developer – Chryssanthi Sahar, you are a Tsifteteli dance teacher and performer from the Middle East and Greece. Can you tell us what is the basic difference between those two styles?
chrysanthemum sahar – The main difference between the belly dance of the Middle East, or rather Egyptian, and the Greek Tsifteteli is the repertoire of movements and rhythms. Egyptian belly dance (Raqs Sharqi/Raqs Baladi) has a large repertoire of movements and Arabic music has a wide variation of rhythms, as well as complex musical arrangements. The Greek Tsifteteli has, on the contrary, a small repertoire of movements, quite simple musical arrangements and uses only 3 rhythms (Maqsoum, Malfouf and Chifteteli), but actually one of them (Maqsoum) is the most popular for Tsifteteli songs. . This is because Tsifteteli is more of a social dance than a stage dance and because it derives from the Egyptian Raqs Sharqi. So you find almost all of the Tsifteteli moves in Egyptian belly dancing, but not the other way around. The same goes for music. Tsifteteli uses Arabic rhythms, but only 3 of them, while in Raqs Sharqi you find at least 10 popular rhythms (there are many more than 10 Arabic rhythms, but the rhythms used for belly dance are around 10).
So, to conclude, it could be said that the Greek Tsifteteli is like a summary of the Egyptian Raqs Sharqi.
developer – In Turkey there is a folk dance called Tsifteteli, which does not represent any form of oriental dance, while the Greek Tsifteteli has a more oriental basis. Are these two styles related in any way?
chrysanthemum sahar – Turkish folk dance is called Ciftetelli (pronounced Tchiftetelli). It’s actually the same name as Tsifteteli, the name is Turkish and means “two strings”, but since the Greeks don’t have the strong “tch”, they pronounce it as “ts”. This folk dance has elements of belly dancing and most likely the Greek Tsifteteli is somehow related to it, because the Greeks from Smyrna (today Izmir) who mainly brought the Tsifteteli to Greece after being expelled from their city due to the population exchange between Greece and Turkey in 1922, they seem to have known this Turkish dance called Ciftetelli. Evidence of this is the fact that the costumes of the first Greek belly dancers (most of whom were Greeks from Smyrna), closely resembled the costumes worn by women when they danced the Turkish Ciftetelli (little veiled hat). head, harem-pants.)
developer – Your first public performance as an oriental dancer was in 1986. Twenty-two years later, what are the differences you see in the attitude of the general public towards dance, specifically in Europe?
chrysanthemum sahar – I can’t talk about the whole European continent, because Europe has many different countries with different perceptions of belly dancing. I can only talk about Germany, where I live and work and where I started acting 26 years ago, as well as a little bit about my home country, Greece, where I have been acting from time to time for the last 2 years. In Germany there is great progress in the attitude of the general public towards belly dancing. 22 years ago many people did not know what belly dancing was and considered it more a kind of erotic animation than an art form. This has definitely changed, mainly thanks to the involvement of many German (and non-German) belly dancers, who did their best to set the record straight about belly dancing. The pioneer in this matter was a lady named Dietlinde Karkoutli, who did a great job of promoting to change the image of belly dancing in the public in the 80’s and early 90’s. This wonderful lady sadly passed away in the mid 1990’s. 90, but it definitely paved the way for other dancers to introduce the true nature of this dance to the public. In many places in Germany, belly dancing is recognized as an art form and is even performed in theaters. The good thing is that since belly dancing has become very well known among the general public, many people learned to differentiate between skilled professional dancers and not so skilled amateurs and good dancers are appreciated today. For example, many Germans who would hire a belly dancer for an event would rather pay a higher rate and hire a good dancer than pay less and hire a bad dancer. Also, age and body type are not relevant, if the dancer is really good. Of course, there are still places in Germany (especially in eastern Germany), where belly dancing is still not that popular and a bit misunderstood, but in most areas dance has its place in cultural life. In my hometown Heidelberg dance is well accepted as an art form, my theater shows are always sold out and I have become a firm part of the city’s cultural life.
As for Greece, the dancers still have to fight against prejudice, especially since until recently most belly dancers did not have great skills, since the dance was mainly performed in Bouzoukia clubs (style night clubs). Greek) and it was a kind of erotic animation. . In this case it didn’t matter if the dancer was good or not, it mattered more how she was and how old she was. Unfortunately, this situation still exists, but there are some serious and skilled dancers all over Greece who are presenting belly dancing as an art to a wider audience, and somehow the image of the dance has slowly started to change. but safe.
developer – One of the main aspects of belly dancing is disparaged and often misunderstood by the general public as being sexual in some way. In recent years, we have seen many dancers, especially non-ethnic dancers, who strive to spread the sensuality of the dance. , As an instructor and teacher, how do you approach this complex situation with your students?
chrysanthemum sahar – Actually we don’t have this kind of problem here in the area of Germany where I live, perform and teach. As I mentioned in my last answer, belly dancing has been accepted as an art form in most of Germany, so the erotic aspect is not really relevant. You will hardly find some Germans (except if they come from villages, or maybe from the eastern part of the country where belly dancing is not that popular yet) who confuse belly dancing with erotic animation. The point is that since Germany is a country with an open and tolerant attitude towards sexuality, you can find different types of entertainment that are very directly erotic (such as peep shows, strip shows or even stage sex shows) and There is no reason for the Germans to disguise erotic entertainment as dance or other art. A German who wants to see an erotic show would probably be very disappointed with the belly dance performance as such. I think that the problem of confusing dance (especially belly dancing) with erotic animation exists rather in countries with a more prudish or restricted sexual morality. The truth is that in Germany we have a completely different problem about the image of the dance: it is rather confused with a dilettante dance practiced by frustrated housewives, because there are quite a few such ladies who unfortunately do not have any skills, but want to present themselves as professional dancers, even if they are fucking amateurs. So what I’m mainly fighting against is THIS kind of wrong image and not the erotic thing, which is irrelevant here.
developer – Do you think that in the current situation, oriental dance could be a tool for a better understanding and help to cross barriers for Westerners and vice versa?
chrysanthemum sahar – I’m not sure. What is certain is that Westerners who deal with Bellydance are definitely starting to get more interested in Middle Eastern culture in general, but I don’t know how Bellydance could be a tool for Middle Eastern people to better understand Middle Eastern culture. Western culture. The only Middle Easterners who would be interested in that are perhaps musicians who work with Western belly dancers or Middle Eastern belly dancers who work and teach in Western countries.
As with Westerners, dealing with Middle Eastern cultures can give you a deeper understanding, but it can also bring some disappointment. Some of the dancers have romantic and unrealistic ideas about the Middle East, but the more they get into it, the more they see their imagination and reality falling apart. For example, a common problem is that many Western women who start to learn belly dancing don’t realize that belly dancers have a bad reputation and social status in many Middle Eastern countries and are very surprised when they start to learn belly dancing. realize this. I think this is one reason why some dancers move away from original Middle Eastern belly dancing and into Western belly dancing styles (such as Tribal, Gothic, Tribal Fusion, etc.).
To conclude, I would still say that I am not sure about the role of Bellydance for intercultural understanding.
developer – You are involved with the CID (Conseil International de la Danse), which is a sister organization of UNESCO. What is the objective of the CID and how does a dancer benefit from being a member of this organization?
chrysanthemum sahar – CID’s goal is to bring together dancers of all genres and from all over the world and establish dances of all kinds as art forms. Therefore, there are not only professional dancers from established artistic dance genres who can become members of the CID and present their work, but also dancers from genres that are not yet recognized worldwide as art forms (such as belly dance, salsa, Argentine tango, etc.), as well as amateur dancers, who dance more folklore than artistic dances.
The benefits of being a CID member are several: one very important thing is the possibility of participating in the CID congresses for a very low fee (€60), where high-level dancers from all over the world give workshops, give lectures and perform. in internship One can participate actively, but also passively. For a professional dancer it is a great opportunity to present her own work in front of an expert international audience, as well as to meet other professional dancers of all possible genres and styles.
Another benefit is the fun you have during this type of conference and the friendships you make with people from all over the world.
There is a big world congress of CID every year, which usually takes place in Greece and also many other smaller congresses that take place in different countries around the world.
Being a member of the CID has been a great experience for me and I can only recommend it.
developer – Thank you Chryssanthi Sahar for your time. We wish you all the best.