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wot buddha learned about dance . .
.
Dance is an international
activity that can bring many different communities together, because dance is not
initially about your race, colour or class, but simply about what you can do. It
is an expression of yourself; you pick up the rhythm and beat, and interpret it in
your own way.
A famous Canadian, break dancing, dancefloor master, called Buddha recalls how he
was able to connect with local Turks on a holiday with his girlfriend.
‘I backpacked through Greece, Morocco, Turkey, etc in 1986 with my girlfriend.
I would often street perform as a way of meeting the locals.
We were nearly back to our room, in a small village in the middle of Turkey, when
we heard Belly dance type music coming out of an open door. I peeked my head in and
we were immediately taken inside and became the centre of attention for two hundred
men and women who were doing some serious partying. I thought it looked like a wedding
party at first, until the people explained that the boy, who was dressed like a prince,
had just been circumcised. We were watching people dance and then the Belly dancers
came out. Up till then the men and women were dancing together but all of a sudden
a particular song came on and only the men got up to dance, most of them well drunk
by this point. They started dancing the Russian Cossacks, doing simple footwork and
spins to try and outdo each other in the circle. Wow, a circle! I was getting hyped!
I thought male bonding, let’s turn it out… So I shuffled out to the dance floor with
some Toprock and they started clapping and going crazy. A battle is a battle, or
so I was thinking with the Raki (a serious drink like Ouzo) now in my system starting
to get me hyped. I did a flip to some footwork, to a windmill and then up to my head
for a quick spin and a freeze. I stopped upside down and just looked at them and
they went insane. They were scrambling over each other to hug me. Some men were so
excited that they tried to kiss my forehead, with others trying to comb my hair and
feed me bits of food. My guess it was the ultimate blessing one could ask for at
such an event.
It was truly bizarre but a great experience. The love of dancing really is international.’
Mahood, George
‘Buddha’s Turkish Story’
Big Daddy
Issue 6, 2001
quoted in The Taboo of the Male Ballet Dancer •
(Michelle
McAvoy)
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