Thesis (M.A.)--University of Canterbury, 2008. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (p. 115-121). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.A.)--Ohio State University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 71-78). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

Thesis (M.A.)--Northern Arizona University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 142-147). Also available online (PDF file) by a subscription to the set or by purchasing the individual file.

Thesis (M.A.)--Northern Arizona University, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 142-147).

How Belly Dance practitioners in England construct a sense of self-identity, social-identity and identity-in-practice in a border-crossing Belly Dance ethnoscape is of interest for this research project. What kinds of identities-in-practice do Belly Dancers in England construct in order to authenticate their performance? By applying social theories of education and identity formation, in particular Holland et al’s “figured worlds” (2001), it is possible to critically frame the development of a practitioner’s Belly Dance identity over a period of time. The research presents the case that Belly Dance in England has an identifiable past and present practice, one that continually wrestles with ownership of what is apparently a Middle Eastern cultural export. Drawing from a literature based case study of two pioneering artists in the early 1980s, Hilal and Buonaventura, the research describes a distinctive English Belly Dance tradition and identities. There is an explanation of how the English Belly Dance form has since competed on the global stage. The research also describes how current inheritors of that tradition −Anne White, Caroline Afifi and Siouxsie Cooper are taken as case studies− appropriate and signal Egyptian Belly Dance as the dominant reference point from which to authenticate their dancing practice; whilst at the same time subverting the Orientalist paradigm underpinning the Belly Dance trope. Identifying “narratives of authenticity” enable the current generations of English Belly Dancers to form distinctive Belly Dancing identities-in-practice. Drawing from both social theories of education and identity formation and reflexive ethnographic modes of inquiry, Walk like an Egyptian examines Belly Dance in England as a translocated dance form, and the mechanisms which allow its authenticity are analysed. In answer to the research question it is possible for an English practitioner of Belly Dance to produce an authentic Belly Dance performance through the production of various narratives of authenticity, narratives which both borrow from and resist pre-existing narratives of authenticity.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the creative process of six professional American Belly Dancers: Shannon Conklin, Elena Villa, Lila McDaniel, TC Skinner, Manny Garcia, and Cera Byer. I took a class with each dancer, witnessed each dancer creating movement, and witnessed each dancer perform. After each experience I held discussions with each dancer. I learned that, for some of the dancers, music is everything, but for others, Belly Dance can be performed to any sound. For some of the dancers, Belly Dance is highly codified, and for others it is experimental. For some of the dancers, Belly Dance is a solo endeavor, but for others, dancing with a troupe is essential. Following these findings, I created six movement explorations - one based on each professional Belly Dancer in my study. Supplemental video footage of these explorations can be viewed as a companion to this written document.

This thesis explores ways in which some New Zealanders draw on and negotiate both belly dancing and local cultural norms to construct multiple local and global identities. Drawing upon discourse analysis, post-structuralist and post-colonial theory, it argues that belly dancing outside its cultures of origin has become globalised, with its own synthetic culture arising from complex networks of activities, objects and texts focused around the act of belly dancing. This is demonstrated through analysis of New Zealand newspaper accounts, interviews, focus group discussion, the Oasis Dance Camp belly dance event in Tongariro and the work of fusion belly dance troupe Kiwi Iwi in Christchurch. Bringing New Zealand into the field of belly dance study can offer deeper insights into the processes of globalisation and hybridity, and offers possibilities for examination of the variety of ways in which belly dance is practiced around the world. The thesis fills a gap in the literature about ‘Western’ understandings and uses of the dance, which has thus far heavily emphasised the United States and notions of performing as an ‘exotic Other’. It also shifts away from a sole focus on representation to analyse participants’ experiences of belly dance as dance, rather than only as performative play. The talk of the belly dancers involved in this research demonstrates the complex and contradictory ways in which they articulate ideas about New Zealand identities and cultural conventions. Some of their reflections on belly dancing appear to reflect consciousness of and dis-ease around issues of indigeneity and multiculturalism in wider New Zealand society. Participants in this study also talk about how they explore and perform ideas about femininity, which includes both acceptance and rejection of belly dancing as innately feminine. Looking at New Zealand identities through belly dance, and vice-versa, highlights developing, nuanced and multiple articulations of self and other in a globalised world.

Orientador: Sandro Caramaschi / Banca: Regina Célia Faganini Lourenço Furigo / Banca: Kester Carrara / Resumo: A dança do ventre está entre as danças primitivas sagradas do contexto mítico-religioso das antigas civilizações do Oriente Médio. Provinda de rituais voltados às divindades femininas, esta dança simboliza a vida, a fertilidade e o crescimento. Investigou-se de que modo a dança, como produção cultural, atua como elemento de comunicação não verbal em diversas dimensões relativas às praticantes. Este estudo poderá contribuir para ampliar a compreensão sobre a crescente expansão de festivais, procura por aulas e materiais midiáticos da área considerando-se a falta de estudos quantitativos acerca do tema. O objetivo principal deste estudo foi investigar de que modo a dança interfere e transforma quantitativa e qualitativamente a visão que a mulher tem de si mesma e de suas relações. A amostra foi composta por 100 participantes do sexo feminino, praticantes há pelo menos um ano de dança do ventre, de 5 escolas de dança diferentes de duas cidades distintas do interior de São Paulo, cujas idades estavam entre 20 e 65 anos. A coleta de dados realizou-se através de dois instrumentos: a Escala de Autoestima de Rosenberg (EAR) e um questionário contendo perguntas abertase fechadas, com escalas quantitativas. Diante da análsie das questões fechadas de intensidade e frequência, os itens "feminilidade" e "alegria ao dançar" foram os que tiveram a maior média e o menor valor de desvio padrão de respostas. Já a menor média obtida foi o sentimento de "erotismo ao dançar", contrariando as crenças sociais. Quanto às correlações feitas entre autoestima e as outras variáveis, obtivemos resultados significativos em: frequência com que dança sozinha, melhor postura física e mudanças nos relacionamentos interpessoais. A mulher, quando dança, aprende a lidar com o próprio corpo, o qual muda dia após dia. Com disciplina e auto-observação dos seus erros e dificuldades, a mulher torna-se mais autoconfiante, pois passa... / Abstract: Belly dancing is among the primitive sacred dances in a mythical-religious context of acient Middle East civilizations. Arising from rituals geared to female divinities, this dance symbolizes life, fertility and growth. We investigated how the dance, as a cultural production, acts as a nonverbal communication element in several dimensions related to the practitioners. This study may contribute to broaden the comprehension of the growing expansion of festivals, demand for lessons and media materials of the area, considering the lack of quantitative studies on the subject. The aim of this study was to investigate how dancing interferes and transforms quantitatively and qualitatively the image that wome have of themselves and of their relationships. The study sample consisted of 100 female participants, practicing belly dance for at least one year, from 5 different dance schools in two distinct cities the countryside of Sâo Paulo State, whose ages varied between 20 and 65 years. Data were collected through two intruments: the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) and a questionnaire with open and closed questions, with quantitative scales. Analyzing closed questions of intensity and frequency, the items "femininity" and "joy of dancing" were the ones with the highest average and the lowest standard deviation among the answers. The lowest average, however, was the feeling of "eroticism of dancing", contradicting social beliefs. As for correlations made between self-steem and other variables, we obtained significant results in: how often dance alone, improve physical posture and changes in interpersonal relationships. When a woman dances, she learns how to deal with her body, which changes every day. With discipline and self-observation of her mistakes and difficulties, the woman becomes more confident by getting to know herself more; learns how to deal with her a body and her emotions. From the self-confidence and positive self-concept that... / Mestre

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-07T19:20:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2015-08-25. Added 1 bitstream(s) on 2016-03-07T19:24:09Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 000858554.pdf: 1068238 bytes, checksum: c401b755262c8aea47658c601ea64d1e (MD5) / A dança do ventre está entre as danças primitivas sagradas do contexto mítico-religioso das antigas civilizações do Oriente Médio. Provinda de rituais voltados às divindades femininas, esta dança simboliza a vida, a fertilidade e o crescimento. Investigou-se de que modo a dança, como produção cultural, atua como elemento de comunicação não verbal em diversas dimensões relativas às praticantes. Este estudo poderá contribuir para ampliar a compreensão sobre a crescente expansão de festivais, procura por aulas e materiais midiáticos da área considerando-se a falta de estudos quantitativos acerca do tema. O objetivo principal deste estudo foi investigar de que modo a dança interfere e transforma quantitativa e qualitativamente a visão que a mulher tem de si mesma e de suas relações. A amostra foi composta por 100 participantes do sexo feminino, praticantes há pelo menos um ano de dança do ventre, de 5 escolas de dança diferentes de duas cidades distintas do interior de São Paulo, cujas idades estavam entre 20 e 65 anos. A coleta de dados realizou-se através de dois instrumentos: a Escala de Autoestima de Rosenberg (EAR) e um questionário contendo perguntas abertase fechadas, com escalas quantitativas. Diante da análsie das questões fechadas de intensidade e frequência, os itens feminilidade e alegria ao dançar foram os que tiveram a maior média e o menor valor de desvio padrão de respostas. Já a menor média obtida foi o sentimento de erotismo ao dançar, contrariando as crenças sociais. Quanto às correlações feitas entre autoestima e as outras variáveis, obtivemos resultados significativos em: frequência com que dança sozinha, melhor postura física e mudanças nos relacionamentos interpessoais. A mulher, quando dança, aprende a lidar com o próprio corpo, o qual muda dia após dia. Com disciplina e auto-observação dos seus erros e dificuldades, a mulher torna-se mais autoconfiante, pois passa... / Belly dancing is among the primitive sacred dances in a mythical-religious context of acient Middle East civilizations. Arising from rituals geared to female divinities, this dance symbolizes life, fertility and growth. We investigated how the dance, as a cultural production, acts as a nonverbal communication element in several dimensions related to the practitioners. This study may contribute to broaden the comprehension of the growing expansion of festivals, demand for lessons and media materials of the area, considering the lack of quantitative studies on the subject. The aim of this study was to investigate how dancing interferes and transforms quantitatively and qualitatively the image that wome have of themselves and of their relationships. The study sample consisted of 100 female participants, practicing belly dance for at least one year, from 5 different dance schools in two distinct cities the countryside of Sâo Paulo State, whose ages varied between 20 and 65 years. Data were collected through two intruments: the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES) and a questionnaire with open and closed questions, with quantitative scales. Analyzing closed questions of intensity and frequency, the items femininity and joy of dancing were the ones with the highest average and the lowest standard deviation among the answers. The lowest average, however, was the feeling of eroticism of dancing, contradicting social beliefs. As for correlations made between self-steem and other variables, we obtained significant results in: how often dance alone, improve physical posture and changes in interpersonal relationships. When a woman dances, she learns how to deal with her body, which changes every day. With discipline and self-observation of her mistakes and difficulties, the woman becomes more confident by getting to know herself more; learns how to deal with her a body and her emotions. From the self-confidence and positive self-concept that...

Dans cette étude, nous analysons les évolutions des modèles contemporains de féminité dans le cadre des débats sur l’identité de genre à travers l’étude de la danse orientale. Nous envisageons la danse orientale à la fois comme un terrain de confrontation, de partage et d’hybridation de différentes conceptions et vécus du corps et comme une possibilité d’exploration empirique et conceptuelle de différentes identités de genre, culturelles et esthétiques. Ce sujet d’étude nous permet de réfléchir sur l’imaginaire du ventre féminin comme symbole genré, depuis les Orientalistes jusqu’à la pratique d’aujourd’hui dans les cours de danse parisiens. Le corps dansant et ses ressentis ont été traités comme les moyens expressifs à partir desquels structurer notre réflexion incarnée sur le féminin. Une enquête de terrain dans le milieu des cours de danse parisiens actuels nous a permis d’analyser les formes de partage culturel qui s’y produisent. Cela a mis en lumière les changements que la pratique de cette danse produit dans les relations des femmes à leur intimité physique et sexuée et les influences occidentales des hybridations multiples de cette danse avec d’autres styles de danse. Dans le milieu de cours de danse orientale, les femmes qui la pratiquent sont amenées à expérimenter dans des espaces clos et exclusivement féminins la stratification de conceptions traditionnelles du corps et de différents systèmes philosophiques et esthétiques. La danse orientale modifie-t-elle donc en Occident les catégories et les formes du corps désirable ? Qu’est-ce que les femmes recherchent dans cette pratique aujourd’hui ? / This study traces the evolution of contemporary models of femininity in virtue of the mindset and self-perception of contemporary French women. My work focuses on the practice of oriental dance with respect to the question of gender identity. I intend to look at oriental dance as the catalyst of cultural confrontation and hybridization of Eastern and Western concepts of the body. Because this dance is primarily designed for women, I consider it an empirical vehicle for exploring issues of gender identity (notions of what is female, feminine, and femininity) through the investigation of the belly and the pelvis. Incorporating a qualitative survey among women practicing oriental dance today in Paris, my work seeks to understand how this dance influences the relationship a women has with her body and intimate self as well as how the Western outlook has altered and influenced oriental dance. What do contemporary dancing bodies in Paris share between themselves in the practice of this dance? How does oriental dance influence or become altered by the predominant dance forms in French culture? How do these different aesthetic concepts of the female body influence each other through Oriental dance, and how does this dance form modify the idea of what is the desirable female body? What are women searching for through the practice of Oriental dance today?