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What is the belly dance?
The Belly Dance is identified by swaying hips, undulating torso,
and articulated isolations employed in a range of dynamic and
emotional expressions. Characteristic movements in the dance
include curving patterns, undulations, thrusts, lifts, locks,
and drops, and shaking or quaking body movements. The focus is
on isolated movements of individual parts of the body with
little notice given to the footsteps. Arms and hands move
fluidly, like serpents or ribbons in the air. Unusual strength
and control is demonstrated in the belly area.
Costumes typically consist of a bra and hip-belt set worn over a
floor length skirt. The skirt may be circular or straight.
Instead of the skirt and bra, a dancer may wear a gown called a
baladi dress topped with a hip-belt or a hip-scarf. Dancers may
also use a length of fabric (such as silk or chiffon) during one
part of the dance sequence, and she may also play finger
cymbals. Costuming changes from place to place and from time to
time, but the one constant is that the designs intend to
emphasize and amplify the grace, power and independent control
of the feminine form.
Constant themes of bellydancing:
The Dance that Celebrates Life, Birth and Creativity!
The Dance that Celebrates Women!
The Dance that Celebrates Beauty!
The Dance that Celebrates the Body!
Belly dancing is also known as, or is associated with these
terms:
• Middle Eastern Dance
This umbrella term includes belly dance, among other forms. Some
people consider it a more prestigious title than belly dancing.
While this term acknowledges the culture that historically has
had the strongest association with belly dance, it fails to
recognize the many other cultures which form and influence the
world of belly dancing today.
• Balady or Raks Balady (also spelled Baladi or Beladi)
This Middle Eastern term means "dance from the country." The
basic rhythm of the dance is often referred to by its Arabic
term, balady (or maksoom). Some say that the name “belly dance”
was coined when Westerners heard the word “balady” and mistook
it for “belly” as they witnessed the dance's emphasis on belly
and torso movements.
• Egyptian Raks Al-Sharqi
This Egyptian term means Dance of the Easterner — one preferred
by some American belly dancers.
• Danse du Ventre
This is the French phrase for bellydance meaning dance of the
solar plexus or vent (ventre referring to the belly area), where
all the nerve endings come together in the diaphragm. When the
dance was presented at the Chicago World's fair in 1893, the
world was deep into a period of art history known as the
Orientalist era. Traveling European painters and writers brought
home fascinating descriptions and illustrations of the Orient,
mesmerizing the west with human curiosity. Danse Du Ventre — or
dance of the belly — was the name given to this dance, witnessed
in a predominately Muslim world.
Interesting note: When Oscar Wilde’s play, "Salome," was
originally written in French in 1892, it was accompanied by pen
and ink illustrations by Audrey Beardsley. One illustration was
titled "Danse Du Ventre." Lord Alfred Douglas translated the
works into English, and the painting was labeled "Stomach
Dance."
• Dance Oriental or Oryantal Dansi
This term often was used in Greek night clubs. The name arose
from the traditional Turkish term Oryantal, which referred to
the area now known as the Middle East, but once commonly called
the orient. To the western ear this sounds a bit confusing
because the orient is thought of as being Asia. Recall that in
past ages these geographical boundaries and associations were
drawn very differently from where they are now. For instance,
more Roman ruins can be found in North Africa than in present
day Rome.
Belly Dance Styles
• Modern Egyptian Dance
This is a contemporary Egyptian nightclub style of bellydancing.
It is accompanied by European orchestral music imported by
fashionable Cairo nightclubs to satisfy Western tastes. A new,
modern Egyptian sound was cultivated by two of the most famous
Egyptian singer/musician composers of from the 1930s to the
1970s: Mohammed AbdelWahab and Farid Al Atrash.
Costumes are customarily very glitzy and elaborately beaded.
Various styles have been popular over the years. Madame Abla is
legendary for her modern Egyptian costume designs. The late
great dancer and choreographer, Ibrahim “Bobby” Farrah, of New
York, was a male belly dancer of Lebanese heritage who
perpetuated the cultivation of Modern Egyptian dance style in
America.
Today's modern Egyptian belly dance incorporates sound mix,
orchestra, and drum machine, seasoned with lively vocals.
• Turkish Style Belly Dance
The famous and charming Ozel Turkbas learned belly dancing from
her mother and began dancing professionally as a child at age
11. She was invited to the United States to perform her belly
dance in Baltimore, Maryland, around 1959 or 1960. She spoke not
a word of English at the time, but was inspired to share the
dance with woman everywhere and was very well received by the
West. She produced an album of music with a short lesson book
called “How to Make Your Husband a Sultan.” Later, in 1976, she
wrote a frank and entertaining book about her experiences as a
Turkish belly dancer who delivered a big dose of Oryantal Dansi
to the West.
Turkish bellydance music is characterized by the sounds of the
oboe, clarinet, oud, ney, kanoon, finger cymbals and hand drums.
Turkish Dance costumes are among the more risque of the cabaret
styles, baring plenty of leg and cleavage. They are usually
beaded, but may use coins too. Turkish style dancers often play
finger cymbals (aka zills ).
• Harem Dance
This term evokes Hollywood's depiction of exotic concubine
dancers from the Sultan's harem. It reflects the western
perceptions about the secrecy of the harem and carries political
connotations and associations with erotic stereotypes.
• Shake Dance and Shimmy Dance
This is an old term sometimes used in America for dance that
exhibits gyrating and shaking movements of hips and shoulders.
The term was popularized after the 1893 Chicago’s world fair
along with the legend of Little Egypt. The term was used for
dances done in carnivals or strip clubs, often by women wearing
pasties and lingerie. The Shimmy was a dance movement used by
Haitian and the African-American community of the 1880s or
earlier (and later recreated by Gilda Gray). The shimmy and it’s
energetic and vibrating derivatives are a vital part of belly
dance; such movements were not likely to die away in a culture
embracing freedom and energy. It even influenced Elvis Presley!
• Bauch Tanz (Belly dance in Germany)
Bellydance in Germany experienced a surge in the 1970s via a
German male belly dancer and instructor named Bert Baladine who
was living in America at the time. American military housewives
became interested in the dance. When they were later stationed
in Germany, they called upon Bert to teach belly dance
workshops. Interest developed quickly and the revival engendered
a growing sophistication and an acceptance of the dance as both
exercise and art form.
A fertile climate for the dance had been established through
earlier decades by the popularity of Richard Strauss’s opera
“Salome” written in 1903 (based on Oscar Wilde’s play of 1892)
and the early modern dance movement that rose shortly after.
Europeans have had a tradition of supporting innovative and
exotic dance artists like Isadora Duncan, Ruth St. Denis, Loie
Fuller, Maude Allen, and Mata Hari. Ripe with inspiration,
German women began following the lead of their American
counterparts to develop the art in as many sub-styles as
America: Fantasy, el Raks Sharki, Modern Egyptian, American
Classic, Turkish. . . Again interest in the dance spread to
Austria, Holland, Britain, Sweden, Finland, Iceland,Spain,
Italy. . . Unlike the common American belly dance venues of
ethnic restaurants and hotel banquet stages, the Germans more
often choose to present the dance in traditional theaters.
Making things easier for them, a close knit network of venues
for performing artists was well established. These women also
set up performance venues inside the dance studio itself. Taking
the dance art very seriously, the German women employ
first-class business practices in response to the growing
popularity of belly dance. They developed beautiful,
commercial-quality trade magazines, schools, concerts, cabarets,
and touring networks for teachers and performers. Many
accomplished American belly dancers have toured in Germany.
One of the most remarkable dancers of Germany is Berlin's Beata
Zadou. A stunning blonde and blue eyed dancer of technical
ballet influence, Berlin's Beata Zadou took to belly dancing.
She is not only beautiful, but hard working and industrious as
well. She met Horecio Cifuentez, a handsome Brazilian-born
professional ballerino that took up belly dance in America. They
were a perfect match and are noted for their lovely belly dance
duets. They married and now run a school of dance in Berlin.:
• American Tribal Belly Dance
A style developed by the great matriarch of the dance Jamila
Salimpour, and manifested through her dance troupe, Bal-Anat.
Jamila is often called the mother of bellydance in America (just
as Diete Linda is often called the mother of belly dance in
Germany). While this form of the dance included elements of
Middle Eastern and North African dance styles from Byzantium,
the Renaissance, and Victorian era, it was leavened with a good
deal of old-fashioned show biz theatrics. Introduced in the
1970s at California-style renaissance pleasure fairs, women who
experienced Tribal belly dance became transfixed! It quickly
defined itself as a wildly popular American style. American
Tribal Belly Dance performances might include the balancing of
swords and other props, snake dances, and folk line-dances.
Costuming is distinctive with black and silver asuit, and facial
drawings to simulate tribal tatoos.The tribal musical
instruments used here include a variety of hand drums, zornas,
miz mar, and saz. Many similar troupes started to spring up
across the country. A later offshoot of the American Tribal
troupe, spearheaded by Carolena Nericcio is called “Fat Chance
Belly Dance”. It has a distinctive and colorful, costumed
character of its own by use of choli tops from India, tightly
wrapped turbans, Afghan jewelry and camel tassels. Carolena’s
brand of Tribal belly dance innovated a unique cooperative
method of spontaneous group choreography. See Kajira's Tribal
Bible for a historic look at this belly dance style.
• Folkloric Belly Dance
This style incorporates dance movements of the people. Popular
ethnic folk dances such as the Fallahin (Egyptian farmers) and
others are used as a framework for introducing the folkloric
roots of eastern dance, from which belly dance emerged. Reed
cane and stick dances are used by belly dancers in routines for
a folkloric flair. Folkloric routines will be featured in belly
dance stage shows in the Middle East and elsewhere. Some of
today’s male performers create supporting folkloric dance roles
along side the female belly dancer.
John Compton and Rebaba, early students of Jamila Salimpour and
Patty Farber, currently direct and performs with a folksy group
of supreme stage performers called Hahbi’Ru. Hahbi’Ru can
frequently be seen at California Renaissance fairs.
• Night Club Bellydance/Cabaret Style
This dance was most often called Cabaret style in the U.S.,
until it was noted that in Europe, the term connotes an X-rated
club or performance. Now, dancers usually default to the term
“Night Club” belly dancing. In the U.S., the term “cabaret”
meant an ethnic family restaurant and bar, largely and
colorfully supported by ethnic clientele. Customers, both men
and women, moved kerchiefs through the air as they danced folk
dances: Lebanese debke, mizerloo, Greek sirto, or Zorbekiko
between the floor shows of the featured bellydance stars. Today
these belly dancers usually perform a multi-faceted routine,
sometimes on a raised stage (to afford the audience a better
view) and most often to live musical accompaniment. The musical
instruments might include oud, bazooki, keyboards, drums,
violin, kanoon and vocals. Costumes are flashy and sparkling,
with beads and sequins rather than the heavy, woven,
embroidered, coined look of tribal costuming. Often the
establishment sports a large dance floor for public
participation in folk dancing and free style dancing to
traditional ethnic music, or to Middle Eastern pop disco
Famous belly dance night clubs of the past were: The Averoth in
Boston featuringthe famous George Abdo, Ali Baba, the 7th
veil,the Fez in Los Angeles featuring maroon Saba and George
Kiyart, the Bagdad and the Casba, Pashas in San Fransisco, the
Feenjon Cafe in New York, Haji Baba in New York and San Diego,
the Sultans Lounge in San Diego, the Apadona in Newport Beach
featuring John Belizikian and Var Daghdevirian, Ceders of
Lebonon, Greek Village, Grecian Corner in Seattle, Parthonon
Salt Lake City , Minara in San Jose, . . .
• American Classic Style Belly Dance
This style describes the bellydance performed and cultivated by
American women, (and a few men) since about the early 1970s. It
developed out of the rich collation of cultures in the American
melting pot, especially in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago
and New York. Immigrants brought belly dancing from Egypt,
Turkey, Greece, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Central Asia,
Lebanon, Israel, Armenia, The Balkans, Persia, Iraq, India, and
Africa. All these cultures have their own unique customs,
traditions, languages, foods, music, and dances, yet each
recognized some form of the belly dance as a part of their
heritage. Prior to the 1970s, in most cases, the dance was not
well perpetuated and was performed at a fairly basic level. In
the less conservative American environment, the dance began to
flower into its full potential. Belly dance classes sprung up at
community centers and colleges. In ethnic restaurants throughout
the nation, American dancers with exotic names like Princess
Sheharazade, Ellena the Persian Kitten, and Jodette, swirled on
stages, flooded with colored lights, to the rhythms of live
Middle Eastern music, amid the savory aromas of ethnic cuisine.
The American style of belly dance incorporated cultures from
around the globe and added its own liberating trademarks. One of
these trademarks was the steady development of the gymnastic use
of the veil within the dance. Another was a wider stance and
bolder use of space than in the Middle East. The American
Classic style began spreading all over the world, even circling
back to influence dance in the Middle East. Egyptian dance
businesses flourished to meet the enjoyment of the western
woman’s love of this dance. Many Lebanese and Turkish women
today study with Delilah's Belly Dance video series.
The American women of virtually any, and every, ethnic origin
and heritage — Swedish, German, Greek, Syrian, Mexican — became
fascinated with the belly dance as an artistic investment.
Magazines dedicated to the art and catering to its ever-widening
population of devotees sprouted up in America: Habibi, the Belly
Dancer, and Arabesque were among the pioneer trade publications.
As they undertook to seriously study and refine the depth of
belly dance techniques, dancers also began to recognize and
define an overview of the dance's commonality and structure.
Belly dance was becoming as wholesome as apple pie in America
and this could only help its reputation for women
internationally. This synthesized belly dance evolved from many
cultures and resonated within women as deeply as their very DNA.
This dance intrinsically belongs to every woman, so it easily
transcends all borders.
• Ancient Egyptian Pharaonic Style Belly Dance
These are dances that use stylistic costumes depicting a time in
history and are inspired by the study of Ancient Egyptian art,
ritual, symbols, Gods and Goddesses, hieroglyph, and the use of
creative imagination. Laurel Victoria Gray and Delilah have done
much with this style in a featured production of “Egypta” in
1997 and 2003. Delilah’s solo role as “Hathor” and “Cleopatra”
in 1997, as well as her depiction of “Isis” in the video “Dance
to the Great Mother” in 1981 also exemplify this belly dance
style.
Music choices may be modern interpretations, such as that
written by composer Steven Flynn for Gray’s productions, or in
line with the instrumentation reveled to us through archeology,
as composed by Professor Jihad Racy in “Tribute to Ancient
Egypt.” Other examples include chantress Ani Williams’ use of
voice and harp in recording “Songs of Isis” or Layne Redmond’s
use of framed drums in various recordings.
• Goddess Belly Dance
Some American women focus on tracing the belly dance back
through history to ancient times of goddess temples and to
matriarchal cultures such as those of Sumerian Iraq and the
Anatolia region of Turkey (known as Chatal Huyuck), and even to
the caves of the most basic birthing rituals. This would also
entail a Pharaonic style. The cave is analogous to the belly, or
the womb. Goddess Belly Dance may use characters from ancient
cultural mythology and religion as potent theme material for
constructing dances. Some dancers perceive the archetypal
elements in the dance and court personal psychic and spiritual
connections. Other ancient movement practices such as Yoga, Tai
Chi, and Zen practice the pursuit of the ancient wisdom embodied
in the dance. Goddess Belly Dance may be shared through public
performance or used as a private devotional exercise.
Examples of dancers’ work in this style: Delilah’s “Themis;
Mother of Oracles,” “Mami Wata” and “Hepolitas” ; Z Helene’s
“Gaia,” Laurel Victoria Gray's “Aphrodite”; Tahia Alebec’s
“Artemis”; Katherin Balducci’s “Heketa”; Miraya Delamar’s
“Divine Mother”; Mezmera the Serpent Goddess, and Dyanise’s
annual “Goddess Show” in California.
• Gothic Fantasy Belly Dance
This recently developed style of belly dance is distinguished by
its urban tribal femme fatale look. Gothic Belly Dance costuming
involves dark fabrics, black, vinyl, leather, silver studs,
piercing, pale skin, strong eye shadow, and vampire-like looks.
It’s very popular among extremely artistic young people in
America and Germany. It is currently evolving. Music might be
fusion, techno, trance or ethnic.
• Male Belly Dancing.
There has always been a tradition of men cross-dressing to
emulate women and dance with a feminine flair. They are called
Cengi (Syria), Kojak (Turkey), Batcha (Persia), Qawaal (Arabia),
and Hawaal (Egypt). Since the Middle East is a segregated
society, at certain times and places in history, it has been
seen as improper for women to dance in the presence of men.
Female impersonators traditionally have taken their place.
Today, Turkey seems to be the most tolerant of these dancers.
Many people report experiencing these performances. Some
audiences see them without knowing it because the dancers have
achieved their goal to pass as females.
Not all male dancers in the belly dance world, however, are
female impersonators. Some men may develop provocative stage
personalities, perform isolated body movements, and demonstrate
physical feats of abdominal strength, agility, and flexibility
that astound audiences of men and women alike. Sometimes they
employ swords, sticks, and capes as props. Such is the fun of
show business. Among the most famous 20th century males in the
profession are John Compton and Bert Baladine of San Francisco,
Ibrahim Farrah and Yussari Sharif of New York, Amir of Boston,
Aziz and Jason of Salt Lake City, Jim Boz and Alfredo of the
Northwest, Said el Amir and Horecio of Germany, Prince ArKhan of
Turkey, and Mousbah Baalbaki of Lebanon.
• Fantasy Belly Dance
This could involve many other titles of belly dance as a motif:
Gothic, Goddess, Space Age, Animals and mythic cretures, Fairy
tales or myth. . . whatever is fantastic, outside of reality or
tradition, and evolving from imagination. The movements are
recognizably connected to the vocabulary of belly dance.
Extravagant costuming and props and back drops figure heavily
into the act as does thematic content. Sheharazade, who is based
in Germany, is of this style. As is the San Francisco dance
troupe called “Ultra Gypsy.”
• Fusion Belly Dance
This dance style mixes two or more recognizable traditions,
themes, costuming, or music used to construct the dance
performance. In today’s modern world, we are more globally
influenced. The veiled boundaries between people and ideas are
quickly falling away.
• American Gypsy Style (not to be confused with Romany Gypsy
Dances)
The Romany people (Rom) migrated from north India’s province of
Rajistan in 1000 AD. Generation after generation, they traveled
all over the world with their crafts, music and dance trades,
picking up a little of this and that from the cultures they
encountered. This dance is reflective of what many call “gypsy
style.” However, in America this style of dance is very
eclectic.The Turkish Gypsies belly dance topless in the famous
Sulukele district of Istanbul (which offends the sensibilities
of dancers who are struggling to overcome sexist images of the
dance and gain wholesome acceptability).
The American version of Gypsy style belly dance fuses many dance
flavors together. The Spanish/Moorish influence manifests as “Zambra,”
a form of flamenco employed by belly dancers, along with Indian
Katak, Turkish Gypsy, folk dance, American spunk, vamp, and
imagination. Typical costume characteristics include large,
full, colorful skirts, fringe scarves on hips, flowing sleeves
and Moorish art accents.
Nikki Conti teams up for the barefoot Zambra with her husband
Sulyman el Coyote, an acomplished Middle Easter musician of the
well known band called Sirocco, as well as an acoomplished
Flamenco guitarist.They maybe seen performing together on video
and DVD "Fire at the Iao" produced by Visionary Belly Dancing.
Dalia Carella of New York created her own fusion brand of Gypsy
dance called “Dunyavi” in the 1990s.Artemis Mourat has danced
and written extensivly about Turkish Gypsy style while Laurel
Victoria Gray has researched Russian Gypsy style.
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