What does the word bellydance make you think of? What images does it conjure? And how is that related to geopolitical tensions and social upheaval??

"It's hard to take your hobby and acknowledge that it's political. It's hard to take your hobby and acknowledge that it's problematic. And maybe you don't want to think about it that hard. The spoiler alert is that none of us ever wanted to think about it this hard, and that is the problem. That's the problem."

If we understand the history of how bellydance was introduced to the West, we start to unpack a host of problems. We begin to see our deeply ingrained practices of "other-ing." In this episode we talk about

• power dynamics - how international schools can cause othering of the self, and code switching, for local students;
• engaging in cultural tourism and viewing our host country as a novel cultural experience, versus digging in to the everyday realities of local life;
• world cultures being introduced to the U.S. in the Chicago World's Fair (1893) as a way to homogenize and solidify a white American identity;

and so much more.

RESOURCES mentioned in the episode:

Edward Said: Orientalism

Heather D. Ward on costuming: Egyptian Belly Dance in Transition: The Raqs Sharqi Revolution, 1890-1930

Depictions in film: Planet of the Arabs

Eric Davis: Representations of the Middle East at American World Fairs 1876-1904

Martti Koskenniemi "International Law and the Far Right: Reflections on Law and Cynicism" (Fourth T.M.C. Asser Lecture)

Brittney says, "I'll be doing CU Boulder's B2 residency November 2-12 developing a concept performance/installation titled "Overworld" with my collaborators Constance Harris and Laura Conway. Details are forthcoming but there may be a livestream.

RATHER READ? I've got you covered with the transcript and blog post.

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ABOUT TODAY'S GUEST:

Brittney is currently an MFA Dance Candidate and a Graduate Instructor at the University of Colorado, Boulder, with secondary emphasis on Somatics and International Law/Relations. Brittney holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance with a minor in Middle Eastern Studies from Missouri State University. Her choreographic/research questions involve the intersection of history, politics, surveillance, and culture within dance forms of Middle East and North Africa and their respective diasporas.

CONNECT with Brittney:

Website: www.brittneybanaei.com

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Instagram: @halfbeasthalfmideast

ABOUT YOUR HOST:

Kim Adams is an American raising three daughters along with her math-teaching husband of 20 years. She loves photography, reading, thunderstorms, walking on the beach, camping where there are no bugs, and has a weakness for mint chocolate chip ice cream.

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