How do you envision the dance of Lúthien?

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

I have to doubt Edith was doing anything resembling a belly dance!

I posted this on the Music thread, but I thought that, as Edith's dance inspired Luthien's, it might also be appropriately appended here, too:

 

[Elaini]

I have to doubt Edith was doing anything resembling a belly dance!

I didn't mean it purely! Belly dance can be quite graceful if they drop all the wiggles and use different costumes.

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

Fair enough; I was thinking of Middle Eastern and tsifteteli forms. But I welcome education!

 

[Elthir]

The Tolkien biopic is in post-production (I hear), so maybe we're close to seeing Lily Collins give it a whirl. I assume we're going to see Edith's dance.

Anyway, I fell in love with Jean Butler when I first saw this . . .

. . . and now we're happily married!

.
.
.
.
.
.
.

Not to each other though.

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

And I was about to congratulate you. . .

A thing for redheads, eh? There were certainly enough of them in that clip.

But yeah, I get it.

And another thread goes astray.

 

[Elaini]

I have the same stance with the dance of Silmarillion characters as I have with Silmarillion characters in general: they don't have to resemble any living actor or model, and neither do their dances have to be purely any type of dances we have. Instead, we can pick some fitting elements from each dance and fuse them into a movement that describes the character.

There are plenty of elements that I consider fitting for the Elves in this playlist I'm gathered, and I'll give you a few samples:

Medieval / Renaissance. There are plenty of (court) dances that I could imagine the Elves doing

Ballet. This goes without saying, since Elves would most likely have the expressive moves and near weightless footwork. The influence from ballet would probably be heavy in my mind:

Geisha dance, though most probably not as a forest dance:

Belly dance. Stereotypically it's about female dancers being seductive for men, but it has several forms depending on the origins from Middle East, India, Greece or Egypt, and male bellydancers also exist.

And I'll put a cherry on top with Korean dance, just because.

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

All of those are very interesting, Elaini -- thanks!

That last one struck me as very like the Isadora Duncan style.

You do make a good point on the "lightness" of the Elves -- Legolas running atop the snow of Caradhras certainly brings that home!

One caveat I'd register is that, as Kinofnerdanel's OP underlined, Luthien's dance was inspired by Edith's; although her dance would doubtless have been lighter, and more "idealized" in Tolkien's conception, still it was based on a real-world event. And that, I think, is what she was asking about (though I'm open to correction -- she hasn't been about lately -- hope she returns soon!).

That, anyway, is what led me to suggest Isadora Duncan as a "real-world" possibility. Though I could be wrong.

Despite the more restrained examples you give, I have to say I remain skeptical that Edith would have been performing anything close to a belly dance!

 

[Elaini]

I'm also starting to bend towards Isadora, I assure you. It has all the elements I've presented, maybe it's even my goal exactly.

I added some it to the list, thanks for letting me know about her.