“Blue Tribe” by Enzie Shahmiri

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(Please do not remove this text or these links from this piece/post.  This is the only way people will know who did this work, and the artist deserves not only to be credited, but to be found by the people who love their art.  Thanks! ^_^)

If you enjoy dance art as much as I do (and I gather you might, as you -are- here on Tumblr, and you are reading my blog ;)), I’ve just discovered a few artists who will likely make you go -mad- with art-y, dancer-y happy. ^_^  

In the realm of classical “Oriental Dance” paintings, I highly recommend Fabio Fabbi (I know, silly name, but GREAT art).  And when it comes to incredible, modern pieces, you MUST check out Mr. Richard Young.  (But be careful, he is strict about permissions ans licensing, so do NOT snag his pictures for use online -anywhere- w/o paying his fees and getting his okay.  I have a feeling he’ll get you if you steal and he finds out about it.)  

Mr. Young does -incredible- pieces about dancers of all kinds; with beautiful, STRONG images of women looking grand and fantastic and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.  (I.e. these women got PASSION and POWER, and it -shows- in these images. ^_^)  And don’t discount the other sections beyond the ones clearly marked “bellydance.”  He has some -amazing- pieces (even bellydance-y ones) in other sections too. ^_^

Mr. Fabbi (or as I call him “he-of-the-repetitively-silly-name” ;)) on the other hand, does the classical, romanticized pieces that some people may have problems with as far as subject matter goes, but artistically speaking are just SUPERB.  Yes, the subjects are often fanticized versions of Middle Eastern dancers and the world which surrounded them in Colonialists’ minds, but the beauty of these pieces still stand out, and he has a TON of them, so I think his work is worth exploring. ^_^

You can find Richard Young’s gallery of dancers here, and a collection of Mr. Fabbi’s bellydance-themed art here. ^_^  I hope you enjoy- ‘cause both of these men have captured some truly beautiful moments- real or imagined- true-to-life or wistful, as they may be. :):)

(And keep on the look-out for more art posts coming soon- ‘cause I just found a great gallery of bellydance pieces which I’ve yet to investigate! :D)

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Are you familiar w/the group Rising Appalachia?  
If not, you should SO take a listen. ^_^  (One small part NSFW/K.)

They synthesize (and I mean that stylistically- not as in w/literal synthesizers) old traditional folk music with jazz, world music, hiphop influences, and a lot more; to come up w/their own creative, distinctively modern sound.  

One of the first things that attracted me to them was their INCREDIBLE aesthetic.  I saw their picture on an ollld MySpace page I believe, and just HAD to know more about them.  (This is long before I actively started pursuing bellydance, btw.)  I was just ENCHANTED by their style. :)  

First you hear this amazing, bluesy goodness, or stirring, rousing beat w/super-smooth vocals, and then you see an album cover or video and it’s like “wait.. wut??”  A sisterly duo, these women look like modern (or hell, even slightly post-apocalyptic) tribal goddesses.  ..Like bellydancers.. otherworldly vagabonds.. far Eastern storytellers, or mythic, future-tribal magic-makers.. and I just -love- their style. ^_^  ..To be honest, I’m not exactly sure how their sound relates to their visual appearance (maybe just the kewl, modern blending of the worldly and the ancient..?), but oohhh, how luscious the two are when they’re combined! :D

As a fan, for years I’ve often wondered how they got their nifty visual style, and today on FB, it seems they gave us a window into that world a bit. :)  One of their main stylists/designers/jewelry sources is working on a Kickstarter project- so they shared her work w/the rest of us. :D  Woot!  -Her stuff is so funky, lovely, and great, and after watching her video, I see exactly where RA gets their style. :)  Check out Wax & Wane here, and if you can, help out her VERY bellydance-friendly fashion & jewelry pursuits here, on her Kickstarter. :)

And happy listening!  ’Cause Rising Appalachia has some GREAT stuff for bellydance. ^_^