History of Bellydance

The world of bellydance in the Middle East is mysterious and alluring. For centuries it has heralded events controlled by the life force and life cycle such as the growth of new crops, the birth of a baby, the wedding of two lovers - events associated with fertility. Could this be why it is a realm of feminine power and sensuality? In the modest societies where it originated, and often hidden behind veils, bellydance is a surprising bounty of feminine expression. The dance arts of the East, enjoyed by men and women alike, are synonymous with festivity and celebration, but the feminine style of dance known as "oriental dance" in the Middle East, or "Bellydance" in the West, has survived the longest. The jubilant nature of bellydance is fuelled by spontaneity, passion and a sense of fun. No occasion for celebration is missed in the Middle East - celebration with heady rhythms and joyous dance!

Bellydancing is an expressive art that manifests itself early in the lives of Middle Eastern women. The dance has raised women from their cushions and rugs, enticing them to sway a little, laugh a little - giving them a podium to perform the steps they have known since childhood. Little girls charm the family when the mimic their mother and sisters with a sweet and awkward sway of the hips. In adolescence, the long, warm mornings they spend sipping mint tea are spiced with intermittent displays of movements that combine to form a playfully confident art shared among generations of women. Weddings, parties and the gathering of family and friends justify the indulgence of dance, the opportunity to show off a hip move or a shimmy.

In the Middle East, many women are naturally wonderful dancers, yet whilst dance is accepted as a creative pastime in the home, families discourage their daughters from pursuing it as a profession. Public dance performance is censured for its earth sensuality and associated with the "sins of the flesh" that inevitably bring about the demise of society. The public dancer may be the daughter of a poor but musical family entertaining at local weddings - though never invited as a guest! Because of her profession, she remains a citizen of low social status, unless she becomes famous. Ironically, the top oriental dance performers in the Middle East are national icons. These glamorous women enter the league of the famous at cosmopolitan five-star hotels in cities like Cairo, Beirut or Istanbul. Their careers usually expand into cinema and television, where the acquire further wealth and fame. Decorated with jewels and expensive fabrics, the celebrated dancer symbolizes through her art the beauty within every woman. From a Western point of view, the social stigma attached to the "dancer/performer" in the East is a perplexing phenomenon, all the more so because it can suddenly turn into adulation.

Centuries ago, throughout the Middle East, the tribal dancer who celebrated the simple world of harvest and religion through ritualistic song and dance became the traveler's muse. Exotic, caramel-skinned dancers of the Ouled Nai'l people intrigued painters and poets who sought the romanticism of the East....and brought it to the West. And in our own times the Egyptian cinema industry modernized the "bint of balad". the native country girl who learnt her dance from her mother and grandmother in a small clay dwelling in the desert before her generation moved to the city to find work. Through migration, modernization, westernization and other cultural influences, the bellydance of the East evolved stylistically. All of these contributed to our witnessing of countless varieties and concepts of Middle Easter dance.

Music, dance and rhythm have always been part of Middle Eastern culture. In a spread of countries over three continents, the styles of dance are as diverse as the many cultures occupying the land. From the Bedouin dancers in colorful kaftans to the Baladi dancers of urban Cairo, folkloric traditions have survived the generations. Throughout the Middle East - from Turkey through Egypt to Morocco - free-form bellydance retains its exuberant, feminine quality and continues to be noted for its interpretive artistry. While this dance caries from region to region, it's breadth transcends class and culture. In Cairo there is a saying: "Every girl is born a dancer." This popularity of dance at all levels of society suggests it is an intrinsic part of life, whether in the home, on the Nile riverbank or in the nightclubs of the five-star hotels.

The women of the Middle East, to whom this dance belongs, use it to celebrate their bodies and to communicate a powerful message bequeathed to them by their ancestors. They remind us that beyond the confines of society, this is a dance for the spirit.