The Condensed Version.
A Very Short History of Bellydance
Even belly dancers hotly debate the history, meaning, definition and purpose of the dance, so giving you an accurate history of bellydance is next to impossible. Because belly dance spans such a long time period and a large land mass it is difficult to say definitely any one truth applies for any extended period of time.
When did Bellydance start?
Dance has been around as long as music. How can we define what movements are bellydance and what might be something else? There are movements in bellydance that are nearly universal to all dance forms. Some think that bellydance may pre-date recorded history having its origins in the matriarchal societies that worshipped a Mother Goddess/Earth as Mother. True or False, it is impossible to say. We do know that in the earliest records of society there were professional dancers in India, Greece and Egypt with evidence that shows positive links to the characteristics that make up bellydance. However most of what we definitively know about bellydance comes from the writings of European tourists in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Where did it start?
Again, Unknown. There is definite evidence that people & dancers traveled throughout the regions through the Middle East, India the northern countries of Africa, and Spain. The Ottoman Empire at one time spanned all of these countries and what did not preexist before their rise to power, was carried throughout the region during this period as were other cultural influences.
Didn’t women of the harem dance to attract the man’s attention?
Unlikely. Most dancing was done among the women for themselves and each other, both as a form of entertainment and exercise. At social gatherings men and women would have had separate celebrations. In a private domestic setting, if he had multiple wives, a man usually visited the women in rotation in order to preserve a certain harmony of existence and minimize conflict.
Were professional dancers prostitutes? shopping for husbands? successful respectable independent business women?
This is perhaps the most difficult question to answer because the answer is yes, all of the above.
Perhaps it is easiest to start with the fact that there were several levels of professionalism among dancers. The Awalim, were well educated, well respected women who traveled between wealthy households by arrangement. They were usually very well paid. They sang, played instruments, wrote poetry and danced. There is also a line from a piece of text which translated reads “Let us in, we are the Awalim, we are the midwives.” Some scholars believe this implies healer/medical training and abilities as well as establishing a tie between dance and childbirth. Possibly it even reflects the old Mother Goddess worship. When the Awalim visited a household, they were guests exclusively in the women’s quarters. Men of the household were forbidden entry to the women’s quarters during their visit. A particularly talented singer might perform behind a screen where male members of the household might be allowed to listen to her sing. She was usually a successful, respectable business woman.
The Ghawazee, were travelers, ghawazi, translates as “outsiders.” The cultural norms and taboos would not apply to this group because they were not Muslim. This allowed women to be seen by men outside their family group, however, there was still a prohibition against unmarried males watching women dance. The Ghawazee were most likely the ones responsible for spreading bellydance through the region. They would have performed in public venues like coffee shops and markets. They were also hired as entertainers for gender mixed celebrations such as weddings or after the birth of a child. They were not prostitutes and would have traveled with male members of their families. Some evidence says they married exclusively among their fellow Ghawazee. That they retired from the stage upon marriage and did not have premarital sex. I have also read papers that indicate their profession did allow them a certain amount of freedom to make decisions about their lives including the option of taking a lover if they wished, but that these women usually refrained from marriage, preferring to maintain their independence.
In the early 1800’s the French began to explore Egypt and so begins the decline of the previously highly respected art of bellydance. The men who came with Napoleon to Egypt were not looking for the higher cultural arts, they were young men, away from the restrictions of their families, they went looking for prostitutes, and they offered enough money to tempt dancers who would not have previously considered such a thing. Conversely prostitutes often did call themselves dancers in order to command a higher price.
The highly respected dancers, the Awalim, were rarely written about and eventually began to disappear because Europeans, as foreigners and men, would not have had access to them. Dancing began to acquire an unsavory reputation and respect for the profession declined even in its native countries.
What about Salome and her Seven Veils?
Oscar Wilde must bear the blame for the most popular myth of all: Salome and the seven veils. Salome was/was not a bellydancer - unknown. Some versions of the biblical story say she danced. period. Wilde, an English playwright, gave her the seven veils. Rather simply his notation reads ‘Salome danced the seven veils.’ Actresses ran wild with this suggestion on the stages of Europe, including Mata Hari, (best know as a German Spy executed in WWI) and Canadian born Maud Allen. Enamored with Orientalism, Europeans created their own ideas of what went on in the distant Middle Eastern hareems. Many of these ideas gave birth to our current misconceptions about bellydance.
Bellydance comes to North America.
1893, the Chicago World’s Fair. As part of the show, various exhibitions were set up including that of the Algerian Village, with dancers both male and female, dancing folkloric styles. The show was in great financial distress until one promoter decided to start calling the it “bellydance.” This was especially shocking in a late Victorian world where corsets were de rigieur and to show one’s ankle was scandalous. It made the papers. It attracted a great deal of attention. It saved the Fair.
Vaudeville
Vaudeville played to the seamier side of things, bawdy jokes, slapstick comedy, girls in skimpy costumes, the birth of burlesque. If you could claim to be somewhat exotic - so much the better. Shimmy and shake and call it bellydance. Let’s sell some tickets. Rarely did these performers have any connection to the art of bellydance, but many of them claimed it.
The Hollywood Image
Just as Europeans recreated the harem fantasy on the stage, Hollywood found it an equally fascinating subject. Directors of Europe and Hollywood clad their ‘dancers’ in the bra & belt costumes encrusted with jewels. This costume design eventually caught on (several decades later) and is now considered the standard wear. It is often called “bedleh” which means “two piece suit.” Bellydance became a fairly common night club entertainment. It is an interactive dance, patrons are expected to clap along, smile, even dance a bit themselves.
Hippies & The Divine Feminine
In the 60’s & 70’s Bellydance enjoyed new popularity. Classes started all over the US, Canada and Europe. Some called it a return to the origins of women’s power, recapturing the sensuality inherent in the female form. Get in touch with your inner goddess and feel a sense of sexual power and freedom. Dance for your man, make him feel like a Sultan. So what if they were playing in to the age old Western fantasy of Eastern life. Bellydancing was fun, it was good exercise, it made them feel good.
Can the Western World preserve an Eastern Dance?
Unfortunately many of the Western ideas about bellydance rubbed off on the countries of origin. What was once a respectable profession became tarnished. In the West it has never been more popular. For many dancers it becomes a bit of an obsession. We begin searching for the truth in the ‘fake lore’, looking for documentation, searching for facts that we can reconcile to our preconceived ideas. It’s hard to reject the Hollywood images and look for the truth. Ethnographers of Dance began studying Raqs Sharqui from a historical view, interviewing, filming and documenting the stories of dancers in Northern Africa, the Mediterranean and elsewhere. There are a several books on the subject now and many online resources for those seeking a history of bellydance. The many history obsessed dancers are doing everything possible to discover the origins of bellydance.
It doesn’t matter what you want to believe - you can find someone to agree with you or dispute your theories. I’ve glossed over many interesting aspects of this glorious past-time. If you are interested in learning more about it - I’d be happy to point you at some great online resources. For now - Let’s DANCE!
- written by Aiyanna, February 2008. Not to be copied or sited as a history source. If interested contact me and I will provide you with a more complete version.
