The term "belly dance" is often mistakenly used in a very broad sense to refer to a variety of dance forms either originating from or inspired by the cultures of the Middle East (including the Middle East proper and North Africa). However, belly dance is just one among many dance styles practiced throughout the Middle East.
Middle Eastern Dance
Middle Eastern dance encompasses a range of rich and vibrant traditions. Here are just a few examples of contemporary Middle Eastern dance styles:
- 'ardah - from Saudi Arabia, a warlike men's dance with origins in Bedouin culture
- Banat Mazin ghawazee - from southern Egypt, the hip-focused dance style of the Banat Mazin ghawazee of Luxor.
- debke - from the Levant, a lively folk dance performed in a line and characterized by its energetic style and rhythmic stomps
- karsilama - from Turkey and the Balkans, a folk dance performed in couples (karsilama means "face-to-face")
- nubi - from the border region of Egypt and Sudan, the folk style of the Nubian population (nubi means "Nubian")
- raqs beledi - solo, improvisational, torso-focused dance with variants performed casually by men and women throughout the Arab world but most commonly associated with Egypt (raqs beledi can also be used as a general term meaning "folk dance" - cf. raqs sha'abi)
- raqs na'ashat - from the Persian Gulf, a women's dance featuring a shuffling gait and tossing of the hair (often simply referred to as khaleegi dance - khaleegi means "from the Gulf")
- sa'idi - from southern Egypt, the folk style of Egypt's sa'idi people (often, but not always, featuring the stick dance, raqs assaya)
- schikhatt - from Morocco, the exuberant dance style of professional female dancers who perform at weddings and other festivities
- yolah - from the United Arab Emirates, a men's dance involving twirling and tossing of rifles
IMPORTANT NOTICE: Unless otherwise specified, the content/images on this web site are copyrighted by Belly Dance with Nisaa. You may view and print anything on this web site for personal use, but please e-mail Belly Dance with Nisaa for permission before duplicating/distributing content/images or re-posting content/images on another site. Links on this web site are recommended by Belly Dance with Nisaa, but Belly Dance with Nisaa is not responsible for the content of those web sites.
While raqs beledi was and remains a dance form performed by both men and women, the overwhelming majority of raqs sharqi performers are female. More than any other Middle Eastern dance tradition, raqs sharqi is a celebration of womanhood and of the female form. Women of a variety of ages, shapes, and sizes have found their own creative and expressive outlet in this dance form and its feminine aesthetic. Unlike many Western dance forms, in which cultural expectations regarding the female body preclude participation for many women, raqs sharqi is rooted in cultural traditions which accept that healthy women come in a variety of body types. In addition, raqs sharqi is a body-friendly dance form that can be practiced safely early or late in life. Some women begin learning raqs sharqi at the same age that most ballerinas retire.
The contemporary costuming style of the raqs sharqi performer is the bedleh, an ensemble consisting of a bra, a belt, and a skirt – usually (though not always) with the midriff bare. The bedleh emerged from a confluence of Western and Middle Eastern influences. The Western influence can be traced back to the phenomenon of "Orientalism" which began in the sixteenth century and peaked in the nineteenth. By the beginning of the twentieth century, European and American fascination with the Middle East and Asia had resulted in a thoroughly romanticized vision of the Orient. Middle Eastern dance, in particular, was a great source of fascination (and titillation) to conservative Western audiences, who were both intrigued and repulsed by the pelvic and abdominal movements of dance forms like raqs beledi. The Orientalist vision of Middle Eastern dance was elaborated in Western dance (e.g. Ruth St. Denis), theater (e.g. Maud Allan), and eventually film. Savvy Egyptian nightclub owners (e.g. Badia Masabni), catering to Western audiences as well as to upper-class Egyptian audiences with Western tastes, costumed their dancers in a manner that emulated the trends of the West. However, it is highly likely that indigenous costuming styles, particularly the costumes of the public dancers who were performing in Cairo at the end of the nineteenth century, also had an influence on the development of the bedleh.
In Egypt, both raqs beledi and raqs sharqi continue to thrive as cultural expressions. At festive events like wedding celebrations, both forms of dance will often be in evidence – raqs sharqi performed by a professional dancer for the entertainment of the guests, and raqs beledi performed by the guests themselves for their own enjoyment. However, the relationship between Egyptians (and Middle Eastern people in general) and these dance forms is a complicated one. While many Egyptians embrace both raqs beledi and raqs sharqi as significant aspects of their culture, many feel that raqs beledi, which is danced informally and privately at gatherings of family and friends, is more appropriate and respectable than raqs sharqi, which is danced publicly for strangers. The same individual who would gladly hire a professional raqs sharqi dancer for her daughter’s wedding reception would be filled with shame if that same daughter decided to become a professional dancer herself. The complex attitudes of Egyptians with regards to these dance forms may be difficult to grasp from an outsiders’ perspective, but it is critical for Western students and performers of raqs sharqi to be sensitive to this complexity.
In the West, the early Orientalist fascination with Middle Eastern dance created many long-standing misconceptions about raqs sharqi, and Western dancers have found it very difficult to break free from the resulting stereotypes. Raqs sharqi did not originate as a dance done by women to entice men. Yet, nearly every Western belly dancer has been asked at some point in her career: "Did you learn belly dance so that you could dance for your husband?" or, even more frustrating, "Isn't that like stripping?" The Orientalism-based misconceptions, as well as the actions of a few irresponsible dancers, continue to create confusion among the general public. Luckily, there are many dedicated teachers and performers throughout the world who are working diligently to educate the public about raqs sharqi through both classroom instruction and performance. Eventually, raqs sharqi will receive the full respect that it deserves as a beautiful and unique cultural art form.
Raqs Sharqi
When Westerners use the term belly dance, they are usually referring to raqs sharqi. Raqs sharqi is a relatively young Middle Eastern dance form. It was not until around the beginning of the twentieth century in Egypt that raqs beledi - the solo, improvisational, torso-focused dance performed casually by men and women - evolved into this glamorous theatrical dance.
In the early twentieth century, Cairo had emerged as a center of arts and culture, and astute night club owners began to create staged belly dance shows as a means to attract wealthy European and Arab patrons. The traditional form of belly dance, raqs beledi, with its subtle and intricate torso movements and internal focus, did not translate readily to the stage, where it is critical for dancers to make effective use of space in order to hold the audience’s interest and attention. So, dancers began to incorporate footwork, turns, spins, and arm movements derived from Western forms like ballet and ballroom dance. The end result was raqs sharqi. Raqs sharqi is Arabic for “dance of the East,” a name that stresses the distinction between Western dance forms and this quintessentially Middle Eastern art.
