Ep 38. Samantha Burnstein: Can Folklore Be Authentic on Stage?

belly dance podcast

Today I’m joined by beautiful artist Samantha Burnstein who specializes in the folklore dances of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and some other North-African and Middle-Eastern countries. We had a fascinating talk about the essence of folklore, different levels of “staginess”, and the huge disconnect between two worlds: belly dancers who love folklore as an addition to their main focus of oriental dance, and actual communities for whom those folklore styles are part of their cultures. Many interesting points to challenge your mind!

Samantha also gave valuable tips on how to think critically and analyze any information, instead of blindly following teacher’s words or the Internet “experts”.

Show Notes to this episode:

Find Samantha Burnstein on Instagram, and FB. Information about her group Sanaa Dance is HERE.

Find Iana on Instagram, FB, Youtube, website

Podcast: www.ianadance.com/podcast