When will our dance be a true art?

Published in Al Kawakib Magazine Nov 10,  1933; Translated by Shining Peacekeeper, *additional or clarifying notes in [brackets]

When will our dance be a true art?

[Caption Left] Above: The three sisters Nadia, Nina and Mary, and to the right: Bahia Amir [Caption Bottom Right] Badia Masabni in a dance dress

Westerners look at dance with a different eye than we Easterners do. They understand dance as a kind of artistic musical sport, so dancers there compete in creating different styles of dances. From “Excentrique” dance which is a form of oddity, to “Acrobatique” which is acrobatic [bahlawani]. And there are dances there, one which represents the storm and another representing a mother’s affections and other such things.

They refuse to make a dance unless it is designed so that the dancers appear as one of the birds, like the ostrich dance for example, or the giraffe dance. Thus we find, for them dancing is an art in which [female] dancers compete, and we witness their innovation in it and in making new styles. 

What makes the pieces of art harmonious with the music is that it is performed by supple bodies trained since childhood. It is forever something new, always something that fascinates people, and it is always a gauge of skill in movement precision, flexibility of the body, and artistic taste in music. As for our dancing, it has none of this. 

It is not a sport and it is not an art. Rather, the only connection to the melodies is the connection between shaking the buttocks and the tone, and you can find clearly from our dancers one who can not even walk to the tune of the music when entering to the stage.

​We have been seeing dance since ancient times and still today it is the same as it was, no influence, no evidence of progress or reformation. And our preference for dancers is still measured by the dancer’s natural beauty in her face or body, then by her skill in moving her waist, shaking her chest and bending and twisting in a spontaneous and anomalous way.

In the entertainment hall [sala] for example, you can watch ten dancers appear on the stage hardly feeling any difference between one of them and the other, except in the shape of the face and difference of posture, and the costumes they wear. This dress is gold and this dress is silver and this dress is considered new–she chose a color other than these two which have become the well-established and and long-standing custom. And the tune of the music a dancer dances on is nearly the same as the tune played for another and each dancer follows the previous and you see nothing but echos and are immersed in its repetition.

There is another aspect of our dance that is also worth mentioning, although it would be more appropriate to make the reference brief. This is that our dance involves a lot of seduction and provocation and if anything, it is corrupt and a cause of departing from virtue. How long will our dance be like this?
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How long will we continue to see the same dances our fathers and grandfathers saw? And remain silent about it when it is devoid of everything called art, skill or music, because in its current condition it is nothing but a means of inciting vice and violating the sanctity of virtue.

We believe that with our words we express the opinion of many who would like to find the spirit of renewal that extends to many of our affairs and arts extends in turn to dance, revolting against the old by innovating and reforming through introducing improvements sufficient enough to make it an art in which there is competition [*contending for artistic excellence*], not desires and temptations that one should disavow himself of and the consequences of which one should fear.

On this occasion, remember that in recent days we have seen emerging dancers who appeared energetic and ready for renewal, if only they could find someone to take care of them and train them well. Perhaps they will find in our words an incentive for new work, so that they do not follow the path that others have taken. We have great hope for the likes of Houria, Nadia, Mary, and Fathia Sharif, and we believe  that they will be a good nucleus for revolutionizing the old dance and creating a new type that is in line with the spirit of renewal and contradicts the obscenity and seduction in current dance.