The first time Michael Drumm saw a belly dancer, he thought, “As an American man … am I supposed to be embarrassed? Is there something wrong with me enjoying this?”
The director and producer, head of Denver’s Music Link Productions, wrestled with the seductive image before him. Should he be enjoying this belly dancer or looking away respectfully?
Long a part of Eastern European and Middle Eastern life, the tradition has a muddled standing in Western, and especially American, culture.
“It’s natural,” Drumm said he finally decided. “I think things like pornography have tended to create a stigma that flies in the face of human nature. Belly dancing is appealing to human nature without that stigma, without it being cheapened.”
To introduce high-level belly dancing to Denver audiences, Drumm put together the “Temptation” showcase at the Oriental Theater on Saturday. “Temptation” will unite an international cast of artists, including ones originally from the Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
Drumm plans to draw on his extensive videography background, which includes jobs with Tom Petty, The Fray, Panic! at the Disco and The Roots, to film the event for an eventual DVD release and cable airing.
His mission: Balance an aesthetically appealing show with a high level of professionalism, reclaiming belly dancing from late-night movie clichés while keeping it audience-friendly.
“What Michael’s doing is not so bound in the politics of staying true to a certain tradition, it’s entertainment for entertainment’s sake,” said belly dancer Sadie Marquardt of Denver’s Groove Du Monde. “He is going to be able to cater to such a larger crowd, so he’s picked a good lineup of performers.”
Marquardt, 28, has performed for international audiences and Hollywood stars like Will Smith. She will be joined in “Temptation” by her partner Raya and dancers Isidora, Layla-Isis and Viktoriya. All members of the diverse lineup are full-time dancers and instructors, some loggiing 300 shows per year.
“The idea was to put together a show that features the most technically sophisticated but emotive dancers,” said Drumm, who fell in love with a belly dancer in Europe and married her. “But it’s also beautiful dancers, which is what belly dancing is known for.”
Each dancer balances belly dancing’s current reputation as a healthy, body-positive art form with its mysterious roots in a different way.
Little is known for sure, but most scholars agree it is rooted in ancient religious and cultural dances in the Middle East. In the 1500s, it was one way a woman could exert her power.
Others have theorized belly dancing began as a stylized form of demonstrating or helping along childbirth. Either way, it gained traction in America when Sol Bloom coined the term “belly dancing” in the late 19th century. Thomas Edison filmed several performances in the 1890s, setting off a string of cinematic depictions that reached a fever pitch in the 1930s.
“Belly dancing as we know it today, and this show, is inspired by cabaret-
style belly dance,” Marquardt said. “When people originally brought it to the stage they made it glitzy and glamor-y and tried to one-up Hollywood. It was a gimmick at first, but these were really talented performers.”
A handful of international troupes tour these days, but Drumm sees them as too conservative to communicate belly dancing’s true energy and emotion. His event will emphasize excitement, improvisation and provocativeness, he said.
“We’re taking it out of the rigid confines of a basic performance theater,” he said. “You’re not politely clapping in the balcony. In the Oriental Theater, people will be close. We’re really turning the dancers loose.”
Staff writer John Wenzel can be reached at 303-954-1642 or jwenzel@denverpost.com.
“Temptation”
BELLY DANCING|Oriental Theater, 4335 W. 44th Ave.; 9 p.m. Saturday , with music from Bhakti Rasa|$25-$60|303-455-2124 or Virtous.com
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