Reality Check
By Bert Balladine, with foreword by Amaya
Photos courtesy of Amaya
As I was preparing to write an article for this current
issue, I ran across this article written by my dance
partner, Bert, about 20 years ago. It is so ironic that
the subject of our weight and age is still a hot topic
even today. I decided that I could not say it better than
how Bert said it, and so am sharing. Remember…you
are not necessarily overweight, you merely are living in
the wrong country! Enjoy.
~Amaya
“Let’s be truly honest here: in our dance field there is a great
prejudice against overweight dancers, older dancers, or
average-looking dancers. This is not only a
stigmatization that our own fellow dancers
continue to perpetuate, but it is the main
image demanded by the audiences.” – Sadira
When I read the above, a quote from my
friend, Sadira, it sure struck a familiar
chord – a conflict between the desire of
many to dance and the harsh realities of
Show Business. Fortunately, there are
many venues where dancers are dancing
for fellow dancers, in workshop-like
settings, where everybody has a chance;
but if you expect to be paid to appear in
a nightclub, it is strictly up to the owner-
producer to exercise his taste. As a dancer
in other dance forms, you learn to handle rejection early
on. At all of those auditions for musicals, ballet companies,
operettas, etc., large numbers of dancers
audition and most of them are turned
down, because there are only a few spots
open and many factors, such as height,
type, hair color, age, size and shape are
considered along with the dancer’s ability.
I would like to share something that
happened to me in Salt Lake City in a
popular Greek nightclub-restaurant. Aziz
and his troupe were in the same show. He
used to dance with a large snake and was a
hard act to follow. I had a very competent
lady as a partner. As we were preparing in
the dressing room one dancer related to me
what a competitor had said about my act
October 2017
The Belly Dance Chronicles
41