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People are often surprised
to find that Middle Eastern dance is more than an expression of
sensuality. Its roots go deep, and it encompasses all aspects of life:
sorrow and celebration, vulnerability and victory, birth and rebirth.
As we experience it today this ancient
dance is an evolving art, a mixture of movements from ritual and social
dances of various countries (Egypt, Turkey, Morocco, Greece, Lebanon) as
well as movements borrowed from other cultures and dance forms (Indian,
African, Polynesian, jazz, modern dance, ballet).
The exact origins
cannot be pinpointed, but some of the movements come from ritual dances
such as the Egyptian Zaar (a trance dance which placates restless
spirits), the Moroccan Guedra (a ritual dance of blessing), or
the Moroccan Shikhatt (which helps prepare young women for
marriage and childbirth). Other movements derive from the social
dancing done by and for Arabic women of all ages at gender-segregated
celebrations - not as a “performance” but as an expression of joy and
community.
From this
historical base evolved the practice of hiring a dancer to entertain
guests at Arabic weddings and other festive occasions. With her
performance the dancer would help 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 Lebanese woman named Badia Masabni opened the first Cairo
nightclub featuring staged dance performances, which are the basis of
the style known today as Raqs Sharqi or “Dance of the East” (often
called “cabaret style”). These clubs became popular with visiting
foreigners, and the dance began to shake off its folkloric roots and
take on Western influences. The familiar “bra and belt”-style outfit
and the “Sultan’s harem” fantasy originated in Hollywood rather than in
Cairo or Istanbul.
The dance spread
to the west through immigrant communities, and by the 1970s belly dance
studios prospered all over the United States. Dramatic elements such as
veil and sword were introduced, and the influence of jazz dance and
modern dance on the traditional Middle Eastern style 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 undulations
as well as precise torso isolations. Most styles stress the visual
interpretation of complex Middle Eastern rhythms and melodies and above
all that elusive ingredient, individual self-expression. When you watch
a belly dancer perform you are seeing what she hears.
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