Grandmother’s Secrets: The Ancient Rituals and Healing Power of Belly Dancing
April 8, 2010 by admin
Filed under Belly Dancing Books
- ISBN13: 9781566563260
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
Come, sit next to me, says Grandmother. Take this chalk in your hand. Now draw a dot and concentrate all your energy into this one dot. It is the beginning and the end, the navel of the world. So Fawzia Al-Rawi describes… More >>
Grandmother’s Secrets: The Ancient Rituals and Healing Power of Belly Dancing
Al-Rawi’s account of her own introduction into a middle-eastern inflected version of women’s spirituality is charmingly told, if occasionally a bit too good to be true. Perhaps the rose-colored glasses of recollection are to blame rather than any conscious attempt to manipulate the narrative…and the reader. However, when the focus shifts from personal reflections to general discussion of the titular “secrets,” we are handed yet another variant of the women’s spirituality mythology that appears in Eisler, Sjoo, Walker, Stone, Gimbutas, and even in the works of late 19th/early 20th century patriarchs like Engels, Bachofen, Jung, and Neumann. Of course, there are always good political reasons to perpetuate this story. The political goals have shifted several times over the past hundred years or so, and the interpretations offered alongside the mythology have been adjusted accordingly. In a way, it’s refreshing to see this old torch taken up by a new, multicultural generation, and Al-Rawi gamely and competently spins a veil of Eastern mysticism around this tired narrative. Grandmother’s Secrets is a fun read if you haven’t already been overexposed to the alleged secrets. If this is a story you’ve already heard from other writers, the cosmetic changes made to it here will not hold your interest.
Rating: 3 / 5
Besides enlightening us about the art of belly dancing, this book takes us deeply into the sociological and cultural context that surrounds it, and explores all its ramifications. It’s got a place on my “world music” book shelf alongside such classics as “The Brazilian Sound.”
Rating: 5 / 5
Delightful book discussing the history of the dance. Discusses why women performed this dance and the correlation to the earth and Goddesses. Gives a sense of empowerment to women and how men came to take a more dominant role over women’s actions, beliefs and body. Great confidence booster for self image and womanhood.
Rating: 4 / 5
I am really disappointed with this book as it is not at all what I thought it would be. Instead of a view which the title conjured up (that of things bellydance related passed down to the author by her grandmother..) I got a flaky and new age book that links itself to bellydance in a ‘spiritual’ manner. The end of the book describes bellydance steps and this is somewhat interesting, although very basic.
Rating: 1 / 5
A very informative book on the subject of Belly Dancing with clear meaning as to the Why’s and Where’s of movements
Rating: 5 / 5