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WHAT IS BELLY
DANCE?
By Tarik Sultan
In recent years “belly dance”, has enjoyed a wave of
popularity across the United States, Europe and parts of Latin America, helped
by such performers as Britney Spears, Shakira and the Brazilian soap opera “El
Clon. However, the image that we have, of it as being a sexy, risqué activity
done by women in order to seduce men, is a Western fantasy in sharp contrast to
the dance as it is done in it’s cultural context. Although we in the West are
only use to seeing professional dancers in sparkly costumes, the reality is
that only accounts for less than 1% of the dance that happens in its native
homelands. For the most part, it's primarily a social folk dance done amongst
family and friends at festive gatherings. It originated in Egypt and is related
to other dances found across the African Continent particularly those of East
Africa. From Egypt it spread to the neighboring countries of the Eastern
Mediterranean such as Lebanon and Turkey. Like most other social dances, it’s
learned informally in the home and is done by men, women and children of all
ages.
Its real name isn’t even “belly dance”; nor is it ever
referred to as such in any of the countries where it is found.
In Arabic, the
modern theatrical version is known as Raks Sharki: Shark-y*. The social version
is called Raks Baladi: Ba-la-dy*, or simply Raks*. In Turkish it’s called
Oryantal Tansi and in Greek, Anatolitiko Horo. It was in 1893 at the
Chicago World’s Fair that Raks began to be called “Belly Dance”. The
promoter of the Midway and owner of the Egyptian Theatre, in an attempt to gain
interest and customers for the dance shows, decided to give it what was then
considered a racy name that would catch the public’s attention. At that
time, referring to any body part by name was considered very vulgar. When
the American public heard the name, they anticipated an exotic wanton display
of lustful sexuality. As expected the public descended on the Egyptian
dance theatre in droves; the promoters of the fair were soon making money hand
over fist.
Some people found the movements strange and shocking, but most
people who came anticipating something wild, actually enjoyed the simple folk
dance they saw. Unfortunately, the stereotype remained firmly stuck in
the imaginations of the general public who never saw the real dance. This
was not helped by the fact that in the years that followed, imitators hoping to
cash in on the
interest, began popping up across the nation in traveling
carnivals, sideshows and burlesque theaters. These Western performers
were not concerned with cultural appreciation or exchange. For the most
part, the dance they did was not the real thing, but a lewd display designed to
excite the male public; even back then they knew “sex sells”. In time,
this distorted image would also impact the dance in its native countries.
In
the mid to late 19th and early 20th centuries, when European tourists began traveling
to the countries of North Africa and the Middle East, (in particular Egypt and
Turkey), they came expecting to see the harem fantasy they had read about in
Western novels or heard about in rumors. At that time, it was common for
the local people of Eastern countries, to hire young men and boys, as well as
women to dance for their guests at weddings and other community celebrations.
In fact, in Turkey, young men did all public dancing. European
travelers, who were mostly male, were only interested in seeing the women: they
didn’t even want to see male dancers in their own ballets. Soon, as the
European powers began to exercise more influence on the cultures of the region
and dancers began to rely more and more on the tourist trade, the custom of professional
male dancers died out.
Around the turn of the century, European styles
music halls began opening in Cairo. They catered not only to the European
tourists and colonial officials, but to the European educated Egyptian elite as
well. The most famous of these was the Casino Opera, was opened in the
1930’s by a Lebanese entertainer named Badia Masabni. It was in nightclubs such
as these that for the first time Egyptian dancers adopted the two - piece
costume, created on the theater stages of America and Europe which reflected
the stereotype of the seductive, dark eyed, Eastern temptress or “harem girl”.
In short, because European colonialist and tourists wanted to see “harem
girls” and had the money to pay for it, they got it, cultural reality be damned!
On cultural, religious and political grounds the
promotion of this image of the dance and it’s reflection on Eastern women in
particular, has led to feelings of resentment and disapproval, from many
Mideasterners. Ironically, conservative Westerners also disapprove of the
dance, regarding it as an embarrassing display of sexuality. Modern
dancers in Europe and America, in an attempt to legitimize themselves as
artists, began trying to uncover the history of the dance. Many of them,
lacking real cultural knowledge, or influenced by the popular stereotypical
image of the dance claimed it had its origins in ancient fertility rituals.
Others, seeing the dance as a form of female empowerment claimed it originally
was done in honor of ancient mother goddesses. The fact of the matter is
that on historical, cultural or archeological grounds there is no proof to
support either of these claims. As stated earlier, this folk dance, as
done by its native people, (as opposed to professional nightclub entertainers),
is simply a dance of happiness and celebration. There is no reason to
suspect that it was ever anything other than this.
The truth is, like most folk dances, no one can say
exactly how old it is, or when it started, because such things were never
considered important enough to record. But by looking at it carefully
however, we can tell where it originated. There are theories that it was
brought to Egypt by Gypsies from India who settled there in the Middle Ages.
However, a comparison with the dances of its East and Central African neighbors;
shows that it is not an Asiatic import because its focus on the torso rather
than the legs, particularly the movements of the hips are identical to those
found in various African dances. Contrary to popular thinking, Africa is a
continent, not a country. A continent made up of a diversity of cultures, not
just one. Therefore, Egypt is simply one of many different African societies
and therefore, it shares many similarities with those of its neighbors. However,
Egypt was never a vacuum and while the torso and hip movements are native to
Africa, the fluid hand and arm movements are of Asiatic origin as can be seen
in the dances across Asia particularly those of Central Asia. Over the
years, due to trade and migration these Asiatic elements were blended the
native elements already there. In the process the dance style we
recognize was created.
In the final analysis, while many people are initially
attracted by the fantasy of magic carpets, silk veils and seductive harem
girls, the dance’s true spirit of joy and celebration still manages to shine
through these layers of cultural distortion. It is this, rather than the
false reputation, which keeps people interested and has ensured it’s continued
success around the world. Those who remain committed to it soon find that
it’ s a complex dance form, which requires much patience, and dedication to
master. Above all it is a wonderful expression of the human spirit, a
great form of low impact aerobic exercise and just plain fun!
* Raks: Dance
* Balady: Balady can have many meanings
depending on the context in which it’s used. Generally speaking, it
refers to anything that is native to the country, or something from a rural
area.
* Sharki: Literally, eastern, or oriental. The name given to the
nightclub version of the dance in the 30’s to differentiate it from the western
dances of the Europeans.
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