The reason that belly dancers need to know something about the real history of the Rom,
even though most of their dances are not "belly dance" is that so many dancers perform some
version of a "Gypsy fantasy" or "Gypsy Interpretive" dance. A few dancers like "Artemis"
Elizabeth Mourat, Eva Cernik, and Natasya Katsikaris actually teach and perform authentic
Turkish Rom dances, but they are the exceptions. Dancers should label their dances accurately as
a matter of artistic integrity. Dancers need to do their homework and learn what is authentic and
what is not. The idea is that you are free to do what you wish as long as you label it correctly.
Artemis also suggests showing respect for the Rom culture by capitalizing "Gypsy" as you would
a proper ethnic name, not naming your pet "Gypsy," and not using the term "gypped".

Artemis has spent years researching Gypsy culture as listed in her paper, "Gypsy Dance -
Separating Fact From Fiction. She lists four categories of dances: 1) Authentic to a particular
time, place and people, 2) Interpretative: the dancer's interpretation of an authentic dance
3)Fusion: combining two or more dance forms, and 4) Fantasy, where anything goes. Dalia
Carella performs and teaches an wonderful fusion style called "Dunyavi Gypsy" which was
influenced by Turkish, Indian and Flamenco dance styles. Dalia explained how she works in an
interview: "I always to go tradition first, then I blend it to become one. Many people have a very
hard time doing fusion work because they don't have the right costuming, or the right concept.
You have to be careful about putting on a Gypsy costume and calling it Gypsy dancing. That's
not what I do ... I go to the source first, and then I really take time to fuse it with the other dance
forms that I've been studying, and I weave it together..."

The best-known misconceptions about Gypsy dances are the following:
1) There is no "generic" Gypsy dance. All authentic dances have a particular music, costume,
and dance style particular to one people, time and place.
2) There is no "Gypsy Skirt dance." Grabbing the skirt is a gesture only, it is not a complete
dance.
3) There is no "Gypsy tambourine dance". The last category particularly upsets Morocco
(Carolina Dinicu Varga) who is a full-blooded Roma. Having seen the persecution of her people
first-hand, she is vehement on the subject: "I've never (and probably never will) dance with a
tambourine. We don't do it. It's an instrument, played by a part of the band. On those rare
occasions when we do use one, it's almost always a mazhar and in Egypt or some other
Near/mideastern venue, and it might be used to collect money/tips, as it is onstage in Egypt and
by all the non-Gypsy dancers." Illus: a group of Balkan Rom from about the 1940's with dancers and musicians. Note that the frame drums are held by the musicians, not the dancers.