No prejudice: Turkish belly dance performed by men

Or the male belly dance? .. If you think that belly dance performed by women only, you will be surprised. Believe it or not, the male belly dance - this is the real thing in Turkey. Moreover, it is fashionable.





Male dancers dressed in skirts, decorated with shiny coins and tassels, shake her hips under the Turkish music, attracting the attention of the audience for its exotic movements.

Tellingly, zenne - men performing belly dance - the phenomenon is not new. At the court of the Ottoman Sultan zenne it was quite common, because at the time Muslim women were not allowed to appear on stage. But after the collapse of the empire society gradually changed, and women began to try on more and more public roles.



Number of belly dancers rose, but zenne almost disappeared. For a long time none of them remembered, but nowadays the interest in this ancient art has risen. It all started with the Turkish government's efforts to revive some of the traditions of the Ottoman past. The enthusiasm shown and the population of Turkey, which also contributed to the rising popularity of male belly dancing.

«The one who likes to dance on the stage and tear applause should do it» h4> Now zenne invited to dance in clubs and at private events such as weddings, birthdays, and sometimes even in the "celebration" of divorce. Their costumes are very similar to those worn by female dancers - satin skirts, jeweled belts and transparent capes. The difference is only one: the men do not wear bras.

"Male belly dancing is not something new, but in the last three years, demand for it has grown considerably. Wherever you look, everywhere zenne like interest in the performer-women is declining, "- said Segah, 26-year-old belly dancer.

He insists that this form of art is not just for women:

"Anyone who likes to dance on the stage and tear applause should do it».

"Zenne - it is now fashionable, and we see their performances in many clubs. It is no longer a hobby, now people can do this dance as a profession, "- said the director Mehmet Binay, who directed the 2012 movie called" Dancer zenne ».

According to veteran zenne Alex, who is probably the most famous belly dancers in Turkey in the past year, the demand for services zenne doubled. Now he spends a lot of time teaching new zenne who want to enter into this business. "If a person is in good shape and can learn to dance, it can be more attractive than a woman. Once it was taboo, but now it is a general interest, "- says Alex, who is 38 years old.



Segah insists that prejudices exist and that gays are still heavily patriarchal Turkish society. He says that his father was very hard to take his family, employment, and some familiar upset when watching his speech: "Dancing man dressed in a skirt, gives them puzzled. But after they look my speech for 10 minutes, they begin to realize that it is just art. They see that their wives and women admire and enjoy, then their relationship to the dance gets better ».

Segah says that since childhood has been fascinated by belly dancers, so he began to study the art in a club in Istanbul. Then he began to speak, and was able to earn good money, speaking in the most prestigious clubs in the capital.

Women who watch the show Segaha, enchanted by his performance. "We come here twice a month, there are only girls, and it's always a blast. You see, he loves to dance, it enchants his dance! "- Said the 24-year-old Tugba Kangal. "I think that all this popularity because of curiosity. People just want to see something else. In addition, they dance better than women, "- said Serpil Yureski, another spectator show.

via www.odditycentral.com/news/male-belly-dancers-are-all-the-rage-in-turkey-these-days.html