July 27, 2010
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Kaya and Sadie promote Erotica on America’s Got Talent
Although America’s Got Talent is a family show, one of the most popular acts verges on pornographic.
The cover for: Pops, Locks & Shimmies with SADIE and KAYA Belly Dance Instructional DVD
The duo of Kaya and Sadie perplex us. They are one of the most popular acts on America’s Got Talent this season, and considered to be one of the main contenders. Rather than be embarrassed about promoting this act, the judges love up on it.
Tonight’s performance felt grossly over-sexualized and far too erotic for network TV (especially when networks won’t air the much tamer Lane Bryant commercials.) The camera zoomed in on fleshy bits, and the judges made remarks about how “I’m married so I can’t say too much… ” or “he’s hypnotized!” Sex sells, but is this America’s Got Sex or America’s Got Talent? Does sex or sexual influence truly equate with talent?
The judges remarks about tonight’s performance:
Howie proclaimed, “You’re going to Hollywood! I just…watch. When you bend backwards…”
Morgan said, “I found both your bellies extremely charming tonight.”
Sharon stated, “I thought that it was fantastic. Very entertaining.”
Jumping up and down while their breasts bounced in a lewd fashion (not to mention looking badly tanned with heaps of body glitter) we have to ask ourselves, is this really America’s true talent?
No doubt, there is a talent and art to belly dancing. But these two don’t seem to do it well. There is no cultural respect you can siphon from their performance. They act more like glorified strippers than bellydancers. Rather than looking like a fluid partnership, the few second lag on the second, less-skilled dancer (who is also much taller) catches the attention and sticks out like a proverbial sore thumb.
Are we screwed, America?
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July 28th, 2010 at 1:57 am
Oh don’t be such a prude! Were they going up to the judges and giving them lap dances and shoving their breasts directly in their faces? NO! Belly dance is a art and comes from vast cultures + it takes a lot of strength just to build their abs. Let’s face it, dancing styles today are varied and popular.
This was just skill and no way pornographic, have you even seen porn? lol. If not, allow me to say that it’s usually sloppy, bare, and grinding bodies.
July 28th, 2010 at 3:26 am
I totally get that it’s an art. If you do it right. If you look at the Rakash school forums where these two used to teach, it seems the people are very upset by how these two are dancing.
July 28th, 2010 at 8:46 pm
Estella, you are totally out of your mind!! You are obviously a prude, jealous fustrated woman lol…pornographic?!! you got to be kidding me!
I am a bellydancer myself and know a lot about the bellydance world! There is nothing such as “Rakash school”!!! OMG!!! If you are going to write about this, get your facts straight! There is Rakkasah Festival which happens once a year in the West and East coast, they taught one workshop there…and that’s all! AND ONLY A FEW OTHER PRUDES IN THE COMMUNITY WERE THE ONES UPSET OVER A PERFORMANCE THEY ALLOWED IN THE FIRST PLACE!!
NOW, GO DO SOME RESEARCH! AND GET CORRECT INFO BEFORE YOU WRITE ANOTHER DUMB ARTICLE!
July 28th, 2010 at 10:13 pm
its sexy yea but totally funn to watch. all their doin is dancing. wat do u want tha guys to do? say put clothes on?
July 29th, 2010 at 1:19 am
It wasn’t pornorgraphic. Pornographic would be stripping, acting and behaving like a porn star. Sadie and Kaya behaved very professionally. Belly dancing is hard. I’ve been taking classes for three years and it takes about ten years to get to their level. I think the fact that they are physically beautiful might make some women feel intimidated. Estella, they are doing it right. They just make it look easy. Do you know how to do it right? Have you tried belly dancing? If not, then shut the hell up.
July 29th, 2010 at 10:47 am
I guarantee if these two beautiful women were 300 lbs these nasty comments would not be happening. They are gorgeous and beyond talented. I am a belly dancer and have a much smaller frame. When I do these same exact moves it looks different. But that is only because my body type is different. What is so hard about appreciating someones talent? Apparently being beautiful has its downfalls. Like not being taken seriously and hearing over and over comments left by jealous women.
August 4th, 2010 at 2:57 am
I agree with CV. These women are extremely talented and it takes years to be able to belly dance at their skill level.
Pierce have you even watched their instructional videos?
Pornographic? Have you seen the music videos on MTV lately, how women are naked or in their underwear grinding their butts against all the men? That is pornographic. Sadie and Kaya show true beauty of the female form.
August 4th, 2010 at 5:36 am
As someone coming from the culture, I must say that indeed most Arabs who care about the dance (and do not outright condemn it as lewd anyway, which also happens in the Arab world – not everyone is fond of bellydance at all) and who watch this particular duo find them vulgar, very American and lacking the heart and soul of the dance.
Undoubtedly these particular are about sex, and not about art.
The Rakkasah performance was considered pornographic and racist (they had “black slaves” simulate oral practices on them in their “bellydance” performance) by a large majority of the crowd, and got them banned from the highly prestigious Rakkasah festival in subsequent years to my knowledge.
Not everyone seeing “sex sex sex!” in this duo is “prude” or “jealous”. Some may be uncomfortable with blatantly sexual representations of cultural art forms, or with blatant sexuality on tv in general (which I’d consider legitimate per se), some may care about better representations of this cultural art form.
August 4th, 2010 at 11:18 am
As a fiction writer, poet and former university instructor who has been belly dancing for three years now, the synchronized performance of these two dancers exhibited an extremely high skill level and was the result of hours of dedicated work. Belly dance is a celebration of the female body, freedom and sexuality, and I observed nothing “lewd” or on the level of “stripping” in their performance–just two highly trained, dedicated, beautiful women having fun. It is the most fun way of keeping in shape that I’ve ever come across, has blessed me with the deepest female friendships, and has enabled me (a skinny coach potato for most of my life) to reconnect with my body in a way I had never dreamed possible. I challenge the writer of this article and others who share this viewpoint to ask themselves why they feel sexuality needs to be covered up instead of celebrated in an engaging, stunning performance? Why the fear surrounding the performance of two women who are comfortable with, and celebrating, their bodies in an artful, delightful way? And I encourage all women to give belly dance a try, even if you never thought you were “coordinated” etc. It took me a year to muster up the courage to try a lesson, and my only regret is that I didn’t go for it sooner.
August 4th, 2010 at 6:37 pm
Dear Estella: You may be on to something! In some parts of the world, these women would be stoned to death. However, not for their lack of performance skills but moreso for what you refer to as “over-sexualized” behavior. So my question to you: Do you wear a burka?
August 7th, 2010 at 10:07 pm
This article is a reflection of the writer’s complete ignorance and her own “hang-ups”. Is ballet not an “erotic” dance form? Its extremely revealing of the human physique, very seductive and passionate. Why doesn’t she go write an article about how ballet should not be on TV! For that matter, aren’t many forms of art, whether on the stage or on canvas, provocative? Belly dance is an art form with many elements in common with other types of dance and art. Come out of the dark ages, please… Its embarrassing to see Westerns treating this intricate and mesmerizing dance anything but artistic and masterful.
August 17th, 2010 at 12:56 pm
Reading this I could say that youve never seen belly dancing in your life before because my jealous friend if you had watched it before you have known better. Thats how all belly dancers dance and they are not strippers, they are dancers.you are seriously a jealous person just because you dont have that talent and I am really sorry for you
August 21st, 2010 at 4:33 am
I’m a guy, so no need to be concerned with jealousy here. I’ll admit that I’m ignorant with regard to belly-dancing, but I’ve seen a couple of live performances and I’ve actually averted my eyes out of embarrassment for the dancers. Arguing that belly-dancing is no worse than MTV is no argument at all, because that’s what Estella is getting at: this is just another manifestation of our over-sexed culture. While I can see that belly-dancing is an art form that takes a lot of hard work to master and that it represents freedom of expression and the beauty of the female body, I think there has to be a less sexualized way to perform this cultural practice. Even slightly less revealing costumes would go a long way to creating an atmosphere of respect.
August 23rd, 2010 at 11:10 am
Sadie and Kaya are one of the best bellydancers in the world (I’d know, I’m a bellydancer, too) – not only respected as performers but also as teachers. They specialize in drum solo and are killing it.
And the costumes are not sexual or too revealing – just regular modern bellydance costumes.