music travel with the victors of war, and through trade routes.

Isn't it interesting that the horrors of the slave trade and bad treatment of indigenous people have given birth to mainstream contemporary music and dance all over the world?

What a boring, dull world we would live in without it, and we need to be mindful of the suffering that brought it to us, and give thanks!

Louise

Bagdhad in Iraq used to be Asian Turkey. It's neighbours are Iran (Persia), Saudi Arabia, modern Turkey and Syria.

Here are some Turkish men doing folk dance. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lv4ynulDHyc .

Here is some footage of a village wedding in northern Iraq of men and women doing traditional Dabke dance. This is real traditional dancing. These are the people that Saddam Hussein tried to wipe off the face of the earth, anfd thankfully failed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RQ21U83LQc

Here are some men dancing Dabke at a wedding in Syria. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4KYW_7tZn0

This is old film footage from eastern Iran, near the Afghan border, so it is a long way away from Bagdhad, but it is traditional. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVsnTVqRgXs

Here is an old Iranian man dancing, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HC-Zvs_xNTY . The stick is not because he is old. Men dance with sticks through the whole of the middle east (and other places too). It is a fighting dance. There is an Egyptian martial art called Tah Teeb (phonetically) which is also a dance form with canes. No doubt this is derived from the same concept. Warfare and dancing go together for men.

Bagdhad? Well, there isn't a lot out there on Youtube about men dancing in Bagdhad.

You get the general idea though, that real folk dance is very different from what we think of as middle eastern dance, which is really just another Hollywood invention that has been exported back to the middle east. Folk dance is very similar in many parts of the middle east. Ancient Mesopotamia and the Tigris River, which runs through Bagdhad has been a melting pot of cultural influences for thousands of years. All the cultures have been mixed together.

Well, that's Middle Eastern Dance 101. I am no expert.

Enjoy.

Louise