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There is so much one could say about belly dancing and if I were to say it all, this page would be very long so I am going to try my best to summarise it for you to keep you interested…here goes. Belly dancing began as a folk dance enjoyed at special occasions by men, women, and children. Following the rise of Islam, people lived in segregated households. The men lived on one side of the house, and the women lived with the children on the other side. The word “harem” does not refer to some exotic seduction chamber filled with naked women lolling on pillows awaiting their turn to seduce the Sultan. Instead, it simply refers to the section of the home where women carried about their everyday business of cooking, sewing, gossiping with friends, and minding the children. The word “harem” comes from the word “haram”, which means “forbidden”: men who were not part of the immediate family were forbidden to enter the women's quarters when they visited their friends. |
Belly dancing is a very ancient form of art. This style of intricate dancing with body locks, undulations and isolations has been found represented in the dances of India and Polynesia as well as throughout Middle East where it is believed to have originated.
In the Arabic world, dance stars were born and the early days of the Egyptian film industry turned these dance stars into international stars, and the Hollywood-inspired sequined bra/belt costume made its first appearance.
It is now primarily used as entertainment at parties and in night clubs, but its essential nature, sometimes lost beneath all the glitter and glamour, remains unchanged and subsequently is an act of celebrating and praising God for these integral parts of human life (labor, birth, human growth, courtship and sexuality in general) and the sense of grace, beauty, control and strength encourages and helps transform people with insecurities into more confident and productive members of society.
It is still used to prepare women in the Middle East , from girlhood onwards, to become virtuous wives and mothers. Their dancing from an early age prepares them to withstand the rigors of labor and childbirth. It also becomes a vehicle for them to express their emotions and have fun at the many parties they will attend, and encouraged by other women to let go of their inhibitions and take turns dancing for each other in a non-competitive and loving environment as well as places where they can feel free to do the same such as classes which become good places to grow spiritually, physically and emotionally.
The dance's origins date back to pre Dynastic times. Figurines have been found of dancers in poses that is still us today which date back as far as 5000BC as well as Egyptian paintings depicting dancers using movements recognized today. Many things have influenced the dance throughout history, these were: The Gawazee (gypsies), Spain (becoming eventually the street dancers and singers), Turkey during the Ottoman Empire and the sword dance came from Saudi Arabia . Most well respected women saved their payments until they had enough to buy a dowry, never to dance again after marriage. The payments were made in coins and as there were no banks, the coins were worn as jewellery and fastened into their hair. Oddly nowadays most Western women who take up this wonderful art form don't start until after marriage! |
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Originally the dance was done with bare feet, yet many 19th and 20th century paintings show dancers wearing shoes. The recent reputation of the dance has been due to the influence of Hollywood.
Many dancers nowadays are trying to bring the respectability to the dance that it deserves as a beautiful and historic form of art that is still evolving, as is the music and the instruments used today. Remember your purists and that throughout the dance's history people have danced to the music of the day. Costumes also change with times, should we cover up or not? I wonder what it will be like at the beginning of the next millennium. I hope it will still be as lovely and mean as much to so many women.