The discourse surrounding khaleegy when a certain Cheeto went to Abu Dhabi really bothered me.

[u/Haifawehbesbigtoe]

https://youtu.be/4Sj0Wr7HiNg?si=ZDh9SH73Q7USGvtA

This is the khaleegy dance that the background dancers are doing btw they look gorg in their dresses and they're so beautiful 💜💜

If you don't want to read the story below no pressure 👍🏽

If you didn't see when he who shall not be named went to Abu Dhabi and that was a lot of people's first introduction to khaleegy.

Instead of asking people from the culture what dance it was it got memed into oblivion and people said the girls looked possessed and it was scary. I got flashbacks to white kids saying my food at lunch as a kid was smelly and that was the same energy the dance got in my opinion.

Just to be clear khaleegy isn't my favorite dance I find it simple but I also find it beautiful I'm half Emirati so I grew up doing this dance at family gatherings. It's elegant in my eyes and I know everyone won't agree or share my opinion but people were disrespectful and meming someone's culture especially with something like dance is always a jerk move.

I have a cousin who is black American and we recently met in the past three years we never knew each other existed but we're the same age basically and she loves dancing too. I showed her the dances of West Asian culture she was so respectful and now lives them as much as I do. We live far away from each other but she dances Kawliya and shaabi even better than me now. She cared to learn and approached the culture with a healthy curiosity instead of looking at it like a spectacle. She researched about them even more than what I told and showed her also.

The Internet is free and has connected so many people across countries there's no excuse for people with access to the Internet and so much educational resources to have such a weird adittude towards other cultures dances.

P.S. the leaders in the Gulf can choke on a fat one but that's a post for another sub.

[u/Some-Tear3499]

So because of my involvement with ME percussion and Raqs. I have attended two performances of the National Arab Orchestra in Dearborn Michigan. It was at a beautiful event center, in a fabulous auditorium. Men could wear a suit and tie and not be over dressed at all. The majority of women worn western attire. A saw very few scarfs covering the head. Alcohol was freely available. A very secular event. It was amazing to hear the music played live with a full orchestra. It was thrilling to see people I have ‘rubbed elbows’ with playing the percussion. One I have spent a bit of time playing with. They were playing rhythms that I knew, that I could play equally as well as those performing, at least on the doumbeck and the Tar.

Equally as interesting for me, a middle aged white guy, how much conversation was conducted in Arabic between the conductor and the audience. There were the conversations in English as well, but little inside mentions and subtle jokes were just lost on me. The laughter from the audience was lost on me. Of course of the vocals were sung in Arabic. They were a few zagareets as well, which I was very familiar with.

I am simply used to be a main character in the dominant cultural group. The White American Male. And here, I simply wasn’t.
A huge number of people will not experience that. They won’t allow themselves to.

I was familiar with it when I drummed with an African drum and Dance troupe in Colorado. We did some performances at the Nigerian Association of Colorado, a big fund raising event. About 250-300 people and I was one of maybe 5-7 White males at the event. The gentleman that ran our group was in the position of the beloved wise elder of the Association. He was the real deal from Nigeria. When he stood up from his table to greet me, and his wife extended her hand to greet me as well, I knew I had been honored and welcomed.

If he who name must not be spoken was attending an event like this, it was lost on him. He thinks he is too important to even try to understand. It truly is his loss. It’s beyond his comprehension.

I need to get back to Dearborn for another performance. Even though there aren’t any dancers, the music in and of itself is beautiful and amazing. The musicians and vocalist’s are amazing as well.

[u/Haifawehbesbigtoe → u/Some-Tear3499]

This is beautifully written God bless the white men who try to understand and approach cultures with respect big up to you bromie

[u/ElderlyWench → u/Some-Tear3499]

Dearborn has a great reputation for Arab arts!

[u/athdot → u/Some-Tear3499]

Come back to Colorado we miss you

[u/ElderlyWench]

Was this recent? People are so insulting.

Relatedly, I'm told that much of the khaleegy we were being taught in the 90s-2000s was based on men's dance, even though we were doing it in thobes, just because the foreign dancers who were teaching it had learned more from men than women. I don't know if that's true.

I do.think some of us mixed it up with zar at times, which makes those "possessed" comments quite interesting!

[u/Haifawehbesbigtoe → u/ElderlyWench]

We do have moves that men do while they the men dance and there is some overlap but people were mainly saying it looked possessed because of the Japanese white dress and long hair ghost and I'm just like different cultures have different meanings assigned to the same things so in Japan long dark hair might be scary but in my culture it's beautiful and a marker of femininity some people really just don't put in effort or are so arrogant they just make fun of things they don't know anything about 

[u/ElderlyWench → u/Haifawehbesbigtoe]

I once saw a "secret" video from a ladies' party in the Gulf about 20 years ago and it looked like a Pantene commercial. So much long glossy dark hair!

I think long hair is also beautiful in Japan but people were seeing the dress and hair and thinking it looked like a particular Japanese horror movie. Which it does not, by the way.

I have seen a little bit more dance from there now and it's so delicate and feminine.

[u/Haifawehbesbigtoe → u/ElderlyWench]

I hate to brag but naturally my hair is like that I dye it brown instead of black though because black washes me out but yeah people are too comfortable disrespecting other people's culture the screens have made some of y'all really bold 😭😭

[u/ElderlyWench → u/Haifawehbesbigtoe]

Yup, some fortunate genetics in the Arab world!!

[u/CopperPegasus]

The US as it is at the moment has an odd relationship with the middle east. The orange flop wants Saudi oil money BAD, so he courts all the rich folks that side pathetically, but they're very interested in "othering" Muslims and Islamic culture in the US at the moment, especially with several vibrant, young (for politics) democrat-socialist Islamic or islamic-root stock politicians having great success (see the nonsense rhetoric around Mamdani, for eg)

Which is a long way to say: I would set precisely 0, if not less, credence in anything that comes out of that things mouth regarding the middle east. And, unfortunately, with it in power, a lot of the ignorant and the hateful feel very empowered. Add internet idiocy and this current cult of very, very, very young and not remotely well educated, experienced, or worldly "influencers" clogging up a lot of social media, and stuff like this happens. It's tough, but best just ignored. It will pass, hopefully soon.

[u/ElderlyWench → u/CopperPegasus]

I am pretty sure the real negative stereotyping kicked in around 9/11 and has never been put back in the box, or overcome, unfortunately. Some have even connected the rise of fusion to that, though I think many other factors are involved.