Viraj in Edmonton and I got interviewed a few weeks back by a reporter for The Canadian Press, which is THE big newswire service here in Canada. They supply to papers all across Canada. Well... apparently the newspaper in Winnipeg thought we were somewhat newsworthy, though they have changed some of my quotes. Following the link gets the story and a pic of Viraj himself.

And I find it kind of funny that with only 5 male dancers in all of Canada, three of them are men of colour! :)

Winnipeg Sun today. Here is the link for the article:
www.winnipegsun.com/News/Can...-sun.html

Men enter hip circles
Break into belly dancing

By STEVE LILLEBUEN, CP
(Jason Scott, CP)

EDMONTON -- Despite the odd looks, laughter and sometimes outright
hostility, a handful of Canadian men have embraced belly dancing as
their chosen career path, shaking up a gender stereotype that had kept
the art form exclusive to the gyrations of the female hip.

"When I started out I felt like a freak, but I was doing it for fun so
it didn't matter," says Viraj Wanigasekera, 32, who stepped into the
spotlight of male belly dancing eight years ago in Edmonton.

"It's been a long journey of ups and downs with a pattern of barriers
and eventual breakthroughs."

Viraj says he's the only professional male belly dancer between
Vancouver and Toronto, and there are only a half-dozen across Canada.

He began belly dancing after a female friend invited him to a dance
competition. When he was told men could belly dance too, and used to
perform with women hundreds of years ago, he was intrigued.

He now performs regularly at various restaurants and festivals while
teaching his own belly dance and fitness classes -- after years of
training, he says, to seek legitimacy in a female-dominated art form.

It hasn't been a smooth transition to success.

'FINE LINE'

"You walk a fine line as a male dancer, and if you're performing for a
very public venue you better be ready for verbal insults and
derogatory comments," Viraj says with a sigh.

"Men here are valued for the size of their wallets, so you deal with a
lot of those traditional male stereotypes that are extremely narrow
and often restrictive."

Rob Galbraith, who uses the stage name Valizan, says he has
experienced similar hostility in Toronto -- although not to the extent
of Viraj, because metropolitan audiences are more accepting than those
found in smaller centres.

Yet Galbraith admits he has still found himself battling for respect.

"I can train as much as I want and, as an artist, I don't think I get
my due," he says. "Because (audiences) look at me and say, 'It's a guy
that's dancing. Oh my God.' "

"They flip out over the fact that it's a male belly dancing and they
ignore the dancing itself."

While winning over audiences has been one issue, these gender-bending
hip-shakers have also fought for recognition from members of the dance
community.

Denise Enan, who's been teaching belly dancing for 32 years, remembers
seeing a man belly dance for the first time and not knowing what to
think. "I still think it's a very feminine kind of dancing, but lots
of men do it now," she said from her Ottawa dance studio.

Galbraith, who turned to professional belly dancing after he lost his
job as a Toronto journalist, says gaining respect from musicians who
are used to performing with female dancers has been difficult -- but
that's slowly changing.

"They're willing to give you one chance and if you mess it up they
don't give you a second one," he says.

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