Navel Gazing: Bellydance Superstars celebrate Middle Eastern culture
The legendary Miles Copeland isn't suggesting that the way to world peace is through a woman's bare, undulating, midriff, as intriguing as that idea might be to some.
"Culture is a two-way street and the more two-way it is, the richer our world is for all of us," explains Copeland, 60, who offers his latest project, the Bellydance Superstars, as an entertaining example.
The dance show, described as being akin to a belly dance version of Riverdance, visits the Rochester Opera House in Rochester at 8 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 9.
The new production is entitled "Babelesque," and is billed as a union of movement, sound and the universal language of dance.
Copeland, former manager of Sting and the Police, who also has worked with other ground-breaking acts, including the Sex Pistols, Joan Armatrading, the Clash, Blondie, REM and Fine Young Cannibals as well as founding punk-pop IRS Records, likes to say this is not the next big thing, "It IS the big thing."
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Bellydance Superstars is designed to be a serious yet engaging celebration of women and a window into the culture of the Middle East, where Copeland grew up as the son of an America CIA agent father and a British archaeologist mother.
"I believe the audience is primarily entertained, but under that must be an appreciation that this art form offers a window to another culture that has a lot to offer and cannot be written off with negative snap judgments and clichés," Copeland told Showcase.
"The title of the show, 'Babelesque,' relates to the idea that all things are interconnected in this confusing world of ours and that the arts can bring us together in appreciation of common aspects of the human experience."
All of the dancers in the 14-member troupe are from the United States with no Arab ethnic background, which Copeland said surprises people who are not aware that the leading belly dancers in the world are American (followed by Argentina, Russia and Brazil), and that there are more belly dancers in America than the rest of the world put together.
Issam Houshan, who Copeland said is the top-rated Arab percussionist in the Western World, provides live accompaniment. Six of the dancers also contribute percussion to back Houshan on several numbers.
Copeland has been known to call this the most important entertainment show in the world right now, asking, "Who else is doing something to show that Americans are interested in the rest of the world?"
That's where the "healing force" takes the stage, he explained.
The Bellydance Superstars, as all American women, completely unintentionally show that Americans appreciate other cultures study them, emulate them and get inspired by them, Copeland said.
He believes that is reflected in the changing demographics of the audience for the show, which had its origins from a belly dance contest Copeland sponsored in 2002.
He took Bellydance Superstars on the Lollapalooza tour in 2003. The rock fans were bemused to some degree, but the dancers went down well and gained some fans from unlikely places, he recalled.
"We know this was not our audience but the experience was great fun and the ladies loved it," he said.
The show had a three-month run at the Monte Carlo Casino in Monaco in 2005.
"This show will continue to grow as belly dance is also growing in popularity by leaps and founds. Now even China is taking off."
Copeland is preparing a concert film to be partially funded by PBS.
The Bellydance audience began as a cross-section of women almost exclusively and very few ethnic Arab patrons.
" ... we have seen the male audience grow to about 30 per cent. And now we get more and more people of Middle Eastern origin who love to see a cross-section of Americans obviously appreciate an aspect of their cultural heritage," Copeland said.
"I actually get thank you letters from Arab Americans and men and who want to let me know they thought the show was immensely beautiful and spiritually uplifting."
Belly dance is reputed to be the only dance created by women for women, he added, and it has become an art form welcoming to all women of all ages and sizes, "unlike ballet and most other dance arts."
Copeland said belly dance has for some reason been adopted by American women for its inclusiveness and health and spiritual aspects that celebrate the variety of women's body types.
In 2002, Time magazine reported that belly dancing was America's fastest-growing women's health exercise.
Copeland expressed optimism that Bellydance Superstars will contribute to that growth. Those who have never seen belly dance before, or have only experienced it in a restaurant, will find his show "a total surprise" he said.
"The level of the Bellydance Superstars and what they do has no relevance to a restaurant dancer who is competing with people eating their food. This is belly dance like no one else has ever done on a big scale in 'up market' mainstream venues."
Copeland said he auditioned 3,000 dancers for the cast of 20 from which he draws to create the show. He explained that they need to be quick learners and ballet experience is important, though not an imperative.
"We train the ladies in ballet and other dance forms on a regular basis. To be great at anything is not easy and takes dedication as well as talent," he said.
The Bellydance Superstars are "the top of the top" belly dancers in the world, he said, and many have extensive dance experience beyond belly dance from which they draw for their performances.
One number in the show, for example, combines Polynesian influences with belly dance in a fusion Copeland calls "Bellynesian." There are similar "fusions" with Indian and other cultures in the program.
As a full-time professional troupe (there are no others in existence, he said) they have time to continue training and push the envelope of the art form, he explained.
They offer traditional belly dance in addition to fusion and unique interpretations.
"We aim to make sure the audience is given great entertainment value and variety at a fast moving pace. We hope to hear them say at the end of the one and a half hours, 'Oh my gosh, it's over already?'"
Care is taken to make certain the music is accessible to Western ears.
"It is Arab and Arab-fusion music with quite a few East-West fusions all with a careful ear to make sure the music appeals and is not some esoteric weird stuff Western audiences will not appreciate," he said.
He said the music in Bellydance Superstars is a "super strong" aspect of the show, reflected by the high volume of CD sales at the show's merchandising booth.
Thirty percent of the music is live percussion and 70 percent is recorded.
"That enables us to focus on the dancing and have great variety in the music," he explained.
While the strength of the show is the dancing and the music, Copeland said, "we spend a fortune on costumes and we definitely keep building our production values with our growing success."
Lighting is very important to set the mood, he added.
"We use great projections to enhance what is happening on stage," he said.
The show is presented in two parts with intermission. Issam, the percussionist, talks to the audience throughout the program, involving them in clapping to the beats he creates.
"There is a theme but, like 'Riverdance,' no actual story line. People never went to 'Riverdance' for a story and they do not come to the Bellydance Superstars for a story either," Copeland said.
"They want to see great dancing, beautiful costumes, great choreography, charismatic ladies and hear great music which is exactly what we give them."
Tickets to the Bellydance Superstars show at the Rochester Opera House cost $30. Student and senior tickets are $25. There is a $10 student rush ticket, available to students with valid IDs beginning two hours prior to every show on a space-available basis. Call 335-1992 or visit www.rochsteroperahouse.com for tickets or information. The Opera House is located at 31 Wakefield St. in Rochester.