It’s bank holiday Monday, the August bank holiday Monday to be precise. I live in Reading, so the town has been invaded by festival goers since Wednesday. I haven’t been to the Reading festival for a couple of years, though I have been many times in the past. Growing up with it on your doorstep you take it for granted a little, but it is great to have so many bands that close to where you live every year if you are a music fan, though the character of the festival has changed significantly over the thirty odd years it’s run, as has the price. I remember being able to go and buy a ticket at HMV with for £70 after finishing my A levels. Nowadays there aren’t any left that late in the year, and £70 won’t even buy you a day ticket!

I’ve mostly spent this weekend dancing. I’m performing at Arabesque Nights on Thursday in Gunnersbury (London) (it would be ace to see some of you there) so I had practice to do. I’ve got a few more events coming up over the Autumn, plus there’s class preparation and general admin, costuming, the usual…

I was looking at some photos on facebook today of the recent SIlent Sirens Theatre production of ‘Nosferatu’ around the United States. It is a stage production of the silent film, but using bellydance. I can’t help wondering if bellydance needs to do more theatrical performance work in order to become more accepted by the general public in the West? In the West we have a culture of going to watch dance in a theatrical setting (I’m thinking of ballet, tap dance, the sort of dance you get in Broadway musicals etc.), I sometimes wonder if most general public audiences need more of a story to really ‘get in to’ dance? Bellydance has it’s roots in folk dance, and was essentially a dance to be enjoyed through participation. Putting it up on the stage, as we have done for just over a hundred years now, changed that, it became something to be observed rather than experienced. Although all good performers try to tell stories with their work, whether they are emoting the meaning of the song they are dancing too, or using the music as a backdrop for some other story they have conceived, it isn’t always obvious to the observer as it is in dance theatre. For a start there can be a cultural barrier, as most Westerners are not routinely exposed to Middle Eastern music or dance. When confronted with a full on assault, I imagine it must be a little confusing to the uninitiated!

I’m not suggesting that all bellydancers should now be thinking of putting on story-focussed theatrical productions where dance is the medium rather than the message, but maybe if we use it more as a medium sometimes in a way that Western audiences are used to seeing dance used, more people might be interested in the message?