Time and again I am bemused by my fellow UK bellydancers who advertise with phrases such as "London's best bellydance classes" or who register domains such as the now-disabled www.bestbellydancer.com. To claim one's performance or classes are the best is both gauche and factually suspect, unless one is making a joke like "Best bellydancer in Saddlestring, Wyoming!" when one is, fact, the only bellydancer in Saddlestring. Did van Gogh advertise "Best paintjob in London!" in the time he spent there? Did Martha Graham take out adverts saying her studio was the best in NYC? Quite right.
Not only are such claims logically questionable, they downgrade bellydance from an art to a trade. Because it may be possible to identify an area's "best" mechanic or cabinet-maker but art remains a matter of taste.
And the antagonizing hubris of such claims does not even require comment.
No comments:
Post a Comment