Among belly dancers in the West, adopting an Arabic or pseudo-Arabic stage name is a significant element of self-identification with respect to the art, to the Arab world, and to themselves. In an etic view, this practice fits easily into the discourse of orientalism, where Arab culture is appropriated as a mechanism through which the Western subject interprets herself.
From an emic perspective, though, the stage name and its acquisition show a wide range of relationships to the orient both real and imagined, as dancers describe the personal journeys that resulted in their stage name or decision not to use one.
Choosing a name, or being given one, is a rite of passage, in some cases one that must be returned to again and again before the name and the dance persona are in alignment with one another. For some, an Arabic name, especially when bestowed by an Arab mentor, signifies acceptance within the Arabic community, while for others the journey to the name has only to do with self-exploration in a largely Western cultural milieu.
The tension between the etic and emic readings of the practice highlights the variability of the Western subject in the dynamic of orientalism, and reveals how the same practice may reflect diverse constructions, and relationships to, a real or imagined orient. Naming the Ethnic Dancer. Yet in ethnic dance arts, we the viewing p ublic still embrace the fiction that re p resentatives of a native culture are entertaining us.
In other ethnic forms, such as S p anish or Middle Eastern dance, the wide variety of ethnic ty p es in those regions makes it just p ossible for dancers not stereoty p ically S p anish- or Middle Eastern-looking to satisfy Western audiences of the authenticity of their p erformance. Yet a S p anish name, or a name that is Middle Eastern or at least exotic seems to be the norm for most dancers in these fields. Des p ite u p s and downs in p o p ularity, it has been a f ixture of the recreational dance scene in the United States for nearly four decades.
