Tasos also.

(response cross-posted since question was cross-posted)

My two cents, fwiw:

My opinion on Zaar is that it should not be something one "plays around with" if one has not studied it properly. This is one of those cultural elements that can cause offense if you do it improperly.

This is a religious ritual. It has specific costuming, specific rhythms and very specific uses. I'm not against it being used in performance, but I suggest getting a teacher to train you to do it and present it properly.

I am so late coming to this conversation. Sorry about that.

There is nothing really wrong with men doing movements associated with zar for performance but the movements would be very "female." If you don't mind identifying yourself as feminine on stage then there's really no problem there. Performance zar/stage zar doesn't have the same look or same feel of trance zar, even if you "trance out" while doing it you're still not actually doing zar. What you're actually doing is performing some pretty generic trance movements that will put you under if you relax enough while doing them. Trancing or displaying mock trance for an audience is not inherently disrespectful. It starts becoming more disrespectful the more "authentic" you try to get with it. Dressing appropriately for a zar ritual, using zar music (especially the chanting) would raise my hackles but just some normal costuming and an ayub aren't going to cause any problems.

The people you have to worry about offending are the people who don't know enough about it and will just naturally be offended by thinking that you don't either. The problem isn't actually about being offensive, the problem is that its ritual music and dance so those who are trained to respond to it will respond to it. If they are in the audience... well crap. You have to take that very seriously. You never know who is watching your performance.

Last year Arish Lam came out to SOTT and performed a full mock possession ritual, dressing his troupe all in white and carting around a massive portrait of the virgin. I about had a heart attack in my chair. It made me very uncomfortable because I am trained to respond to the music he was using and the imagery he was using. I never feel safe working with Middle Eastern trance music because I know that some dick head out there will think it sounds spooky and use it in a performance not understanding that it has a context it has to stay within in order to remain sacred. I do not need to drop during somebody's performance. Really.

As for whirling... you guys are familiar with tanoura right? The performance version? I've seen people spin to just about every type of music possible. Its the music that is sacred, the movements are secondary. You can whirl to anything that isn't trance music and be perfectly fine because then you are presenting a spiritual aspect of yourself for the entertainment of others. You can also spin in whatever the heck you want to wear. The tanoura dancers wear something a bit more flashy than ritual dervishes because it looks neat, it carries the visual effect well. Think about the visual effect you are going for and have at it.

If you want to know more or have any other questions you can contact me anytime on tribe. ;-)

~*Spoon*~