Belly Dancing
Belly dancing- an ancient Egyptian social dance now popular all over the world
Belly dance, also referred to as “Middle Eastern Dance” is one of the oldest social dances in history. The origin of belly dance was in North Africa, Middle East and Asia and in general there are two types of this dance. The first one is known as raqs baladi and is mainly a social dance that is performed by people of all age groups. The second type of belly dance is the raqs sharqi and is most popular in America in modern times. Both these dance types are performed by both male and female dancers.
The basic techniques and steps associated with belly dance are generally circular motions that are isolated in one particular part of the body. A good example to understand belly dance will be to imagine a circle that is parallel to the floor is being isolated in the hips or may be in even in the shoulders. A belly dancer uses many ascents like “pop and lock” when she shimmies or even makes a striking rapid motion in her shoulders or hips at the time of performance. Some of the common feats that are performed in belly dance are rolling one’s belly muscles, flexibility, balancing various items like baskets, canes or swords and dancing artistically with silk veils or chiffon.
There lie many reasons why belly dancing have gained immense popularity all over the world. Young boys and girls learn belly dancing from an early age nowadays. Many children even learn this form of social dance informally by just imitating and observing their elders during various community and family celebrations or in informal gatherings with their friends. There are a host of benefits of belly dancing which help both mentally and physically for a dancer. Belly dancing provides extensive cardio-vascular workout thus helping to increase both flexibility and strength of the body. There are many types of belly dancing styles which emphasize particularly on muscular isolations thus teaching a dancer the ability to move various types of muscle groups or muscles independently.
A belly dancer should specially work on the veil work because that can help in building arm, shoulder and the general upper body strength. Playing the zils involves building of body strength and independence of the fingers. The best part of the belly dancing lies in the fact that it is suitable for all body types and for all ages. It can be as physical as chosen by the participant. The various art forms of belly dancing tones the arms and at the same time help in strengthening and tightening the abs. It also improves the flexibility of the obloquies. Belly dancing can also be practiced as a form of exercise since it burns equal number of calories compared to other exercises like swimming, jogging or even riding a bike.
Western and U.S belly dance have been shaped by various cultural trends. The current western belly dance has evolved after absorbing a blend of influences from other cultures. Many contemporary factors like underground subcultures, world of rock and hip hop, film and television imagery and modern culture have influenced belly dancing. Such hybrid forms of belly dancing are termed as “belly dance fusion” and “tribal fusion” the newest form of belly dance is the gothic belly dance which incorporates many motifs and belly dancing styles that aims to express the darkness of the unknown who have inspired the philosophies, music and the lifestyles of Goth subculture.
With time, more personal styles and fusion have been added to western belly dancing. These includes introduction of various types of movements which range from Urban Tribal, ballet, World fusion, Techno Tribal, popping fusions, Afrocuban tribal, Hip hop fusions, Indian, contemporary, jazz, fire dancing, Asian gymnastics, hoop twirling, stilt walking, and the latest reintroduction of burlesque type movements. Various belly dancers are seeking out education in many types of dances so that they can incorporate some new flavor into the choreographies of their belly dancing. All these reasons make belly dancing one of the most diverse dance forms in the U.S.
Since the most popular venue of belly dancing is the night clubs, the modern type of belly dancing is more popular than the traditional folk or social versions. In general the costume that is associated with belly dancing is known as the bedlah (in Arabic) which was originally adopted by the Egyptian dancers in the 1930s. This costume later spread to other countries around the world. Belly dancing today owes its costume creation the harem fantasy productions of burlesque, Hollywood and vaudeville which evolved mainly in the last century.
The mainstay of the belly dancing costume for both the traditional and modern style involves a fitted bra or top which can be a fringe of coins or beads, a fitted hip belt which can also be fringed with coins or beads and a skirt/s which can be layered, straight, circular or even paneled. Western belly dancing also involves the usage of a veil that can be used for the entire dance. Usually a veil is a three-and-a-half to four-yard piece of fabric cloth which is used to express frame movements of the belly dancer.
Recent music videos includes many belly dancers who often upset professional belly dancers because according to them these are mere jiggle shows because they don’t have the proper technique of belly dancing and display overtly sexual moves. Many belly dancers consider this sort of belly dancing offensive because it is a misuse of this beautiful art in order to fit into the style of modern pop culture.