Men can figure-eight their hips, too
Men nationwide are learning the once-female exclusive artform of bellydancing
Issue date: 9/12/05 Section: Showcase
"The idea that these movements are only appropriate to women's bodies is wrong," he says. "We think when a male articulates his torso he is somehow being effeminate, but that is really a culturally specific notion held by Anglo-Americans."
But guys aren't always welcomed in the Arab community, either. Marios Hedary, owner of Byblos Lebanese Restaurant in Fort Worth, Texas, said he hires a male folkloric dancer who "complements" the female belly dancers. But once, at a Thursday audition night in which amateurs can come try their talent on the restaurant stage, a man showed up wearing what Hedary recalls regrettably as an "I Dream of Jeannie" outfit.
"I was very shocked, very embarrassed. It was Cinderella. It was hip shaking. It was very, very weird."
Hedary said he paced the restaurant until the dancer's half-hour performance was over, after which the dancer asked him what he thought.
"I said, 'Listen, you are not a woman. You are a man. Do not dance like a woman ... that's not right.' "
Bring on the naysayers, say the dancers: Breaking out of expectations is part of the allure.
Jeff Halpin of San Francisco identifies himself as a "typical man." He said his donning a black cloak and gold headdress at the event is "no different than a Cowboys fan getting into their blue and silver dress" at a game.
Halpin said he was hesitant for years to start belly dancing, and when he would inquire about male classes, he didn't feel welcome.
"Just as female belly dancers have to get past the stereotype that they're strippers, male belly dancers have to get past the stereotype they're doing something girlish," he said.
Pull up to Isis' Star Dancers Studio in Bedford, Texas, on any given Tuesday night, and a Ford F-150 is parked outside the window display of bejeweled bras and harem pants. A sign hanging from the license plate reads: "Once a Marine, Always a Marine."
Yep, the instructor of the male belly-dancing class is James Brantley of Fort Worth, Texas, ex-Marine and current Air Force computer specialist, or as he goes by in class, Shadid.
Brantley started taking classes six years ago after he was pulled up onstage by the studio's owner at his wife and daughter's recital, and she said the hip-hop dancer and martial-arts student had potential.
Once he enrolled in class, he learned to adapt the women's movements into a more masculine form: stepping flat instead of tiptoeing, keeping his fingers together instead of "dainty fingers."
While women at the studio learn to embody emotions while dancing, Brantley learned the male personas: the powerful sultan, the regal pharaoh and the aggressive warrior.
Not all were able to handle the belly-dance boot camp: He remembers eight men started the class, but only he graduated.
But guys aren't always welcomed in the Arab community, either. Marios Hedary, owner of Byblos Lebanese Restaurant in Fort Worth, Texas, said he hires a male folkloric dancer who "complements" the female belly dancers. But once, at a Thursday audition night in which amateurs can come try their talent on the restaurant stage, a man showed up wearing what Hedary recalls regrettably as an "I Dream of Jeannie" outfit.
"I was very shocked, very embarrassed. It was Cinderella. It was hip shaking. It was very, very weird."
Hedary said he paced the restaurant until the dancer's half-hour performance was over, after which the dancer asked him what he thought.
"I said, 'Listen, you are not a woman. You are a man. Do not dance like a woman ... that's not right.' "
Bring on the naysayers, say the dancers: Breaking out of expectations is part of the allure.
Jeff Halpin of San Francisco identifies himself as a "typical man." He said his donning a black cloak and gold headdress at the event is "no different than a Cowboys fan getting into their blue and silver dress" at a game.
Halpin said he was hesitant for years to start belly dancing, and when he would inquire about male classes, he didn't feel welcome.
"Just as female belly dancers have to get past the stereotype that they're strippers, male belly dancers have to get past the stereotype they're doing something girlish," he said.
Pull up to Isis' Star Dancers Studio in Bedford, Texas, on any given Tuesday night, and a Ford F-150 is parked outside the window display of bejeweled bras and harem pants. A sign hanging from the license plate reads: "Once a Marine, Always a Marine."
Yep, the instructor of the male belly-dancing class is James Brantley of Fort Worth, Texas, ex-Marine and current Air Force computer specialist, or as he goes by in class, Shadid.
Brantley started taking classes six years ago after he was pulled up onstage by the studio's owner at his wife and daughter's recital, and she said the hip-hop dancer and martial-arts student had potential.
Once he enrolled in class, he learned to adapt the women's movements into a more masculine form: stepping flat instead of tiptoeing, keeping his fingers together instead of "dainty fingers."
While women at the studio learn to embody emotions while dancing, Brantley learned the male personas: the powerful sultan, the regal pharaoh and the aggressive warrior.
Not all were able to handle the belly-dance boot camp: He remembers eight men started the class, but only he graduated.