"Japanese Belly Dance Fusion"

Last year a student in my Body/Comm class did a research project and paper on belly dance in Japan. Belly dance in Japan you ask? How conveniently globalized and visual! As my student found out, there is quite an active and thriving belly dance scene in Japan (come to think of it, I had another international student who was a belly dancer in the same class...). I myself remember a certain snack (drinking establishment) in Osaka where the young Mama-san was a belly dancer; she would perform informally from time to time and also hold special shows that her male customers flocked to see. My student actually participated in workshops and performed while in Japan. She found what she called a fusion between classic belly dance styles and Japanese culture. Since leaving Japan, she has incorporated this fusion into her own performance. So, not unlike the Thai band Neko Jump, Japan is influencing international pop culture once again. See an American woman perform a middle eastern dance style incorporating Japanese cultural elements.



Link to "Japanese Belly Dance Fusion of Scheherazade" on YouTube
http://youtube.com/watch?v=3-CO2EftkRE