Belly Dancing

Belly dancing is one of the oldest social dances in world history. This beautiful exotic dance is not only danced by women, but men as well. Hollywood has created many stereotypes for this dance and therefore many Americans do not understand the history, its meaning, and may interpret it as Hollywood has publicized it for many years now. The following paragraphs will address the history, various forms of belly dancing, costuming, and finally my personal experience with this dance.

The origins of belly dancing or Eastern dance are unclear but can be traced to the Middle East, the Mediterranean, and Africa. According to some historical evidence, belly dancing goes back as far as the 14th century. Egyptian Tomb paintings show a partially dressed dancer who's movements and costuming appear to be very similar to those used in belly dancing and also similar callisthenic positions. Many different theories of how belly dancing came to be exist. Most people tend to believe the popular theory that belly dancing evolved from a religious dance. Another theory people believe in, is that it descended from early Egyptian dances or from the migration of Gypsies from India. Without much background on how belly dance came to be or its origins, people may never know the true beginnings of belly dance. It wasn't until the Romantic Movement in the 18th and 19th centuries when belly dance became popular in the West. Harlem life in the Ottoman Empire was introduced through images by Orientalist artists. As this dance grew and spread, Middle Eastern countries began to perform belly dancing at various world fairs. At one of the world fairs some dancers were captured in the short film "Fatima's Dance" which was widely distributed in Nickelodeon movie theaters. The film drew much criticism for its "immodest" dancing and was eventually censored due to public pressure. Introduced to a new type of dance some Western women became interested in learning the dance and would imitate it, but did it illicitly. Most women stayed away from any type of dance especially belly dancing, being so exotic. It was a common social assumption not only in America but Europe that women dancers were women of loose morals. Today, belly dancing is much more accepted although many "Hollywood" stereotypes have been added to the dance.

From the time of its origination to today, belly dancing has undergone a massive change. Belly dancing shifted with travelers to foreign lands, it got metamorphosed to get gradually accepted by the people and culture there. As a result, we see different types of belly dancing in different parts of the world. The three that will be addressed are: Beladi which is an Egyptian country or folk dance and is also spelt as Baladi. Beladi is traditionally performed during marriages, festivities, and at home. Most Egyptian dance teachers include Beladi into their classes. Karsilama is a Turkish dance, which is also