“The essence of this dance lies in hypnotising by the beauty of movement”
Esther Alcántara is an expert oriental dancer and teacher. She first fell in love with oriental dance at a wedding in Morocco
ESTHER Alcántara, ‘Esalim’, what does it mean?
I was searching for an artistic name and couldn’t find any I was comfortable with: Yamila, Yasmin, Nadila... all used too much in the past. Then my brother-in-law asked why not Esalim. It’s an anagram of my real name, Esther Alcántara Infante, changing the m to n in Infante. And without the E, it reads Salim, which is a real Arabic name.
The belly dance, like all dance forms, is a non-verbal communication is it?….
Yes, that’s true. It is a form of expression that is almost exclusively feminine. It was originally a maternity dance, with its hip, belly and pelvis movements. Some writings suggest it was designed to alleviate the pain of childbirth, and other sources say it was an offering to the god of fertility.
You say almost exclusive to women. Does that mean men do it too?
Some men do it. In fact, two of the great masters of the art these days are men, who do the classical oriental dance, more typical of women.
Is what they do sensual?
I prefer women dancing it. The true essence of the dance can only be done by women, I believe. These days oriental dance is very westernised, and people demand more spectacle and too much movement. But the essence of the dance is that its does not involve a great deal of movement, a small, undulating movement that hypnotises by the its beauty rather than by the amount of movement. It is more suggestive than overt.
What does this dance try to tell us?
Everything. For example, the Haligi is a kind of folk dance from the Persian Gulf, in which movement of the head and hair is very important. It is used to drive away evil spirits, and is used in exorcisms. In other cases, it was used to put the dancers into a trance. In classical oriental dance, the most important is the hip movement, although every part of the body has to be moved as well, from the head to the toes. In general, the movement of the hips and arms is the most important. The arms frame and add to the beauty of the hip movements.
And how did Esther Alcántara become Esalim?
In a curious way. I had never thought of doing this professionally, but had always loved to dance. I was the typical dancer at weddings, communions and baptisms, and I was invited to the wedding of a friend of mine in Morocco. There I saw how beautiful oriental dance is, and while I was trying to dance like the Moroccans, they were telling me I was good at it.
They discovered you!
Yes, I suppose they did. I had always liked to dance in long dresses that showed my tummy, and this was it. I came back to Malaga and went to a show by an Algerian dancer, and was fascinated by her. I couldn’t take my eyes off her while she danced. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It took a long time to find a teacher, and finally found an Israeli dancer willing to teach me, named Mor Abohav, who now lives in Marbella. I owe everything I know to her.
The Shakira dance phenomenon…how much has she influenced oriental dance
teachers in the west?
A lot. Oriental dance is becoming more and more popular in the west all the time. I think this is due to two things: natural relaxation, yoga, oriental philosophy and all that, and Shakira. She is technically very good, and mixes oriental dance with pop in a beautiful way, although pop is different.
Although many people don’t know the difference...
It’s true, many people believe she is doing oriental dance. I always worry when somebody comes along wanting to dance like Shakira.
You cannot perform miracles.
No, that’s not it. It’s that I don’t teach Shakira’s form of dancing, or even use her music in my teaching. What we do can appear quite similar, but it is different. Some people came along with Shakira in mind, but they soon learn to appreciate and love the true oriental dance form much more.
Have people fallen in love with you, watching you dance?
You always get people whistling and so on, of course, but it is usually the looks on the faces that tell how people feel about this dance, rather than the words they speak. It is all about body movement, and I believe women are more attracted to it than men. They see the art in it, and they fall in love with it.
Flat belly, well rounded or it doesn’t matter?
I used to think it was better to be a little rounded, but then changed my mind. It really doesn’t matter what shape the belly is for a belly dancer. The undulating movement tends to suit flat bellies, and ‘shimis’ are best done by women with rounded bellies.
What are Shimis?
Vibrations. It does not matter what age or shape the dancer is, as long as they know how to move. It is not the stomach one is watching: it is the movement of the stomach and the entire body.
Is it true to say that we are afraid to move our hips?
Yes, very true. The pelvis is made up of muscles that people tend not to use much. It is important to learn posture and how to move the pelvis if one wants to learn to dance.
Always barefooted?
I like to dance barefooted, and originally it was always so. But there is open debate about it. Some say the dancer needs to make contact with the ground, and others say they danced barefooted because they couldn’t afford shoes.
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