GIRLS AND BOYS FROM THE MIDDLE EAST: Dedicated to music & dance

This time ZAPP is in English and looks at gender roles for boys and girls in the Middle East – especially in the country Jordan – and for teenagers in Denmark with Middle Eastern backgrounds.

We have chosen to focus on the issue ‘gender roles through music and dance’. Looking at the performance of music and dance provide us with an insight into the gender roles of teenagers of the region.

The young girls’ and boys’ personal stories in this ZAPP illustrate that in the Middle East the contrasts in lifestyle are large. On the one hand there are internationally oriented young people who dance and party, boys and girls together. On the other hand “our traditions are derived from Islam, and we are told not to mix in dancing,” as young girl Heba says.

This edition of ZAPP is addressed to young people both in the Middle East and in Denmark.

Different views on gender roles
In the Middle East there are traditions related to boys and dancing. Belly dancing for boys is completely unacceptable, it is only meant for girls who dance with their girl friends. Modern dance is not common for boys either, except for the upper classes. But recently break dance has become popular for boys probably because it is a “macho” dance. (PAGE 10-15).

HIBA WALID KHARROUBI (KUWAIT/DENMARK) & MARIAM IBRAHIM (SYRIA/DENMARK)
“The important thing for a girl is that she respects herself and her body,” says Hiba. Mariam explains: “Boys have no respect for girls who go out.” “We love music and dance, but when we do go out we turn the boys down, and Arab boys hate being turned down,” continues Hiba. The situation is a dilemma because as they say, the boys will call them whores if they go with them, but also if they turn them down! (PAGE 10-15).

DANA KHALID BADDAD (JORDAN)
“There are only girls in the salsa class – probably because the boys are shy.” (PAGE 36-37).

ISSAM TALEB MOHAD (IRAQ/DENMARK)
“In my homeland Iraq or other parts of the Middle East it would be really unthinkable for a boy to join such a girls’ world. Luckily my family does not have a problem with this, they are very open-minded,” Isaam tells. The last 6-7 years he has been dancing a combination of ballet, house, jazz modern dance, hip-hop and house in order to becoming a professional dancer (PAGE 30-35).

HIBA WALID KHARROUBI (KUWAIT/DENMARK) & MARIAM IBRAHIM (SYRIA/DENMARK)
“A girl must not talk like a boy or behave like a boy. She should not get into a fight except if it is self defense. Hiba and I have an agreement that if something should happen to one of us we will defend each other,” says Mariam. “Finally girls shouldn’t sleep with boys, but the same goes for the boys of course. Still it is more important in relation to the girls.” (PAGE 10-15).

Contents

4 Girls and boys from the Middle East: Dedicated to music & dance
Amer from Jordan says he “feels like flying” when he raps on stage. “I want to become a world-famous break dancer,” dreams Tarek, also from Jordan. Hiba and Mariam with a Middle Eastern background living in Denmark feel that through rapping they can let off steam and frustrations. Whether dancing or singing is done by young boys or girls it builds up self-confidence. But when it comes to performing the arts according to Middle East tradition the two sexes have different possibilities

10 Hiba & Mariam: “We let out our anger and frustrations by rapping”
Hiba and Mariam are in the middle of rehearsing a rap song they have written themselves. They are a few days away from the opening of their and eleven other young people’s first theatre play on the Edison stage at the Betty Nansen Theatre in Copenhagen. ZAPP’s reporter meets the girls in a short break for a talk about music, theatre, and being a girl in Denmark with roots in the Middle East.

16 Voxpop from Jordan
Four young people from Jordan answer the following questions:

Who is your favorite musician or band?

Why do you like that singer / band?

Do you think that music has the power to change people – e.g. make the world a better place?

20 Amer: “When I play on stage I feel like flying”
ZAPP Magazine meets the young rapper Amer and his friends from the rap band Top Stage at the after school club Computer Club House in a suburb of Amman, Jordan. The Club House is busy with young boys and girls working on different projects such as animation, music, photography, or writing songs.

26 Spotlight music and dance
Facts and tibits on music and dance in the Middle East.

30 Issam: A 100% dedicated dancer
Issam has a busy day today. He has to do his dance training, and after class he is going to teach dancing to young kids in another part of Copenhagen. But he absolutely loves dancing, and he is dedicated. Otherwise he would not be where he is today.

36 A day in the life of Dana:
“There are only girls in the salsa class – probably the boys are shy”
ZAPP Magazine meets 13-year-old Dana, a keen dance student, just after one of her weekly salsa classes at the Tempo Dance School in Amman. Dana originally joined dancing because her mother thought she spent far too much time in front of the computer. Now she has become a dedicated dancer who takes 6-8 classes a week in salsa, ballet and jazz.

38 Negin’s associations
ZAPP’s junior reporter Negin Bazrafkan reflects on gender roles in a perspective of music and dance. Negin lives in Denmark and comes from Iran.

39 the X-perts
Cartoon by Bryan d-Emil