In the Western world, belly dancing is considered a traditional dance form and an exotic form of entertainment, but it did not originate as an exotic form of entertainment in the Middle East.
Belly dancing is a medium-intensity dance form featuring the wiggling of the hips and stomach that is believed to have originated in Ancient Egypt. It spread throughout the Middle East and has become a widely appreciated dance form commonly associated with the region. It may or may not be erotic.
The history of belly dancing crosses many cultural boundaries, starting in the Middle East and Africa and moving into Western cultures as a form of cultural dance and exotic entertainment. A unique and completely contemporary style, it uses steps from existing cultural dance styles, including dances from India, the Middle East and Africa.
Tribal dance incorporates ancient dance techniques from North India, the Middle East and Africa, and is characterized primarily by improvisation and rhythm construction. The informal form of social dance is called Raqs Baladi (Country Dance or Folk Dance) in Egyptian Arabic and is considered a local dance. It is believed that this dance has been known in Egypt since pre-Islamic times through oral traditions.
Western Explorations into Belly Dancing
In the 18th century, some French explorers traveled to Egypt and came across women in local costumes doing a belly dance with their hips and belly. The first belly dancers were considered gypsies in Egypt in the 18th century and were banned in Cairo in the 1830s, but continued to perform in Upper Egypt and later the Middle East and Europe. The itinerant dancers known as the Ghawazi originally originated in Egypt but were banned and traveled to Europe and the Middle East, increasing the popularity of the dance forms.
In those early days, belly dance was known as an oriental dance, and the term belly dance originated from Europeans when they watched women perform such belly and hip movements as part of the dance. Earlier in the day, in several countries in the Middle East, men and women performed belly dancing to earn a living as spectators enjoyed the dance moves and threw coins at them. The costumes and dance styles took on a distinctive Hollywood flavor and in turn influenced dancers in the Middle East, thus taking belly dancing to a new level.
The dance had a rather sensual reputation at this point, and Western women worked hard to reinvent it as a woman-centric dance to be performed in conjunction with women’s celebrations such as childbirth and worship of a new age goddess.
According to some reports, belly dancing today is extremely ancient and its traces can be found up to 6000 years ago, in some pagan societies that worshiped a female deity to glorify female fertility as something magical. In recent years, mainly due to the feminist movement of the 70s and 80s, more and more women (first in the US, then around the world, including Europe, Oceania and the Far East) are discovering the inspiring nature of belly dancing. women.
Belly Dancing Is a Common Exercise Dance
In particular, many dancers and people who are trying to keep fit, but who are bored with traditional training, take up belly dancing, as the movements of the hips and abdomen help them maintain their figure and physique. Continuous movement of the hips and abdomen strengthens the abdominal muscles and is a fun form of cardio.
Unlike many forms of Western dance, belly dance in India focuses on isolating the muscles of the torso rather than moving the limbs through space. The dance places great emphasis on assimilating and reflecting the music and the emotions it contains.
Dancing is a good cardiovascular workout and helps increase flexibility and strength by focusing on the muscles in your torso or core, as well as increasing leg strength. Basically, this is an impromptu dance (albeit based on a certain vocabulary), rhythmic and smooth at the same time.
Professional Belly Dancing and Its Forms
The form you see in professional belly dancers has its roots in social dance but has evolved into a stage craft such as samba. The best belly dancers have the ability to pull in their belly and twist and rotate their hips in a very tempting way. According to the New York Times, belly dancers often go to great lengths to dispel popular misconceptions about their craft. Yes, belly dancers are “feminine, sexy, even sexy…but they are not strippers. objects that seduce you with exciting hip movements and sensual torsos.
Belly dancers usually dance to Turkish or Middle Eastern music played on a tape recorder by a band with a drum, clarinet-like instrument, harp, and Turkish mandolins. Other times they balance candlesticks and swords over their heads and invite the audience to join them on stage. Historically, the professional dancers were the Awalims (mostly musicians and poets), the Ghawazis and the Kotzeklers.
The idea of wearing special costumes for dance performances different from the usual masquerade costumes originated in the 20th century and is often attributed to the dance innovations of Badia Masabni in the 1930s. None of these dance forms originally featured plain sequined costumes—in any case, the sexy look we know today was created for theatrical purposes in the 20th century. The dancer who stole the show and went on to popularize this dance form was Fatima, also known as Little Egypt.
Belly Dancing and Its Egyptian Connotation
The public was shocked and entrepreneurs began to make a fortune by hiring strippers to perform the “Little Egypt” dance as they emerged from the pirogues. The few non-Native Egyptians who are allowed to perform authentically have revived the dance network and helped spread the word about the art form around the world.
Professional belly dancing in Cairo was not unique to native Egyptians, although Egypt banned dancers of foreign origin from obtaining solo work licenses for much of 2004 due to concerns that potentially inauthentic performances would dilute Egyptian culture.
Modern revisionist feminists are fond of saying that it rose to fame during the Ottoman era, when dance was a frequent pastime of the women of the harem for each other. The dance helped women strengthen their abdominal muscles and served as a form of self-hypnosis.
