Why Amira’s Student Recital is so Important to Me

Recital marks my May like a holiday, with anticipation, preparation, the gathering of friends and loved ones, and a festive, joyful atmosphere. Amira Jamal has a gift for developing performers – from the shyest among us. Each year, it is a joy to see how people have grown. What challenges have they undertaken? What have they finally conquered? What new things have they learned, inside or out? What beautiful new costumes are to be worn? People's lives change as we see them from year to year, the long-time students of Amira, from young college students, to new moms, to women entering retirement. Perhaps because of the camaraderie in the classes, these students tend to stick around for a long time. I believe this was my 6^th recital and I am one of the newer regulars.

 

I love it as a time to see my classmates perform, all in one show, with a supportive audience that we need not stress over (but some of us do!) - as the audience is mainly performers and their families. I love it because it's a place where you can see bellydance not as a competitive sport as it has become in some cases, but as the empowering self-expression that is serves for so many people as. As sisters dance together, as daughters watch and eventually join in, as friends create duet choreographies - spending their time both practicing and laughing together - this aspect is one of the best aspects of bellydance. It is a place where people can come together to be creative, in a way that isn't always accessible in our day jobs.

 

As much as I loved a polished performance from a professional, and even better, an Egyptian dancer who is in touch with the music and the culture (the dance that in its highest form of art is not for everyone, more than a folkdance that all can do, it becomes like ballet, something only a few can do very very well) -- I also love this aspect of bellydance where it IS a folkdance that everyone can do, that it's a joy to see people do it at any level, at any amount of commitment, or years of training. I love the (American?) spin of self-empowerment and fulfillment. It is, of course, the reason why many of us were ABLE to learn bellydance, why classes are filled, and why it continues on with such popularity. American life offers us very few opportunities for creativity and self-expression (although this appears to be changing rapidly of late due in no small part to the internet culture of generating your own content) As I've observed in the past, we tend to leave that up to the experts. We listen to singers, but do not sing ourselves. We love to watch Dancing with the Stars, but people are often bashful to dance themselves. So when you see a woman in her sixties, grooving to a clarinet taqsim (solo), eyes closed and connected to the music - there's just something beautiful about that.

 

Anyway, I was moved today, to be at such a warm and supportive event, led by the teacher who brings out the best in all of us, Amira Jamal.