Belly Dancing

History of Belly Dance

Belly dancing is the oldest form of dance, with its roots that lie in all ancient cultures from the orient to India to the Middle East. We can trace its history back Mesopotamia over six thousand years ago, with Turks, Egyptians, and Phoenicians all claiming this dance as their own. Throughout history, this form of dance has been performed by women, for women. In villages, women would dance solely for other women during family and social gatherings. The women would gather in a circle, showing off their skill, grace, and beauty by dancing solo or with each other. When a girl danced for the first time, it was her passageway into womanhood. In other cases, belly dance was performed as an aid to birthing. The sisters of the women giving birth would assist the new mother by undulating and rolling their bodies in natural, curvy snake -like movements to help with the delivery of the baby. As part of her culture, belly dancing was taught to a woman from a very early age, which became a dance as second nature as breathing. These dances spread from Mesopotamia to North Africa, where women began to dance in marketplaces to earn coins for their dowry, and on to Rome, Spain, Italy, and India. Each region developed its own unique style of dance.

In America, belly dancing was introduced by the famous dancers of Little Egypt who performed at Chicago World's Fair in 1893. Americans were intrigued by the exotic music and body rhythms, eventually including them in many silent films made just a few years later. Dance styles and costumes were given a unique Hollywood flame which also influenced dancers in the Middle East, thus evolving the dance form to a new level. An example lies with the flowing veils used to enhance the beauty of the dance which hadn't been documented before the 1900s. Now it is popular throughout the world.

Belly dancing is natural to a woman's muscle and bone structure with movements deriving from the torso rather than in the legs and feet. The dance focuses upon separating the rest of her body to focus upon moving the desired area individually, by moving in sensuous patterns and different parts of the body, moving them independently in sensuous patterns, entwining together the entire womanly form. Belly dancing is usually performed barefoot and it is thought by many to highlight the intimate physical connection between the dancer, her __expression, and Mother Earth.

Belly dancing costumes are often multicolored, flowing garments, accented with flowing scarves and veils. Finger cymbals which are made of brass are common, dating back to 200 B. C. Exotic jewelry, including detailed belts made of coins that, in earlier days, contained the family's wealth so that it might be convenient at the time the woman needed to move quickly or flee. Other attractive accessories dancers use are snakes, swords, candles, large vessels, and even used during the dance are swords, snakes, large vessels, and even big candlebras.

Belly dance has early roots and flourishing worldwide traditions that remain very important today. From the ancient ceremonial traditions of the eastern Mediterranean, the Balkans, and the Mideast, belly dancing has reached all over the world, discovering many supporters not only in its areas of foundation but also in areas such as North America, India, and eastern Asia. The massive amount of dance forms grouped in English as "belly dance" have a many different names in the cultures that began them. To Greeks, belly dance is the cifte telli; to French, dance du venture. to Turks, rakkase; to Egyptians, raks sharki. Although there is much variety, the belly dance traditions of different cultures share most of the same features. Other dances may also have much background, foundations, and important functions, but belly dance is associated with the sincere sources of dance in early fertility traditions that intertwined the religious with the erotic.

One of belly dance's basis may lie in the life in the ancient world of prostitutes connected to civic temples. Women held a high social position as a prostitute, who were far from being part of any strange or illegal subculture. Throughout the ancient cultures of Persia,