Thread: History of Bellydance in 5 Sentences or Less

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to describe the history of BD as concisely as possible. 5 sentences or less.

On your mark....get set....GO!!!

The purpose of this exercise, by the way, is to help me come up with a way to describe the cultural origins of the dance for a TV interview. BD history tends to be, umm, a point of pet peevage for me and I'd rather be concise than go on 20 different tangents

I just did a show on this topic that took 2 hours, but I'll take a whack. May I assume from 'there' to modern American belly dance (I'll need an extra line for Tribal....)

1. When Europeans first arrived in the Middle East, they were amazed and captivated by the dance that everyone there was performing. 2. Sol Bloom got the concession for entertainers and the Chicago World Expo and had the contract for Egyptian dancers at the same time. 3. First Vaudeville and Burlesque got hold of it, then the cultural revival of the 1960s brought dance to the interest of average Americans. 4. Opening King Tut's tomb awakened an interest in ancient civilizations. 5. We put it all together. Bonus: 6. Californians attempted to take the nightclub out.

Oooh, I wanna hear Zumarrad do this - I like her condensed version of Tribal history!

The mythic (FAKE, please no one take this seriously, I'm attempting to be funny here!) history:
1. Women decided to dance for themselves and their god/desses and to induce labor during childbirth.
2. Men found this attractive.
3. Eventually, the West learned of these sexay ladies and Hollywood jumped on the bandwagon; Americans, being the innovators they are, flip-flopified things (which took off in the West) to the point where bellydance means you can be...whatever, as long as you can shake something.
4. Men still find this attractive.

My more serious take:
Bellydance has its origins in varied social dances of the Middle East, with the modern stereotype of the cabaret dancer also pulling from ballet influence as well.
The term bellydance has been used to include not only folkloric and nightclub styles, but also group improvisation and exploration of differing asthetics using a common dance vocabulary (or at least an attempt at a common vocabulary, which also varies with region, style, and personal taste). <this is where you'd insert your opinion, since this is for an interview, heh>
*whip out Venn diagram* ..l;,

Um. I ran out of steam, sorry. I was trying to be as generic as possible since interviews become misquoted and such (you could offer to come back and expound upon it, hey, another interview!)

I hope your interview goes well, looking forward to hearing how the others condense the origins!

Originally Posted by yaalini

Oooh, I wanna hear Zumarrad do this

That was my first thought when I saw the thread title!

*waits for Zumarrad*


No pressure or anything.

I'll take a crack at it, but Zumarrad is really the person that should be doing this!

Bellydance is the common term for raqs sharqi, or Oriental dance. It came from the social dances of the Middle East, put onstage and glamorized by Badia Masabni in Cairo in the 1920s. It is merely celebratory dancing, not related to antiquity, religion, or seducing a sultan. It traveled to the United States by way of Sol Bloom, vaudeville, and burlesque, after which newcomers from the Middle East started having bellydancers perform at their clubs in the 60s. Today there are several forms of bellydance, some of which are hotly debated.

Er...how's that? I'm going to start getting far more involved than five sentences here!

Originally Posted by Lauren_

That was my first thought when I saw the thread title!

*waits for Zumarrad*


No pressure or anything.

She's just gone off to work. Brigid - I don't want to see a reply until at least smoko time!.p::

Straight version:
For hundreds, if not thousands of years, men, women and children in the Middle East danced an improvised torso centred dance for celebration and their own entertainment. Then, there arose a class of professional entertainers who danced, sang, recited poetry and played music. In the 1920s in Egypt Badia Masabni gathered some of these people together in her nightclub and modified the dance to the venue renaming it "raqs sharqi". This new dance form was exported via Egyptian films to the whole Arab world who took it with them when they emmigrated to the New World. Dancers who had been bitten by the bug of the exotic other, then took the Middle Eastern dance images and created a hybrid dance form.

What the Audience Wants to Hear Version:
In a long distant matriarchal society, a group of wise women discovered that by moving the belly before and during childbirth a woman could deliver without pain and the resulting child was more beautiful and more gifted than children born of non-dancing mothers. This knowledge was passed on via the Priestesses who then further developed it as an adjunct to worshipping the Great Mother. After Atlantis sunk, these priestesses made their way to India, but terribly home sick they travelled for generations back to their homeland taking nothing but their love of dance, a tambourine and a gaily coloured caravan - and leaving with the ignorant populations who previously knew nothing of dance or music a wonderful new way to move their bodies. Alas, many were captured due to their exiquiste beauty and were forced into harems where to ensure their survival they seduced the sultan with their dance. Many years later some of these women were reincarnated as belly dance teachers.

Originally Posted by kashmir

Straight version:
For hundreds, if not thousands of years, men, women and children in the Middle East danced an improvised torso centred dance for celebration and their own entertainment. Then, there arose a class of professional entertainers who danced, sang, recited poetry and played music. In the 1920s in Egypt Badia Masabni gathered some of these people together in her nightclub and modified the dance to the venue renaming it "raqs sharqi". This new dance form was exported via Egyptian films to the whole Arab world who took it with them when they emmigrated to the New World. Dancers who had been bitten by the bug of the exotic other, then took the Middle Eastern dance images and created a hybrid dance form.

Spot on, as far as I'm concerned.

I think the Egyptian movies played a much larger role in getting Americans interested in belly dance than Sol Bloom did, so thanks for mentioning that.

Originally Posted by aziyade

Spot on, as far as I'm concerned.

I think the Egyptian movies played a much larger role in getting Americans interested in belly dance than Sol Bloom did, so thanks for mentioning that.

I like the straight version, too!

the What People Want To Hear version was straighter than what some people teach...

Originally Posted by kashmir

Straight version:
For hundreds, if not thousands of years, men, women and children in the Middle East danced an improvised torso centred dance for celebration and their own entertainment. Then, there arose a class of professional entertainers who danced, sang, recited poetry and played music. In the 1920s in Egypt Badia Masabni gathered some of these people together in her nightclub and modified the dance to the venue renaming it "raqs sharqi". This new dance form was exported via Egyptian films to the whole Arab world who took it with them when they emmigrated to the New World. Dancers who had been bitten by the bug of the exotic other, then took the Middle Eastern dance images and created a hybrid dance form.

What the Audience Wants to Hear Version:
In a long distant matriarchal society, a group of wise women discovered that by moving the belly before and during childbirth a woman could deliver without pain and the resulting child was more beautiful and more gifted than children born of non-dancing mothers. This knowledge was passed on via the Priestesses who then further developed it as an adjunct to worshipping the Great Mother. After Atlantis sunk, these priestesses made their way to India, but terribly home sick they travelled for generations back to their homeland taking nothing but their love of dance, a tambourine and a gaily coloured caravan - and leaving with the ignorant populations who previously knew nothing of dance or music a wonderful new way to move their bodies. Alas, many were captured due to their exiquiste beauty and were forced into harems where to ensure their survival they seduced the sultan with their dance. Many years later some of these women were reincarnated as belly dance teachers.

One (or two) little quibbles with the straight version: No mention of Turkish or Lebanese belly dancing (I don't believe that Egypt is the only source, after all they were ruled by the Ottomans for 400 years), and it wasn't only through films that the Egyptian dance was exported, Egypt was a musical and cultural hub before films.

Originally Posted by kashmir

Straight version:

What the Audience Wants to Hear Version:
In a long distant matriarchal society, a group of wise women discovered that by moving the belly before and during childbirth a woman could deliver without pain and the resulting child was more beautiful and more gifted than children born of non-dancing mothers. This knowledge was passed on via the Priestesses who then further developed it as an adjunct to worshipping the Great Mother. After Atlantis sunk...

That's as far as I could get with a straight face!! ..l;,

Originally Posted by kashmir

Straight version:
For hundreds, if not thousands of years, men, women and children in the Middle East danced an improvised torso centred dance for celebration and their own entertainment. Then, there arose a class of professional entertainers who danced, sang, recited poetry and played music. In the 1920s in Egypt Badia Masabni gathered some of these people together in her nightclub and modified the dance to the venue renaming it "raqs sharqi". This new dance form was exported via Egyptian films to the whole Arab world who took it with them when they emmigrated to the New World. Dancers who had been bitten by the bug of the exotic other, then took the Middle Eastern dance images and created a hybrid dance form.

Haiku version:

Since long long ago
People have danced this dance
Let us celebrate!

Those who danced the best
Danced for everyone to see.
Aiwa! Opah! Hai!

Badia added
Glamour, mystique, new style.
Then, advent of film.

Raqs sharqi was born;
Adopted around the world!
Let us celebrate!

Originally Posted by dunyah

One (or two) little quibbles with the straight version: No mention of Turkish or Lebanese belly dancing (I don't believe that Egypt is the only source, after all they were ruled by the Ottomans for 400 years), and it wasn't only through films that the Egyptian dance was exported, Egypt was a musical and cultural hub before films.

Hey man, I only had five sentences to play with! "Middle East" covers Lebanon & Turkey (and the bits in between and a few others). Did either country have anything who made such an impact on the dance as the development of raqs sharqi in Egypt (whom I'm giving credit to Badia knowing there were many others involved as well - see 5 sentences)? Films made it easier. You could see what the dancers were doing, and what they were doing was this new form of dance; new moves, new props, new way of using space, scandalous costumes ...

What a great thread

Originally Posted by tigerb

Haiku version:

Since long long ago
People have danced this dance
Let us celebrate!

Those who danced the best
Danced for everyone to see.
Aiwa! Opah! Hai!

Badia added
Glamour, mystique, new style.
Then, advent of film.

Raqs sharqi was born;
Adopted around the world!
Let us celebrate!

Superb.

Originally Posted by zumarrad

Superb.

Woo! a "superb" from Zumarrad! I'll print this out and treasure it forever! ..g.:

Originally Posted by kashmir

Straight version:
What the Audience Wants to Hear Version:
In a long distant matriarchal society, a group of wise women discovered that by moving the belly before and during childbirth a woman could deliver without pain and the resulting child was more beautiful and more gifted than children born of non-dancing mothers. This knowledge was passed on via the Priestesses who then further developed it as an adjunct to worshipping the Great Mother. After Atlantis sunk, these priestesses made their way to India, but terribly home sick they travelled for generations back to their homeland taking nothing but their love of dance, a tambourine and a gaily coloured caravan - and leaving with the ignorant populations who previously knew nothing of dance or music a wonderful new way to move their bodies. Alas, many were captured due to their exiquiste beauty and were forced into harems where to ensure their survival they seduced the sultan with their dance. Many years later some of these women were reincarnated as belly dance teachers.

..l;,..l;, That won.

Originally Posted by kashmir

Straight version:
For hundreds, if not thousands of years, men, women and children in the Middle East danced an improvised torso centred dance for celebration and their own entertainment. Then, there arose a class of professional entertainers who danced, sang, recited poetry and played music. In the 1920s in Egypt Badia Masabni gathered some of these people together in her nightclub and modified the dance to the venue renaming it "raqs sharqi". This new dance form was exported via Egyptian films to the whole Arab world who took it with them when they emmigrated to the New World. Dancers who had been bitten by the bug of the exotic other, then took the Middle Eastern dance images and created a hybrid dance form.

What the Audience Wants to Hear Version:
In a long distant matriarchal society, a group of wise women discovered that by moving the belly before and during childbirth a woman could deliver without pain and the resulting child was more beautiful and more gifted than children born of non-dancing mothers. This knowledge was passed on via the Priestesses who then further developed it as an adjunct to worshipping the Great Mother. After Atlantis sunk, these priestesses made their way to India, but terribly home sick they travelled for generations back to their homeland taking nothing but their love of dance, a tambourine and a gaily coloured caravan - and leaving with the ignorant populations who previously knew nothing of dance or music a wonderful new way to move their bodies. Alas, many were captured due to their exiquiste beauty and were forced into harems where to ensure their survival they seduced the sultan with their dance. Many years later some of these women were reincarnated as belly dance teachers.

OMG! LOL! You are so right about that! Straight version is very good.

Originally Posted by kashmir

Hey man, I only had five sentences to play with! "Middle East" covers Lebanon & Turkey (and the bits in between and a few others). Did either country have anything who made such an impact on the dance as the development of raqs sharqi in Egypt (whom I'm giving credit to Badia knowing there were many others involved as well - see 5 sentences)? Films made it easier. You could see what the dancers were doing, and what they were doing was this new form of dance; new moves, new props, new way of using space, scandalous costumes ...

Granted, and you did a wonderful job. Maybe you could add the word "Turkish and" before the words Arabic world.

People dance. Different is exotic. Cultures mix. People dance. I am old.

Originally Posted by kashmir

What the Audience Wants to Hear Version:
In a long distant matriarchal society, a group of wise women discovered that by moving the belly before and during childbirth a woman could deliver without pain and the resulting child was more beautiful and more gifted than children born of non-dancing mothers. .

..l;,..l;,..l;,

In 1893, vaudeville impresario born in poverty to Orthodox Jewish parents from the Pale of Settlement coins new term. Thus dances of diverse regions and hazy origins introduced to American public, Edison reels filmed. Multiple fantasies launched, some still extant. Badia Masabni sees fantasy, returns favor. Newer generation of dancers interested in actual history, rather than Coney Island version (though that too), travel overseas, return bearing tales to tell and costumes to sell.

Howzzat?

- Leela

okay here is my attempt.

The common term used in America, "belly dance," began in the Middle East as a folk dance. Historians have been unable to confirm a date or place of origination but the dance was made popular in Egypt which they termed Raqs Sharki defined as, "The dance of the country." From the Middle East it flowed into Europe and was given the name by the French as Danse du ventre meaning dance of the belly. In 1893 belly dance was introduced to America at the Chicago World Fair. Hollywood then glamorized the costuming similar to sparkly costuming of Las Vegas show girls and popularized the dance through movie films creating a false interpretation of the dance to, "Dance of the Sultans," since then costuming and styling changes have flowed back and forth from the Middle East to America.

Originally Posted by flimflamgirl

In 1893, vaudeville impresario born in poverty to Orthodox Jewish parents from the Pale of Settlement coins new term. Thus dances of diverse regions and hazy origins introduced to American public, Edison reels filmed. Multiple fantasies launched, some still extant. Badia Masabni sees fantasy, returns favor. Newer generation of dancers interested in actual history, rather than Coney Island version (though that too), travel overseas, return bearing tales to tell and costumes to sell.

Howzzat?

- Leela

Well, it kind of makes bellydance sound like an American Jewish invention that got exported to the middle east. I think you're tracing the term rather than the dance?

This is a great thread. But if someone asked me where it originated, I would be speechless. I've heard it started in India, Egypt or Turkey. Maybe it could be a band of Indian Gypsies who travelled the long way to Egypt and stopped in Turkey first at the oasis for a fill-up?

Lauren - Yeah, I'm being maddeningly specific and responding to the term "bellydance", because I don't consider all Middle Eastern dance to fall under that category, and because I find Sol Bloom's history hilarious. Vaudeville mouth-flappers like him are still a huge part of bellydance culture in America, with Miles Copeland only being the latest in a long line.

I disagree that this somehow makes it sounds as if I'm crediting bellydance to the Jews.

- Leela

Originally Posted by flimflamgirl

I disagree that this somehow makes it sounds as if I'm crediting bellydance to the Jews.

- Leela

I meant that to be joking... sorry, I'm heavily medicated these days and shouldn't be posting at all, much less trying to be humorous. Humblest apologies!!!

Originally Posted by flimflamgirl

In 1893, vaudeville impresario born in poverty to Orthodox Jewish parents from the Pale of Settlement coins new term. Thus dances of diverse regions and hazy origins introduced to American public, Edison reels filmed. Multiple fantasies launched, some still extant. Badia Masabni sees fantasy, returns favor. Newer generation of dancers interested in actual history, rather than Coney Island version (though that too), travel overseas, return bearing tales to tell and costumes to sell.

Howzzat?

- Leela

*adopts Shira face*

Oh, THAT old piece of fakelore? Ha ha ha.

Originally Posted by Fotia

This is a great thread. But if someone asked me where it originated, I would be speechless. I've heard it started in India, Egypt or Turkey. Maybe it could be a band of Indian Gypsies who travelled the long way to Egypt and stopped in Turkey first at the oasis for a fill-up?

Joke? Right? Belly dance (as described by the Romans) predated the Rom arrival - which is reasonably recent.