Belly
dancing, as we know it today, is a style of dance that is comes from the North
Africa, the Middle East, and as far as South East Asia, and is used as
entertainment at parties and ethnic restaurants. Surrounded by sexual premises
and implications, belly dancing is sometimes looked down upon by the pious and
mild manners, especially considering it is what inspired the style of dance we
now call “exotic dancing” (Al-Rawi 2003) . However, belly dancing was never meant
as a form of entertainment to be observed by others, let alone by men. It began
as an exclusively female activity, surrounded in spirituality and meaning, with
practical uses such as an exercise for women prior giving birth. The muscle control
required for belly dancing provide the strength for women to move their
abdominal muscles in a wave motion helping birth that child faster. The skill
grew in complexity and it became a style of dance in the North Africa and the Persia
for hundreds of years. It is still quite popular today, and can be found in
many parts of world, like North America, Europe, India, Turkey, and a similar
style exists in south-east Asia and Indonesia.
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| Drum Beats of Morocco |
One of
the most unique attributes of belly dancing is that for centuries it was
rarely, if ever, choreographed previous a performance. The reason behind this
is that Persian music did not have a written method for recording music, so the
musicians made up the majority of their music on the spot. Therefore, up until
technological advances provided recording equipment, belly dancing was as
spontaneous as the music. This is also why it is much more common to see one
belly dancer performing than a group. Trying to organize a group of dancers to
freestyle in synchronized fashion is next to impossible, so the dance developed
around one dancer dancing at a time, and for the most part that is the way it
has stayed even in present day. With recorded music there is now a chance for a
group of belly dancers to perform together in synch with each other’s
movements, but I have often found this to be a draw back. Removing the
spontaneity of the movement allows for greater technical precision and stage
use, but it makes the dancers appear stiff. Belly dancing is a very fluid
dance, where dancers sway in many circular movements using their hips, arms,
head, shoulders, chest, stomach, feet, fingers, wrists, and just about every
other joint in their body to make swirling fluid movements. By choreographing
it, it forces the dancer to think too much about what they are doing,
distracting them from the feel of the dance. I prefer the spontaneous singular
form of dancing, where everything is movement and emotion.
Moroccan
belly dancing is quite different from the form of belly dancing I learned how
to do, which was more Indian in nature. To begin with, Moroccan dancers like to
show off the legs of the dancers quite a bit more than other belly dancers.
Frequently the skirt will fall straight to the floor in a straight piece of
fabric that is usually without folds or pleats, but often with a slit on the
side for a leg to appear for extra movement. Sometimes flared pants are used
instead, most often narrowly fitting the top of the legs and then flaring out
around the knee but will usually stop before hitting the floor to prevent the
dancer from tripping. Sometimes however the pants will be fitted loosely in a light
fabric that moves easily and tapers at the ankle – again to prevent the dancer
from tripping. The bust is primarily the same as it is everywhere belly dancing
is performed; covering the breasts and sometimes the shoulders, but always
making sure to show off the naval area or else little movement would be shown
and the dance would not be called ‘belly dancing’. Sometimes arm accessories are
used, to add some colour and increased movement to the dance. Decorations of
the costumes are quite different in North Africa, like in Egypt or Morocco,
than in other parts of the Persia and India. Movement is always very important
in belly dancing, because by exaggerating the movement caused by the hips,
chest or arms of the dancer it increases the illusion the dancer is creating
with their body, moving the many parts of the body in isolation. Usually that
means there are beads and ‘bangles’ hanging off the costume of the belly
dancer, either a belt, the skirt, or the bust, but usually more beading and
fewer bangles are used in Moroccan belly dancer’s costumes. The costumes can be
simple, or exceptionally elaborate, but are almost always rich with colour and
details that catch the light. Professional belly dancing costumes are always
heavily beaded and very beautiful, to match the beauty of the woman wearing it. Sometimes, props may also be used, such as very light shawls, finger chimes, and even swords or fire balanced on the dancer's head.
Many
people assume that belly dancing is meant as a sensual and sexual dance,
because of the somewhat sexual nature
to the movements, and more than anything the lack of clothing. It is true that belly dancing, at least to
me, is a very sensual dance – but rarely is it meant in a sexual manner. Belly
dancing is performed in many settings and venues, usually indoor parties or
restaurants, including weddings and simple female gatherings where women will
join together and dance with each other at a woman’s home (Al-Rawi 2003) . The incredible
thing about the dance is that girls begin to learn it quite young, either
through the women at home or at classes, and the lessons they learn about the
stomach motions as children will be remembered during child birth and will help
the birth go along much more smoothly (Al-Rawi 2003) .
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| Moroccan Music |
The
main objective to belly dancing is to isolate the muscles in the entire body,
hips, arms, abdominal, chest, shoulders, neck, legs, and hands so that the
dancer can move each one of them individually in order to have complete control
over their body so they can perform the dance (Al-Rawi 2003) . When first
beginning, it is very important to bend the knees, increase the dexterity and
flexibility of the hips and abdomen so the dancer can successfully keep their
feet planted on the ground and move their hips in circular motions without
moving their shoulders. The point behind this is that much later in the
development of the dance, dancers will learn how to move their rib cage, hips,
shoulders and head all separately, creating an illusion of total movement of
the body in harmony (Al-Rawi 2003) .
There
is an enormous spiritual component to belly dancing that not many people know
the history of, or how to recognize it. The goddess of womanhood is the moon,
the celestial body that controls the waters of the earth, and the cycle of
women, and like the moon women will meet on top a hill to dance and celebrate
the feeling of what it means to be a women (Al-Rawi 2003) . Because of the
connection women have to their bellies as a source of life, death, and general
discomfort every 28 days, the belly becomes the primary subject of the dance,
used to strengthen sexual energy, and praise the mysteries of life, opening
themselves to the universe to become centered once more (Al-Rawi 2003) .
However, as time moved on and the relationship between man, centered in
rational thought, and woman, embodying the unpredictability of the natural world,
became more distant and distorted (Al-Rawi 2003) . It became a dance
meant for entertainment purposes, thought to be more of a seductive dance than
a moment of spiritual clarity (Al-Rawi 2003) . Over time, the dance no longer stood for
anything spiritual, and no longer served women as the mystery of being.
Even
though the exterior view of the dance is one that is of far lower quality than
the original intention, the meditative properties of the dance have not
changed. When I dance, I always take a moment for the rhythm of the drum, and
the melody of the wind instruments to reach inside me and grab hold of
something far more ancient than anything I could have ever learned in a dance
class. I will feel my heart beat match the rhythm of the drums, and slowly I
will feel the music creeping through ever vein of my body, right down to the
ends of my toes, the tips of my fingers, right around the crown of my head to
the third eye. I will focus all my attentions to that single spot, and let the
music come out of my arms and legs in a single string of fluid motions. The
energy from the music fills my body with strength that is not my own, and I let
it take me away to a place that is not based in thought, but emotion. It is my
release from stress, from having to think, and I become lost in the moment. For
a short time, I am connected with something far breaker than anything of this
world.
That is
what belly dancing is to me; a way to connect with myself and the women around
me. It is not meant as something for others to watch for entertainment, it can
be a very private thing to me, but best shared with close friends. The joy that
is felt from sharing in the dance is what makes me a better dancer, and encourages
me to share it with others.
Work Cited
Al-Rawi,
Rosina-Fawzia. Grandmother's Secrets. Northampton: Interlink Books,
2003.
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