One of my lovely longtime dance sisters and students, Kathy, sent me this in an e-mail recently, rightfully guessing I would enjoy its contents. In the bellydance world, being still truly a non-mainstream art (BDSS does not automatically bring all the trappings of "the mainstream"), we have very few tangible benchmarks for a successful work. Meaning there aren't publicly recognized trade schools, public 'galleries', or professional critics built around our creative methods. Aside from the opinions of friends and colleagues, who frankly will rarely tell you the whole truth and nothing but the truth, we have little in the way of true critical review. I think for us, it becomes increasingly important for us to develop a critical eye toward our own work, so we are able to more reliably assess our growth and evolution as we create, separate of the surrounding voices (which may not be giving us the best guidance). I hope you enjoy the article! And if you would like to learn more about the author,
Robert Genn, visit his page at
http://painterskeys.com
