http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qobx8O0ozr8&feature=related
Also, in case your wondering, the song title El Wala Wala actually means Hey Dude. ( I looked for further translation but could not find any)
After looking a little bit more, I found another production of belly dancing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ox8Znptlsdk&feature=related that was of a women improvising (or seems to be improvising) while the man plays a gorgeous tablah. It almost reminded me of the african culture in that you have the men (or in this case man) playing while the women is dancing. I just love how fluid the movement is, and the way that she contorts her stomach is just jaw dropping. Although word of warning if you watch it for the tablah player, you will be disapointed in that the camera man is only on the women. (not too shocking there) It's just interesting though to me that in our society we have celebritys walk around or dance around in scantily clad bikinis, and this women is so much more feminine about it even though she's wearing just a little bit more than say Britney Spears. One qoute that I really like from the comment box is the following
"It is about Arab religion, Agny is Joy of life. If you live and no feeling Agny is sleep, you have to wake-up. Drumms do that and the dance is under musik controll.
As you can be alive but with no Joy if Agny, the fire is not in you."
This is such an interesting concept because in most of America whose ancestors are of the puritan religion, they believed that dancing was immoral, and a sin. Because of this, dancing is not condoned now, but if you "feel" god you can speak in tongues (in some sects of Christianity) but for the most part we stand in place while singing. I just love the concept of celebrating a religion through dance.
Last but not least in case anyone was interested in ordering a belly dance video I found this site that had every video that seems to have ever existed in America. Although, after looking at this, I think that it's awesome that people are learning about other cultures, it seems that a lot of the popularity of it is just due to the work out.
http://www.bellydancestore.net/
Here are a couple examples of the tablah.
Another really interesting tradition that I found that I just wanted to share even though were are technically not covering India yet was the intricacy of henti hands. It looks like this really nasty paste when you put it on, but will last for about two weeks. For the brides it's called Mehindi and according this link,
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://bp3.blogger.com/_Va40yjzpBrs/R7sslu34xxI/AAAAAAAAAv8/zvfZmQfwvhw/s400/Arabic%2BBelly%2BDancer%2B01.jpg&imgrefurl=http://nazarsudhakar.blogspot.com/2008_02_01_archive.html&usg=__oTDnp37e4hCDOyw_d68R5e0O4Os=&h=400&w=383&sz=34&hl=en&start=1&sig2=OVklZt8gg6MFCMstFA2TfA&tbnid=e7lgT--ngsB3kM:&tbnh=124&tbnw=119&ei=OTBxSbizPI2ssAOAnJ21DA&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbelly%2Bdancer%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG
"Mehendi, a heart beating moment of every bride's life. The mehendi theme fixed in their mind that they never marry without a mehendi.
All are knows the importance of Mehendi in Hindu wedding ceremony. It is an artistic and pleasing expression which tripping the light fantastic way on everybody's core of heart. A Mehendi plays a vital role in such a way that no Indian marriage is believed to be complete without it!"
A cultural aspect, but absolutely gorgeous!
Last thing...I found a website called Walla! radio http://radio.walla.co.il/ts.cgi?tsscript=index.english&fg=1
I just thought it was interesting because it's all in Hebrew but than randomly you will see Metallica, or Lil Wayne. Amazing how much Western music other cultures listen to.
Another little tangent, I worked with a girl from Russia and she liked alot of our music even though a lot of times she doesn't actually know what it means. I wonder if it's difficult to find American song translated into Russian.
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