Cultural exchange through Belly dance (raqs sharki)
This divinely-beautiful feminine dance form, is among the oldest forms of dance known to mankind. Its origins can be traced back to most ancient cultures including people living in the Stone Age!
Oriental dance teachers globally made it their personal mission to correctly educate people about this art form seeing that it had been commercially exploited by American movie-makers since the 1890s.
By far the most interesting fact of the dance’s history is that it was designed by women, for women and therefore it was danced only at women’s gatherings, typically when playfully preparing their daughters for the birth of a child or after childbirth to regain muscle strength.
Regional folkloric versions of this dance that place emphasis on the hip and belly movements can still be seen in many villages. Villagers would dance at gatherings to celebrate life and would wear traditional clothing and not the western-version of belly dance outfits! They danced to rejoice in the fact that God chose women to be nurturers of humankind. And the vessels in which He chose to reproduce His creation!
Many painters and poets through the ages have been inspired by this mesmerising dance and the control belly-dancers have over their bodies.
In the harems of Constantinople in the mid-1400’s, gypsies were hired to dance and entertain the wives of the sultan and not the sultans as the movie makers portray! These dancers would use Turkish-style dance, with finger cymbals and earthy movements.
The gypsies travelled to Egypt and developed a folk-style called Ghawazee, for outside theatres. They incorporated other props into the dance routines, such as veils, candles and swords – for entertainment purposes but this street dancing version was forced underground in 1854 because it clashed with religious beliefs.
As Europeans travelled more, the dance reached the West but, sadly, many of the good traditions were lost in translation. Since the 1970s, the international belly dance community, both East and West, has been working to reclaim its valuable traditions.
The Spanish connection
Ever wondered why Belly dance resembles the flamenco? Links to Belly dance can be traced back to almost every single dance form on earth, but the Spanish connection is truly fascinating.
The Moors, Arab and Berber Muslims conquered parts of Spain in the 8th century and ruled for almost 800 years. The Moorish influenced the Spanish language, lifestyle, education, philosophy, science, architecture, Arts, and culture. Almost 4,000 Spanish words come from Arabic.
Spanish music has structural elements in common with the sounds of north Africa. Instruments like the guitar and melodies like the flamenco were introduced influencing Spanish music and dance powerfully.
Cultural Heritage
As a dance form it continues to contribute to global cultural exchange – having itself gathered so much information from all cultures around the world since the dawning of time. As the Original Mother of Dance, this art-form teaches those willing, to respect and embrace all other dance forms and cultures.
In a more recently development, men are now invited to learn belly dance along with women. It is open to people of all ages and body types, encouraging and teaching them that they should embrace their own uniqueness instead of obsessing about the stereotypical images pushed forward by the media, ballet, cabaret, chorus lines and dance competitions.
The education and preservation of world culture is of utmost importance to authentic teachers of belly dance. Nothing sums up this sentiment more than the quote by Charles Davis: “To understand the culture, study the dance. To understand the dance, study the people.”