Sadly there are nowhere near enough male dancers in the UK as many of this country's teachers seem more comfortable with the idea that this is solely a women's dance - which is not really the case at all. I personally have taught many men this dance, and in the course of my 25+ years of study I have had the chance to study or take workshops with many fine male teachers. Mahmoud Reda, the late Ibrahim (Bobby) Farrah, Yousry Sharif, Dr Mo Gedawi, Medhat Fahmy, Horacio Cifuentes and Bert Baladine to name a few.
In the UK we are fortunate to have Khaled, Shafeek and Ozgen teachers and performers. However as I said earlier, men wanting to learn this dance in the UK often face a formidable wall of prejudice in favour of this being a 'women only' dance. This has meant that very few men actually take up the dance. Those that do often find themselves faced with animosity or of being 'frozen out' of major festivals because the organisers say that their target delegate demographic is women only. These events claim that they would lose business and women would stay away in droves if they admitted male students.
How ridiculous! In today's modern climate this kind of prejudice just makes our dance look foolish! Men who are serious about learning this dance should be welcomed with open arms as they are in other countries like Germany, Norway, France and the US. In Egypt we have the shining example of Mahmoud Reda and many of the country's top choreographers and coaches are men, it seems odd that this acceptance is not mirrored here in the UK.
Okay, I can hear many female dance students saying that you like the fact that your class is a 'man-free haven', but just imagine how you would feel if you were told you couldn't do something merely because of your gender! You'd feel rightly angered and perhaps moved to complain about such blatant sexism. So why is it then that many teachers feel that it is quite acceptable to do this to men wishing to learn this dance? Yes, I agree that there are some men out there who would see joining a dance class as a great opportunity to ogle his fellow class-mates. But let's be realistic here, just how many are going to stay for even a whole class when they realize that the chance to do that is almost minimal and that watching others learn to dance is only interesting if you are doing the same thing yourself. Those that stay and want to learn are obviously genuine. I agree that this is perhaps a simplistic approach, but you know it's true to say that if a man is brave enough to turn up to have a go then most likely he is genuinely interested anyway. At the first sign of anything untoward the teacher can ask him to leave.
So how should a teacher behave? Treat your male students with the same kind of respect you show all your female students. Make it clear that all students are there to learn to dance and that you expect the same level of commitment from your male students that you expect from your female students. You don't really need to worry too much about movement language as most of the movements we use can be done by either gender. Your male student will need help on developing a dance style that fits his personality. But surely you do that for your female students too? To make it easier for everyone ensure that there are clear rules about what to wear and where to change. You might want to ask male students to arrive either before or after all the female students have changed if you do not have access to separate changing facilities. The same applies to cloakroom or dressing room facilities too. If everyone understands the rules and agrees to abide by them there should not be a problem. Your male student(s) may have to 'prove' themselves to the women in your class by actively making sure that they don't behave in any way that could be construed as threatening, sexual, or in any way inappropriate, but personal experience has taught me that after a couple of classes this soon resolves itself.
So the next time a man asks to join a class - give him a chance!
© Afra Al-Kahira 2003
Updated June 2008
All ASMED teachers will take male students in their weekly classes as well as any workshops they teach.
Okay, you have read the article & now you want to know some more about male dancers?
Here are some sites that I recommend:
For further links to sites about male dancers take a look at Zorba's Links page, plus many of these talented men have video clips on YouTube - it's a good place to start if you are a man looking for inspiration or anyone who just wants to appreciate good dancing.
Zorba - US Dancer with a great website that includes some excellent articles & a useful list of links to other male dancers.
Horacio Cifuentes - Based in Germany & husband/dance partner of Beata Cifuentes.
Adam Basma - Long established US Dancer
Tarik Sultan now has his own website! Morocco 's site wonderful protégé - an extremely skilled, knowledgeable and much respected US dancer. You can also read an excellent article by Tarik here.
Tito Seif - another incredibly talented Egyptian dancer who is just starting to make a name for himself.
Jim Boz of San Diego - another highly talented American dancer.
DaVid of Scandinavia - Talented Scandinavian dancer now residing in California
Khaled Mahmoud - British-based performer and teacher of international standing
Mohammed Khazafy - wonderfully talented Egyptian dancer and teacher who has toured the UK with the much acclaimed Farha Tour.
Serkan - talented Belgium dancer.
Mayodi of Paris (site is in French)
Mohammed Sughayyar - talented British dancer.
BelCobraDance R: Rick Heiman, performer & Artistic Director of BelCobraDance. Talented US dancer whose dancing I had the pleasure of enjoying during his recent visit to the UK in 2005.
Steve Langley is an up and coming dancer who is starting to get known on the UK dance scene.