Quite an art! (male oriental dancing)

[princealbertofb]

Going around YouTube as one does from one thing that is interesting to the next, my eye was originally caught by this episode of "¿Volverías con tu Ex?" which I think is a South American (Chilean?) kind of Big Brother (reality TV show). The episode was engaging to a certain degree so have a look at what the male group manage to offer as a show to their female companions after a session of learning and rehearsals.
The fact that belly dancing is predominantly feminine should not hide the fact that there are some very gifted and very sensual men out there who can probably outstrip the female performances.... Here is where gender is definitely a social construct, and art doesn't care two hoots about respecting genres. Enjoy!
Apart from the rather good (but tacky costume) worn by the dance instructor, and the parts of the lesson you will find the males' dance at about 5'40''.





Enjoy

[princealbertofb]

And now for the real stuff!
This dancer is so beautiful to see evolve, that I couldn't take my eyes off him. Interestingly he does not have a lean lean body, so it's not all about the muscle control, it's more about the grace and the musical sinuousness, and sensuality. Zadiel has oodles of it.

It's unfortunate that most videos pertaining to this kind of performance are not of very good visual quality. But what the heck!!

[princealbertofb]

This young dancer in Trinidad has a great body for this art. This is an audition for a talent contest.

[princealbertofb]

Rachid Alexander makes us journey all the way to the courts of Egypt...
Shazam!!

[princealbertofb]

Ilhan Karabaçak gives a whole series of samples of different styles of oriental dance.

[princealbertofb]

Djamil's Dance of the Colours with its 6 minute shimmy tells us all we need to know about male belly girations. You can have a bit of a pot belly and still be a wonderful dancer.

[princealbertofb]

Prince Andrew explores the roots of flamenco with his belly and sword dance....

[princealbertofb]

You can watch Wassim from Syria perform in something that definitely has a Spanish flair to it (at least at the beginning). There is a 720 HD version of this, yay!!

[princealbertofb]

You can also watch Ji Wang for something that goes beyond tradition. Here we are getting very close to break dancing, but the focus is still around the belly and arms movements. Of course the music no longer has its Middle-Eastern charm.

[princealbertofb]

Tito Seif who also closes the previous gala, dances in full Middle-Eastern garb in this hotel (I presume). The video is quite good quality.