Belly dance

:For the Akon song, see Belly Dancer (Bananza).

Related Topics:
Akon - Belly Dancer (Bananza)

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Belly dance is a Western name coined for a style of dance developed in the Middle East and other Arabic-influenced areas. In the Arabic language it is known as Raqs Sharqi and in Turkish as Oryantal dansı, which is translated as "Dance of the East". For Europeans, this translation sounded perfectly fit, hence it was also known as "Oriental dance", "danse Oriental", "Exotic oriental dance", "Oriental belly dance" and the likes. The term "Raqs Sharqi" is claimed to be originated in Egypt. The name suggested an exotic dance originated elsewhere - and so it had a higher status than the local dance.

Related Topics:
Dance - Middle East - Arabic - Arabic language - Turkish - Egypt

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It is thought that the dance has been known through the oral tradition in Egypt since the pre-Islamic times. There have been many theories about the origin of belly dancing, but most evidence links it to the Mediterranean, Middle East and Africa. Egyptian tomb paintings dating from as far back as the fourteenth century BC depict partially clad dancers whose callisthenic positions appear to be very similar to those used in belly dancing. It has a long history with depictions in Persians miniature paintings from the 12th and 13th centuries. It is known to have been popularized during the Romanticism movement in the 18th and 19th century as artists depicted their interpretation of harem life.

Related Topics:
Islam - Africa - Persians - Romanticism

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During the course of history many of the dances we associate with belly dance today were performed as separate dances; men for men, women for women. There are few depictions of co-ed dances. For many years this made it so that a "good" woman would not be seen dancing by any but her husband, her close family or the women she was with at a get together. This extended to separating the musicians so that only female musicians could perform for female dancers.

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