What is Belly Dance?
Many scholarly in-depth articles available online: see links
above.
Here I will give my overview
from an American Bellydancer's perspective - from years of study with reading, research, interviews,
etc - with a Brief Description & a start at some history
for you:
Belly Dance
-An ancient dance without much historical documentation
-Subject to much controversy, speculation, & inaccurate information
-A modern term describing a family of dance movements using the torso as
center of gravity
- Differs from European & American style dance which primarily use the
chest as center of gravity with emphasis on arm & leg movement
- Named Belly Dance in the West possibly from loose interpretation of the
Arabic term Beledi dance (Beledi, Baladi = my people, my place,)
- Characterized by muscular use of shoulders, torso, and hips; & "isolations"
where one body part moves while others appear still
-Contains an emotional response to musical interpretation
-Historically considered to have developed in the cradle of civilization,
the Middle East
-Possibly with influences from the sub-Indian continent: the dance's name
in Arabic is Raks (or raqs) Sharki (sharqi) - Dance of the East
-Sol Bloom brought a type of Middle Eastern dancing to America in 1893 at
the Chicago World's Fair with a contingent of Syrian and Algerian dances which then spread into the vaudeville areas
of entertainment
-Americans at the turn of the century were transfixed by this colorful and different dance
style...& still are
-Western pioneers in Modern Dance such as Ruth St. Denis and Isadora Duncan
adopted many Eastern style movements
-Widespread popularity in America started emerging in ethnic restaurant
entertainment on East & West coasts 1950's & 60's
-Belly Dance fitness craze hits in the late 60's - can be found at Y's and schools all over
US
-Dance artists such as Ibrahim "Bobby" Farrah (NYC) begin producing shows in theaters in the
1960's
-the "Golden Age" of Egyptian dance, considered approx. 1920's - 50's, captured in cinema,
began to be available on video overseas in the 1980's - see below
-Fundamentalists start quashing dance in the Middle East in the 1980's
-Dance starts to wane as a fad in the US 1980's
-End of 20th century brings some sparks back/Many long term performers and instructors
still plugging away; some new blood enters the scene as well
-the 21st century: an explosion of interest, an incredible upswing: Internet community, availability
of goods - CDs, DVDs- and services - classes, workshops, demos, travel = new forms & fusion sprouting everywhere:
exciting & confusing!!
