The Belly Dancer Project: A Radical Inquiry Into The Selves
The Belly Dancer Project: A Radical Inquiry into the Selves
Ramsi K. Watkins
ASU School of Human Evolution & Social Change
Tempe, AZ 85287-2402
Arizona State University
615-260-3704
ramsi.watkins@asu.edu
OVERVIEW
The research questions for the dissertation project are as
follows:
1. How do belly dancers understand themselves in relation to
belly dance?
2.
In what ways are the methods proposed in this study
appropriate to describing and investigating the dancers’
understanding of selves in relation to belly dance?
To address the research questions I have put forth, I have
developed a phenomenological, ethnomethodological research
approach. Ethnomethodology is the research methodology
proposed by sociologist Harold Garfinkel in 1967 as (in part) a
phenomenological critique of positivistic research traditions
within the social sciences. It draws from the phenomenology of
Alfred Schutz, which treats ‘the world of daily life’ as the
‘paramount’ reality, and places emphasis on the role of
‘common sense understandings’ (Sharrock 1989). The goal of
fieldwork in ethnomethodology is close examination, rather than
lengthy involvement in the field. More detail is gleaned from
each encounter, and deeper hermeneutical analysis conducted
for every piece of data than can be seen in ethnography or
symbolic interaction.
This is not a study of belly dancers as a sub-culture, or
community. It is instead a study of the individuals who have
chosen to participate in a shared activity – belly dancing. This is
ABSTRACT
also not a study seeking to obtain a representative cross-section
This dissertation research project (The Belly Dancer
of American belly dancers, in hopes of making generalizations
Project) is designed to examine some of the ways that belly
about such a population. It is rather description and
dancers experience themselves in relation to the dance. This
interpretation of the selves shared with me, the researcher, by
research project is also aimed at better understanding the
belly dancers who have chosen to participate as featured dancers
methods employed in the study itself, and their aptitude in
or registered members of The Belly Dancer Project web site.
addressing questions about the selves1 . The researcher guides
This is also a project aimed at learning more about the
several ‘featured dancer’ participants through an exploration of
methodologies employed in the study. Central to the numerous
their lived experiences of being a belly dancer via a multi-
implications of the study is that this transparent approach to
method approach in which the featured dancer is filmed in an
research yields a continually growing interactive on-line
interview and a belly dance performance. The filmed data
‘textbook’ with a built-in research project case study, for
generated from this collection are edited into a ten-minute video
conducting qualitative research from a methodologically holistic
and uploaded to the project web site
perspective.
(www.thebellydancerproject.org), then expanded and amended
in an open, online, discussion board forum. Other belly dancers
VIDEO METHODOLOGIES
and the general public are encouraged to visit the web site and
Ethnomethodology relies heavily on the interview to draw-
contribute to discussions about the featured dancers. Belly
out descriptions of the individual construction of a given social
dancers visiting the site are also asked to register on the site,
reality. The interview schedule for The Belly Dancer Project
complete a belly dance experience survey, post photos, blog, and
poses a wide range of topics, aimed at learning about how belly
in general use the site to meet and network with other belly
dance is experienced by the dancer (e.g. “How do you feel when
dancers. All of these data remain available for later
you are dancing?”), and how she experiences her selves in
phenomenological description and hermeneutical interpretation.
relation to the dance and the rest of her life (e.g. “Do you think
there’s a big break between the ‘belly dance world’ and your
‘everyday worlds’?” “Describe your spirituality.”). One topic,
1 Selves is used as shorthand for the dynamic selves that
“What is it like for you to be interviewed about these things?”
continually intersect to be experienced by the individual.
asked at the end of the interview, is included in an attempt to get
DESCRIPTION
at the participant’s experience of the interview method.
The above-described methods are intended to produce data
Interviews with several (three-to-four initially) featured
about the participants’ life worlds which can be further
dancers are conducted in the participant’s home, or in my home.
described in phenomenological fashion. Merleau-Ponty stated
Lights and a single camera are set-up beforehand, and the
that what is most important is to describe what is given, as
cameraman remains in the room for the duration. The interview
precisely and completely as is possible – explanation and
takes between 45 and 75 minutes, as topics are expanded or
analysis being far less important (1966). This pure description
contracted, based on the participant’s responses. After the
step is key to the phenomenological method, and makes possible
interview is completed, I review the raw footage several times
a shift in the method from the description of separate
for emergent themes in the data (e.g. a welcome sense of
phenomena, to searching for their common essence. This is done
obligation to the belly dance community; family/children as
with the aid of hermeneutical inquiry of the descriptive data in
central to one’s sense of selves; or personal spirituality being
order to approach essences of the selves vis-à-vis belly dance.
tightly integrated with belly dance). I then ‘pull’ (or select)
These methods are also intended to draw light to
footage that best exemplifies the salient themes for each
themselves and become phenomena under investigation in their
participant, and edit this footage into a video ‘description,’ of
own right. If we are to truly understand the insights generated by
that dancer, which will be interwoven with the dancer’s
these data, it is necessary to also understand the reprocussions of
performance video (discussed below).
the methods that generated the data.
The featured dancers are then each video taped in a belly
Data are gathered from all steps in the research process,
dance performance of two-to-three songs. The performance is
and used to create descriptions of the dancers as individual
group and/or solo, depending on the style of dance performed by
experiencers of belly dance-birthed phenomena. The three-to-
the dancer (some styles of dance are by nature group dances,
four dancers recruited for the project are temporally spaced out
while some styles are individualistic), against a black
over the first six months of the study. During this time I also
background. This is done in order to highlight the dancers
actively recruit members of the featured dancers’ belly dance
themselves, and the ‘essence’ of their dance form, without visual
communities to visit the web site, submit a belly dance
distractions to detract from the dance.
experience survey, and become part of the community. Over the
After the interview, performance, and any (optional)
second half of the project, recruitment to the site continues – on
additional video are edited together, I return to the featured belly
a broader scale. Also, descriptions begun earlier of the belly
dancer. I show her the completed video, and discuss her
dancers are expanded, and phenomenological essences of the
reactions to it. There is no set interview schedule for this
dancers’ sense of selves are hermeneutically derived from the
interview, as we will be covering themes specific to her video. It
descriptions. Just as descriptions of the individual belly dancers
is not imperative that it be video taped, however, when possible
evolve into essences of the belly dance phenomenon through
it will be (otherwise, the interview will be audio recorded). This
phenomenological investigation, we are also able to see how
interview is then available for phenomenological description
described experiences of the methods employed evolve into
alongside all other project data.
essences of the research process itself.
INTERNET METHODOLOGIES
Merleau-Ponty, Maurice
After the initial video data are collected, all additional data
1966. Phenomenology of Perception. New York: Routledge
are collected on-line via dancers’ surveys, picture galleries,
and Kegan Paul. (first published in 1962)
blogs, and responses to the featured dancer videos in discussion
Sharrock, Wes
board forums.
1989. Ethnomethodology. The British Journal of
Surveys are administered as part of registration to The
Sociology.40: 657-677.
Belly Dancer Project site, and are employed in this project to
collect data about a broader range of belly dancers than I can
include as featured dancers. This survey follows the basic format
of the video interview, but is in some places modified to be read
silently rather than read aloud, and several additional questions
(city and state of residence, age) have been added to track the
demographic trends.
Web site guests and featured dancer participants are also
encouraged to view and respond to the featured dancer videos.
This is done through discussion boards dedicated to each of the
featured dancers. With the featured dancers, as well as with the
surveys, the data generated are mostly in textual form, and can
likewise be described and investigated as such. Once registered
on the site, users are encouraged to post their photos in a photo
gallery, and blog about their belly dance experience. This data is
also automatically captured by the web site, and can be
described and analyzed alongside video and survey data.
