Moving Forward
A message from FatChanceBellyDance®:
To Our Dance Community,
Since the name change from ATS® to FCBD®Style last year, FatChanceBellyDance® has been in a period of deep introspection. Although we’ve been quiet, we’ve been busy behind the scenes taking a close look at our terminology, practices, and training programs to determine what we can do to help our community move forward in more thoughtful and culturally respectful ways. We’ve reached out to independent diversity, equality, and inclusion specialists with the goal of fostering a community that is welcoming to all. We have taken this time to listen and learn, and we would like to share these lessons with you.
At its heart, FCBD®Style is a fusion art form. The movements are inspired by folkloric dances of the Middle East, North Africa, Spain, and India. Removing all of the cultural elements and references from our dance would erase the contributions from the diverse cultures that have inspired FCBD®Style and made it the rich tapestry that it is today.
However, this doesn’t mean that things shouldn’t change. Rather than subtracting from our dance, we should be adding to it—adding historical and cultural context to create a deeper understanding, appreciation, and respect for the cultures that have influenced us.
Like all art, dance can be a gateway to cultures that are different from our own. As instructors and performers, we have a responsibility to learn about the cultural symbols we are using, as well as their historical and social contexts, and to communicate this knowledge to our students.
We believe that it is essential to listen to people from cultures of origin and marginalized communities, to do our best to understand the ways in which their cultures have been appropriated and exploited, and to educate ourselves so that we can make informed choices when we engage with these cultures.
To move forward in this direction, FatChanceBellyDance® is committed to:
Using language thoughtfully. Language is powerful and the words we use matter. We are continuing to evolve our language to cultivate and foster a community that is compassionate and inclusive.
So that we can move forward with shared language, we will be offering an official list of alternative names for specific FCBD®Style movements that dancers will have the option of using if they want.
We will be crafting language that instructors and performers can use to effectively communicate the cultural context of our dance to students and audiences.
In the longer term, we will be working with outside diversity, equality, and inclusion experts to develop guidelines and best practices to enable our instructors to create classrooms and communities that are inclusive and welcoming to everyone.
Paying homage to artistry and ideas from the cultures of origin. We believe that the people, traditions, and cultures that have inspired us deserve to be acknowledged, celebrated, and respected.
We are excited to launch a campaign to share the stories and inspirations behind our movements, costuming, and other aspects of FCBD®Style to provide cultural context and a deeper understanding of the history of our dance.
We will uplift and amplify diverse perspectives by sharing voices from cultures of origin and marginalized communities on our platforms.
Building cultural connections to foster understanding and respect. Using symbols and elements from another culture purely for the purpose of self-expression is an act of privilege. Doing so in a respectful way means going beyond a superficial appreciation for aesthetics and beauty. Genuine appreciation requires us to understand cultural contexts and respect the people to whom these cultures belong.
To create opportunities for listening and learning, we are in the process of organizing a not-for-profit online lecture series to explore important topics in our community and to build connections with dancers, artists, and educators from the cultures of origin.
We are compiling and curating a list of resources, including articles, videos, and books, to help FCBD®Style dancers better understand and engage with topics like cultural appropriation, orientalism, and issues of racism as it relates to our dance.
Supporting change beyond the dance community. We want to dance in a world that is just and equitable, and we want to do our part to make the world better.
To support the change we want to see in the world, all proceeds from our lecture series remaining after fair compensation to the presenters will be donated to organizations on the frontlines of change.
We will use our platforms to call attention to important issues in our community and to support causes that we are passionate about.
Grappling with these issues is difficult and there are no easy answers. Each of us in the community has a responsibility to educate ourselves and decide where our own boundaries are. But to move forward together, we must be compassionate and committed to doing the important work of listening, engaging in thoughtful conversation, and reexamining our practices.
These are just the first few steps that FatChanceBellyDance® is taking, and we invite you to continue forward with us in this on-going process of self-reflection and growth.
With Gratitude,
Sofia, Jesse, Yuka, Juhay, Michiyo, and Carolena
If you’d like to have a conversation with us or if you’re interested in translating this statement into other languages, we look forward to hearing from you at studio@fcbd.com.