by Abel Horwitz
Daily Lobo
Touring with resounding success, the Bellydance Superstars have taken America by storm, sparking what their manager Miles Copeland calls a "belly dance phenomena" and what industry insiders are describing as "the next Riverdance."
On Wednesday the tour makes a stop in Albuquerque.
"The challenge is a lot of people have preconceived notions of belly dance," said Copeland, who was instrumental in the success of the punk movement of the '70s and the new wave movement of the '80s. "We've been waving the flag for our troupe and waving the flag for what people think belly dancing is."
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The Bellydance Superstars show consists of beautiful women, he said, all professional American belly dancers, dancing to catchy Arabic music.
"The dance has a lot of special meaning for women," Copeland said. "It's much more inclusive, much more lenient of the shape, size and age of people that can dance, as opposed to ballet."
He said the show is wholesome.
"It shows the beauty of women," he said. "It's sexy and sensual, but it's not sexual. It's not done in a way that's demeaning to women. It's a celebration to women."
Copeland understands there will be people with preconceived notions about belly dancing, and he hopes to change that.
"We wish to educate the American public that the dance itself is exciting and wholesome and interesting. Americans tend to write off Arabic culture by saying that 'All Arabs are terrorists,' and we're showing them that they're wrong."
"I've seen women bring their husbands to shows who look like they're being dragged to a ballet," Copeland said. "I walk up to them and say, 'I think you'll thank me after the show,' and usually they do. I think that the show is very interesting for a guy. When we first started there were no men in the audience. Now men are coming to the shows and volunteering to come."
The last time the Bellydance Superstars came to Albuquerque was in 2003 on the Lollapalooza tour. For Copeland it wasn't the best venue to perform at, but he said it worked.
"The audience would stand there with their mouths open, not knowing what the hell was going on," he said. "An 18-year-old with his shirt off and long hair isn't really what I would consider our core audience, but there were people who really liked it. I had a lot of compliments about our show. It was a strange experience, right out of context, but it seemed to work."
Copeland sees his troupe as promoting positive change in the world.
"I think that the world's getting smaller. America is a multicultural society, but we can't forget that we've usually been isolationists," he said. "We're becoming proactive; we're paying attention to the rest of the world. In that environment we need to learn about more cultures. Anything that is common ground between cultures is a good thing. Music and entertainment is a bridge of cultures."
