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Belly Dance: Some of the Historical and Cultural Influences

This page is intended to introduce students and others interested in the subject to some of the regions, folk dances, traditions and rhythms that have historically had a great impact on belly dance. The next time you watch a belly dance show you can see how many of these influences seem to be present. 

 Belly Dance has been  influenced by many nations and cultures and is performed in countries throughout the world.  Each dancer puts her own mark on it:  a style which cannot be duplicated entirely.  Particularly in belly dance, we create as we dance, interpreting and feeling the music in our own way.  In belly dance, in addition to training and developing a dance vocabulary, many find it rewarding and enriching to learn and incorporate something of the historical and cultural sources of the music and dance movements

 In Mediterranean North Africa, Morocco, Algeria , Tunisia , Libya and Egypt have produced somewhat distinct styles of belly dance.  Egypt is most famous for the Raks Sharqi, Beledy, Saidi, and Fellahin styles of dance. 

 Raks sharqui usually refers to a stylized, classical presentation of the dance. I have also heard it called classical oriental dance, Egyptian cabaret or Cairo Style dance. It is often done with fully orchestrated music specifically composed for the dance, said to have emerged as an art form in the courts of the Ottoman Empire . Usually the dancer is high on the balls of her feet, the movements are controlled and internalized and characterized by soft flowing movements of the arms as well as intricate percussive movements of the hips & shoulders. This often includes some balletic types of movement.  The costuming for Raqs Sharki is usually glitzy.  It can be bra and belt (bedlah) or a fitted dress usually with beads and sequins.

 Raks Beledy refers to a more folk presentation in music and dance.  Beledy also refers to a specific drum pattern and a type of music which is explained in the rhythms section of the website. In a cabaret routine the beledi section often has a call and response section that usually occurs between the taqsim(slow improvisational section) and a drum solo.  Another manner in which Beledy music is often used is for a dance called the Melaya Leff.  The Melaya Leff is a flirtatious dance from Alexandria , Egypt in which a black scarf is used and the costume can be a short dress with flowered shoes.  Sometimes cane dances are performed to beledy music although it is more common for the cane to be utilized with the Saidi music.

 Saidi is another very popular rhythm and style of music and dance from Egypt .  Raks Assaya or dancing with the cane is often performed to Saidi music.  It’s origin is the Said or Upper region of Egypt .    The Saidi rhythm is also used by the men who perform a dance called the Tahtib.  It is often performed by two men and is a combat dance.   The raks assaya is influenced by the tahtib but is feminized.  It is earthy, full of parody and humor. 

Fellahin or Egyptian Village dance describes, a style of  dance, a region, a group of people (farmers) and the rhythm from those areas. The rhythm is a simple two beat, usually performed fast. When we dance to this rhythm it has a light quality to it –our feet seem to have less contact with the ground than they do when we dance to  Saidi and beledy. The rhythm  is a little similar to the malfoof rhythm.

 Shamadan

 Shamadan dance  refers to a dance with the shamadan or candelabram worn on the head.  Traditionally it is done at weddings as part of the zeffa procession.  The dancer leads the bridal procession.  Usually it is done at night.  Due to fire codes, many dancers will have the shamadan lit with electric lights rather than candles and lead the bridal party into the reception hall.

 Moroccan dance

 Some of the Moroccan dances influenced by the Spanish and Cale Gitano.

 The Guedra is a dance of blessing or benediction.  It is considered a trance ritual of the “Blue People” who travel the Sahara desert from Mauritania through Morocco to Egypt .  A female dancer, often draped in a black veil with only her head revealed falls to her knees.  The drum rhythm is repetitive and builds in volume and speed.  Usually a group makes a circle around her. The movements are swaying.  There are some distinctive finger movements, flicking and snake like.  The dance usually ends with the dancer collapsing on the floor.

 Schikhatt was historically  performed at pre-wedding parties by a woman considered to be wise enough to impart her  knowledge to the virgin about to be married.  All female musicians and dancer join in bawdy verse and exaggerated movements.  Morocco has written a detailed description of this dance. 

 The Arabic Gulf — Saudi Arabia , Yemen , Oman , Bahrain , United Arab Emirates and Kuwait .  Some of these countries have minimal influence on the modern international bellydance styles because of isolationist policies.  Nonetheless we have aspects of the Khaleegi style surfacing in our belly dance.  The Khaleeji has a very distinctive hair toss and shoulder work and many drum solos contain a khaleeji section in which the movements can be incorporated. When an entire dance is done in the Khaleegi style, women will perform it as a group in a robe type dress that is worn over their street clothes.  This garment is called a thobe nashal.

 The Levant— Israel , Palestine , Jordan , Lebanon , Syria , parts of Turkey and parts of Iraq .

Lebanon has produced some of the best dancers and musicians in this genre.   

  Mediterranean & Balkan Europe, Asia Minor

Western Turkey, Macedonia , Yugoslavia , Bulgaria , and Greece .  It’s existence here is from the Ottoman reign.  The Turkish name for belly dance is Rakkase. The Rom or gypsy peoples of Turkey have a very distinctive style of belly dance.  Eva Cirnek and Artemis have recently studied this style in depth & teach workshops in this style.  It is a bold, very energetic dance using many hand gestures.  The 9/8 rhythm known as a karsilama  has distinctive steps & attitude. The Greeks have a social dance sometimes referred to the ciftitelli or Tsiftetelli.  There are two rhythms reffered to as Ciftitelli.  One is a faster ciftitelli and the other a very slow ciftetelli. When presenting to  Greek or Turkish audiences or with musicians from these countries it is a good idea to be comfortable with the ciftetelli and karsilama rhythms.  In Spain , the Cale Gitanos perform dances similar to bellydance.  Some versions of the Zambra Mora are a lot like belly dance.

 Central Asia and the Far East or the Silk Road.— Iran , Turkistan , Uzbekistan , Afghanistan .  Some of the dances here are similar to belly dance.  The Persian dances are characterized by intricate hand and arm work.  The hips are very still.

 Some historians say that some of the movements and costuming we find in belly dance originated in India , particularly the Punjabi and Banjara styles.  It is sometimes said that the movements were brought along the Silk road by the Romanes and other nomads.

   To me, (except for those instances when we choose to use it as part of a theatrical production)  belly dance is not to tell a story in the same way as Indian dance does., but this has been debated. Recently I have noted that some of the Lebanese dancers indicate that they do tell stories with their dance, sometimes of love and tragedy. Most of the time belly dance is an  expression of our inner awareness.  There is a language influenced by history and human experience that expresses itself through the body.   In addition to the physical benefits there is a meditative quality to it.

 Some say that the belly roll and the belly flutters are based on the movements of labor and childbirth and that thousands of years ago, they were part of a religious ceremony.  There are accounts of certain tribes (Saudi and Moroccan) dancing the baby into the world.  Essentially a group of women gather around the woman about to give birth and perform the movements with her. The expecting mother does the movements and then bears down. Afterwards there are dances to celebrate the birth and a more elaborate repetition of the actual birth dance are done.  Men are forbidden to watch the birth and the women’s celebrations.  The men do their own dances and celebrations separate from the women.  With the advent of monotheism and various styles of religious restrictions, the movements ceased to be religious and became secular or used for entertainment.

   Sacred prostitutes--  In the ancient cultures of Greece , Persia , Palestine , and North Africa . Sacred dancing was part of   the fertility rituals conducted by the temple priestesses.  Erotic ritual dance was intended to placate gods,ensure crop fertility and bring glory to the city.  Well OK--this makes me feel powerful and I'll use it now and then.

 Some specific rhythms and dances associated with religion are the Zar, guedra and sufi.  The Zar is a ritual which is performed to drive away the jinn/evil spirits.  Usually the woman who is affected  is in the center and performs rolling movements (our head circles) as well as side to side movements with the head or half head circles.  There are drummers and sometimes a male playing the ney (transverse flute) that is only supposed to be played by a male because of it’s phallic form.  The music starts slowly and gathers momentum and the dancer works herself up into frenzied movements.  The guedra as referenced above is a dance of blessing.  Many of the movements are done on the knees. 

 The name belly dance came from  Sol Bloom’s  Street in Cairo exhibit (1893) at the Chicago World Fair.  It is said that he used this term to titillate the mid Victorians of the era.  Little Egypt is most famous for her dances in that act.

 The name middle eastern dance can also refer to some of the social dances  which are done by men as well as women.  The Debke is  a folk dance done by the Lebanese as well as people of Israel & perhaps some other countries as well.  Debke is done in a line.  The person at the head of the line holds up a handkerchief and twirls it and lead the steps.

 Finger Cymbals & Veils

 Finger cymbals, worn by dancers on the thumbs and middle fingers are mostly used to accent the rhythms of the music.  A few different sounds can be made with them and most dancers will learn how to play the most common and traditional rhythms as well as be comfortable playing triplets, fours and be able to play interpretively.