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Middle Eastern dance (belly dance) is an ancient and constantly evolving
art. As we experience it today it is a mixture of movements from ritual
and social dances of various countries (Egypt, Turkey, Morocco, Greece,
Lebanon, etc.), as well as movements borrowed from other forms of dance
(Indian, North African, Polynesian, jazz, modern dance, ballet, etc.). The exact origins
cannot be pinpointed, but some of the movements come from ritual dances
such as the Egyptian Zar (a dance to placate troublesome spirits),
the Moroccan Guedra (a ritual dance of blessing), or the Moroccan
Shikhatt (which helps prepare women for marriage and childbirth).
Other movements derive from folk dances and from the dancing done by and for
people of all
ages in their homes and at social events and
celebrations - not as a “performance” but as an expression of joy and
community.
In Egypt it has long been a tradition to hire a dancer to entertain
guests at weddings and other festive occasions. With her performance,
the dancer helps create the mood of exuberant celebration,
sometimes using such spectacular props as a flaming
3-tiered candelabrum
balanced on her head.
In the 1920s, an
enterprising Egyptian woman named Badia Masabni opened a nightclub
featuring dance performances which fused folkloric dances with modern
elements and helped create the style known today
as raqs sharqi, or “Dance of the East” (often called “cabaret style”).
Such clubs became popular with visiting foreigners, and the dance began
to take on Western influences. The familiar “bra and belt”-style outfit
and the “Sultan’s harem” fantasy originated in Hollywood, not in Cairo
or Istanbul!
The dance spread to the west through films, through tourism, and
through immigrant communities in western cities. Elements such as veil and sword were introduced,
and the
influence of jazz dance and modern dance on the traditional Middle
Eastern style was deepened.
Today Middle
Eastern dance is performed in staged shows, in restaurants, and at
parties and weddings all over the world. Many different styles have
emerged, but generally the dance is characterized by flowing movements
and precise isolations of the torso. Most styles stress the visual
interpretation of the complex Middle Eastern rhythms and melodies as
well as that elusive ingredient, individual self-expression.
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