Mnogi misle da su fuzije u orijentalnom nešto što je nastalo pre par godina. Istina je zapravo malo drugačija. Fuzije kao i sam orijentalni ples kakvim ga znamo danas je uvela Badia Masabni. Ona se ceo život bavila plesom. Pobegla je od kuće nakon traume koju je doživela kada su je članovi porodice silovali. Putovala je po svetu i učila razne stilove: can-can, kabare, latino plesove i kada je došla u Egipat spojila sve to sa tradicionalnim plesom Berbera, Awalim plesačica i Ghawazee plesačica. Nakon toga upoznala je  Isidoru Dankan (najpoznatiju balerinu) i sa njom je u ovaj ples uvela elemente baleta kao i rekvizit-veo. Zanimljiva činjenica je da je upravo veo-šal udavio Isidoru Dankan i tako je umrla. Kasnije su se razvili  američki tribal stil ( ATS) kao i razno-razne tribal fuzije. ATS i tribal nisu nešto o čemu sam puno izučavala jer sam tradicionalista i više sam privržena folkloru arapskih i blisko-istočnih zemalja. Ono što mi je bilo zanimljivo je da su mnogi folklorni stilovi koje sam izučavala beskrajno slični. Ili su stopala u istoj pozi, ili je osnovni korak isti (npr. za avganistanski i folklor Emirata je skoro isti osnovni korak). Ogromnu sličnost sam pronašla u andaluzijskom (poznatiji kao muwashahat-poezija) i klasičnom persijskom plesu (koji je nastao još na dvorovima Persije). Takođe avganistanski logari je vrlo sličan plesu roma iz Indije-kalbeliya , a nošnja je slična veoma sa nošnjom khataka-Indija.

Međutim, postalo je moderno da se danas meša svašta i da se neznanje pokriva raznim fuzijama i eksperimentima. Ja nisam neki ljubitelj eksperimentisanja, volim da izučim i jedan i drugi stil pa tek onda da vidim šta mogu da kombinujem pa kad iznesem da to liči na nešto i bude prijatno oku, ali da ne uvredim nečiju istoriju i kulturu. Možete da mešate moderne stilove, možete da mešate klasičan orijentalni-komercijalni, kako ja volim da ga zovem, sa mnogim stilovima, međutim, često vidim da žele da uvedu inovativnost u folklor. Smatram to notornom glupošću. Videla sam snimke gde su dabke (folklor Sirije, Palestine i Libana jako podseća na kolo) umiksovali sa twerkingom i određenim pokretima iz komercijalnog orijentalnog.. videla sam gde su mešali više folklora-kao i mix nošnji koji su pravili sa muzikom iz sasvim pete države (najčešće mešaju folklor Emirata khaliji- sa hecha- iračkim. Generalno se meša, ali ne na taj način na koji ga sad prikazuju sa preagresivnim stavom, energijom i kostimom koji nije ni thoba za khaliji, niti galabeeya za hecha-u, a plešu na muziku za bandari-stil iz Irana i koriste njihove pokrete rukama). Kao što sam rekla, nisam ljubitelj eksperimentisanja kojim se prikriva neznanje, ali volim kvalitetnu fuziju kada plesačica pokaže da je učila i jedno i drugo i napravila nešto smisleno. Npr. idealna fuzija je orijentalni-samba, totalni promašaj je da uzmete srpsko kolo i da odigrate u narodnoj nošnji sa nekim modernim rekvizitom. Super fuzija je kad spojite burlesku ili polinezijski, ili jazz balet ili balet ili latino plesove ili hip hop ili moderni ili tektonik  sa orijentalnim što može da izgleda vrhunski, a loše je kad uzmete folklor bilo koje zemlje i izmešate ga sa nekim stilom koji nema veze s vezom, bez smisla, bez početka i kraja.

Fuzije nisu ništa novo, postoje odvajkada i postojaće uvek, međutim, po mom mišljenju, treba ih raditi sa poštovanjem i stilom, da bi imali kvalitet. Kada spajate dva stila, jedan mora biti osnova ( u mom slučaju je osnova orijentalni) , kada ga mešate sa tangom ili sambom ili burleskom i td, zadržavate osnovu orijentalnog, dodajete osnovne-prepoznatljive pokrete stila koji dodajete, dodajete energiju tog stila, dodajete taj stav. U stavu je problem sa eksperimentisanjem. Badia Masabni kada je mixovala stilove, mixovala je stilove koji su slični po stavu, po energiji, i dobila je savršen spoj. Mahmoud Reda-koji je otac egipatskog folklora, takođe je pravio svojevrsne fuzije i opet je napravio nešto što je svetski prihvaćeno, nešto što su Egipćani prihvatili za svoj folklor, stvorio je nešto kvalitetno samo zato što se posvetio da izuči korene svega što je sklapao i zato što je provodio vreme u provincijama i selima te posmatrao ljude kako se ponašaju u svakodnevnom životu pa spajao te energije. Sve je do energije i do tog stava, jer ako se ne poklope energije-dobićete splačinu. Nisam isključiva, eksperimentišite, ali kvalitetno jer je granica između nečeg vrhunskog i nečeg užasnog, u eksperimentisanju i fuzijama jako tanka.

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Many think that fusions in the Oriental are something that came about a couple of years ago. The truth is actually a little different. Fusion like the Oriental dance as we know it was introduced today by Badia Masabni. She has been dancing all her life. She fled the home after the trauma she experienced when family members raped her. She traveled the world and learned various styles: can-can, cabaret, Latin dances and when she came to Egypt, she combined oriental dance we know today, with traditional Berber dance, Awalim dance and Ghawazee dance. Afterwards, she met Isidora Duncan (the most famous ballerina) and introduced elements of ballet and props to this dance. An interesting fact is that the veilscarf choked Isidora Duncan and she died. Later, American tribal style (ATS) developed as well as various tribal fusion. ATS and tribal are not something I have learned much about because I am a traditionalist and more attached to the folklore of the Arab and Middle Eastern countries. What I found interesting was that many of the folklore styles I studied were infinitely similar. Either the feet are in the same pose, or the basic step is the same (e.g. for the Afghan and Emirati folklore foot pattern has almost the same basic step). I found a great similarity in Andalusian Muwashahahat (better known as muwashahat poetry) and classical Persian dance (which originated in the courts of Persia). Also the Afghan logari is very similar to the Roma dance from India-kalbeliya, and the costume is very similar to the khatak – Indian classical dance costume.

However, it has become fashionable to mix things up today and to cover ignorance with various fusions and experiments. I am not a fan of experimentation, I like to learn both styles and only then to see what I can combine so when I come out that it looks like something and is pleasing to the eye, but not to offend someone’s history and culture. You can mix modern styles, you can mix classic oriental-commercial, as I like to call it, with many styles, however, I often see them wanting to bring innovation to folklore. I find that notorious nonsense. I saw videos of dabka (the folklore of Syria, Palestine and Lebanon are very reminiscent of the circuit) mixed with twerking and certain movements from the commercial oriental .. I saw where they mixed more folklore – as well as mix costumes that they made with music from a completely different countries (most often mix Emirati khaliji folklore with hecha-iraq. It is generally mixed, but not in the way they present it with a pre-aggressive attitude, energy, and costume that is neither thoba for khaliji nor galabeeya for hecha, and they dance to bandari-style music from Iran and using their hand movements). Like I said, I’m not a fan of experimentation that disguises ignorance, but I like quality fusion when a dancer shows that she has learned both and made something meaningful. E.g. the ideal fusion is oriental-samba, the total failure is to take a Serbian Kolo and play in folk costume with some modern props. Super fusion is when you mix burlesque or Polynesian, or jazz ballet or ballet or Latin dance or hip hop or modern or tectonic with oriental that can look top notch, and it’s bad when you take the folklore of any country and mix it with some style that doesn’t matter with connection, without meaning, without beginning and end.

Fusions are nothing new, they exist from ages and will continue in existance, however, in my opinion, they should be done with respect and style in order to have quality. When you combine two styles, one has to be the base (in my case, the base is oriental), when you mix it with tango or samba or burlesque, etc., you keep the base oriental, you add basic-recognizable movements of the style you add, you add energy to that style, you add that paragraph. Style it self is a problem with experimentation. Badia Masabni when she mixed styles, she mixed styles that are similar in patterns, in energy, and she got the perfect blend. Mahmoud Reda, who is the father of Egyptian folklore, also made a kind of fusion and again made something that was accepted worldwide, something accepted by the Egyptians for his folklore, he created something of high quality only because he dedicated himself to learn the roots of everything he put together and because he spent time in the provinces and villages and watched people behave in their daily lives, he was able to merge those energies. It’s all about the energy and that attitude, because if you don’t match the energy, you’ll get a mud of a dance. I’m not exclusive, experiment can be good, but good when you set the boundary, because boundaries between something supreme and something terrible, in experimentation and fusion, is very thin