The Gilded Serpent presents...
Andrea Deagon
Andrea Deagon received her Ph.D. in Classical Studies from Duke Unviersity in 1984. Since then she has taught at Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand) and at her undergraduate alma mater, Guilford College (Greensboro, NC) before coming to UNC-Wilmington, where she coordinates the Classical Studies Program and teaches in the Women's Studies Program. 
She has studied oriental dance since age 17, and has had a wide range of performing experiences in the US and (opportunistically) overseas. She periodically teaches local classes and regional seminars. One of her goals over the past ten years has been the integration of her academic research and writing, with her goals and perceptions as a dancer. These articles are a part of that process.
E-mail:deagona@uncw.edu
Web site:people.uncw.edu/deagona/raqs/aboutme
Articles on Gilded Serpent by or about Andrea Deagon
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7-18-10 Belly Dance in Patriarchy, Escaping the Switzerland of the Soul
However, I do believe that belly dance is able to attain such vitality and complexity in the modern world precisely because it's embroiled in serious cultural and personal contestations. It is precisely clashes of aesthetic values, conflicting paradigms of sexuality and gender, and economic as well as political inequities that strike the dance's most beautiful notes. - 4-16-10 Belly Dance and Feminism: Different Issues, Different Perspectives
Feminism embraces more than one point of view, and feminist perspectives lead to many different decisions and courses of action. Feminism is a tool for thinking - for understanding and putting a name to issues you may be wrestling with in your own dance life, and for seeing belly dance in the light of broader economic, social and political realities. - 8-16-09 Dancing for Dowries, Part 2: The Nailiyat
It respected the intelligence, style and wisdom gained by women who had lived in the public eye and in the world beyond their native home - a world many men of the Ouled Nail never saw - 7-18-09 Dancing for Dowries: Earning Power, Ethnology, and Happily Ever After
When a mythic history is told and retold in a context like the belly dance community, you have to assume that there are strong underlying reasons for its popularity. - 10-19-09 Naked Belly Dance in Ancient Egypt, Part 1: Are They Really Belly Dancing?
The real first question is, "What is belly dance?" Many elements of the modern practice of belly dance emerged in the 20th century. Our emphasis on the female soloist, the structure of the typical show in both the East and the West, the style of music we dance to, our costuming, our specific styles of relationship with the audience, and so on, are modern developments. - 11-16-09 Naked Belly Dance in Ancient Egypt, Part 2: Are They Really Naked?
What does nudity mean in a dance scene like this? And does this nudity reflect an actual practice of naked dancing as banquet entertainment?
