Home       Bio        Shows       Classes        Contact

Belly Dance

Belly Dancing at Celebrate Dance Festival 2004 in Balboa Park.

B elly dance, otherwise known in many incarnations as danse du ventre, raks sharqi, baladi, and Oriental dance, is popular in North Africa, throughout the Middle and Near East, and in the West. In whatever venue and form of the dance, it is enjoyed by common people as well as royalty.

R aqs Sharqi (pronounced Roks Sharkee) literally translated means 'dance from the East', and has its roots in Middle Eastern fertility ceremonies - a dance performed by women for women. It was originally taught to girls from an early age in order to strengthen their abdominal muscles in preparation for childbirth. The muscle isolation techniques require practice and control, and the smaller the movement, the greater the control and the more the muscle is exercised. It's a fact that exercise mitigates pain. The women of the Middle East knew this, and so the dance was born through abdominal movements like pelvic rocking and belly roll. Uniquely designed for the female body, Raqs Sharqi is an expression of inner awareness. Unlike ballet, which demands certain physical aesthetics, one can be any age, shape or size for Raqs Sharqi.

D uring pagan times, women danced in the absence of men—a sort of goddess worship. And as most goddesses were mothers and reproduction was an enigma, it is understandable that the dance focused on the belly.

T hroughout history, the dance was performed by women for women, a tradition that continues in Saudi Arabia and other conservative Muslim countries. However, there was a period in the old days when the dance became performance art (entertainment) and was then performed in the presence of men and women.

T he term 'belly dance' is said to come from the French 'danse du ventre' - dance of the stomach - a phrase coined at the turn of the century after the introduction of Raqs Sharqi at the Chicago Exposition in 1893 by a dancer called 'Little Egypt'.

A rabic dance is characterized by its intricate hip movements, though it incorporates many techniques, from many different parts of the Middle East: Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, and Morocco to name a few. Each country has its own style.

K haleeji dance is the dance of the Persian Gulf States and Saudi Arabia. The dancers wear a very full, often highly embroidered caftan called a 'thobe nashal'. Most movements are centered on the shoulders and there is a distinctive hair toss.

B aladi, or folk dance, was developed in rural Egypt where the dancers wear full length robes often with their hair covered as well. The stick dance is based on the Tahtib, a form of self defense practiced in Upper Egypt where the young men would prove their manhood using a Shouma, a long, heavy staff.

C lassical oriental dance is believed to have emerged as an art form in the courts of the Ottoman Empire. The movements are refined, and characterized by soft, flowing actions of the arms. The music is composed with the dance in mind, and often includes a drum solo.

E gyptian Cabaret is most associated with 'belly dance' and is a very controlled style often including ballet. Muscular control is emphasized, with the movements small and internalized. 'Less is more' seems to be the working philosophy. It is still technically illegal in Egypt for the abdomen to be exposed in public. Therefore, most professional dancers cover their stomachs by wearing body stockings or a 'cholis', a fitted midriff length vest which fastens underneath the bra. Leotards, body suits or teddies can be worn as a substitute.

B elly dance or what was long ago called the dance of the waist, does have a documented history. The dance is traced back to India through a group of gypsies who left the region many years ago and whose current generation, known in the world of dance as the ghawazee, now call Egypt their home.

D uring the migration from India, the dance evolved and spread throughout Asia and the Middle and Near East. Cultural exchange, whether through war or in peace, made belly dance what it is today.