ABS Prohibited from Performing at E/A Pep Rally

The Academy Bellydancing Society (ABS) did not perform at the annual Exeter/Andover pep rally this year, as the pep rally faculty committee cancelled their performance a few days prior to the event. The news came as a shock, as the team had choreographed their scheduled dance already, and had been practicing throughout the term. All other skits and performances from fall team sports and dance clubs remained in the schedule.

The pep rally faculty committee made the final decision for ABS not to perform on the Wednesday morning before E/A. Theater and Dance Instructor Allison Duke notified the group of the news, explaining that the pep rally committee believed that movement of the hips and the pelvic region can be viewed as inappropriate and hyper-sexual, especially for girls, in today’s Western society.

Duke explained that the decision was not out of the blue, since the discussion had been circulating around among some of the faculty for a couple of years, before the current members of the team were here. “The material performed by a dance group like ABS, which performs non-western dance, has origins from so many different cultures like Lebanese, Egyptian and Turkish. I feel that all non-western dances should be contextualized, so that the audience has an understanding of the meaning embedded in the movement,” she said.

According to Duke, the pep rally committee and Director of Athletics Shane LaPointe had also felt that pep rally was not the appropriate venue for ABS to present their dance. “The committee believed that the dance assembly would be a more educational setting to display non-western dancing, as opposed to pep rally where people aren’t focusing on learning something new,” she said. The pep rally committee gave the group the choice of performing at dance assembly near the end of the term or not dancing at all this term.

The group made suggestions to accommodate the concerns from faculty, asking if the group could talk about the culture of belly dancing at pep rally. However, the suggestion was turned down, as members were told that the pep rally was not a suitable place for such a presentation. Members of the community, including members of the group, were upset with the cancellation of the ABS performance at pep rally, especially since the group had always been allowed to perform the night before E/A during previous years.

Co-head and upper Ogechi Nwankwoala expressed disappointment due to the abrupt decision, which she felt neglected the time and work that the group had put into the performance. “Personally, I felt very defeated because I have worked very hard this term to bounce back from ABS’ previous reputation of being overly sexual but my work was not being recognized by these adults. I think the whole situation was very unfair to myself and the members of my club,” she said. 

Upper Hannah Brown explained that the team had spent the entire term practicing, even waking up at 6am on some days to get together and practice. Though Brown agreed that bellydancing, in an American context, seems to be extremely sexualized and misunderstood, she explained that the coheads have worked hard throughout the year to stress the traditional aspect. “Our coheads have worked so hard this year to educate us about where this dancing originated and choreograph clean dance moves, whereas in years past, ABS’ moves may have been less traditional,” she said.

Members of the group felt that their voices were unheard and emphasized that the purpose of ABS was to “explore the world of belly dance and share it with the Exeter community through our performances,” according to Nwankwoala. “Now we are struggling trying to fit our dance meant for the football field on the small assembly hall stage,” she said.

Lower Selma Unver shared this disappointment, while understanding that not having shirts on could be interpreted as sexual. “I personally come from a country where belly dancing is a very prominent form of entertainment and art, and the reason we wear no shirts is to show the small movements of the stomach that would otherwise not be seen that help isolate our body parts,” she explained. 

Though many students were dismayed, Duke pointed out that the decision was made with the intention of increasing the student body’s understanding of belly-dancing. “There wasn’t anything different this year but it’s just been something that’s been discussed over the past couple of years. Though some students seem to be upset, the decision wasn’t a means of exclusion. It was actually to promote cultural understanding,” Duke said.