Thread: Before Badia

Before Badia Masabni, what was "belly dance" like in the Middle East?

Was it just raqs baladi; improvised social dances done at special events by many people, or did it also exist on a professional level?

I read that people throughout the Middle East already used to hire dancers (mostly male) for weddings and such before Badia opened her Opera Casino in Egypt, but that Badia was the first to put "belly dance" on a stage, so to speak, in response to a demand largely from Western tourists. Is this true? Did she actually open the first "cabaret" in Egypt, or was she just one among others at the time? What were other famous cabarets at the time?

How did the dancers who were hired to dance at weddings dance before 1926, when her Opera Casino opened? How did regular people dance socially back then?

Did the term raqs sharqi (and its equivalents in other Mideastern languages) already exist in the Middle East before Badia's Opera Casino, or did it start at that time, or after?

Enlighten me, history buffs ..g.:

Waiting eagerly to hear responses to this one!

There were professional dancers, definitely, but they were more all-round entertainers IIRC - they would also sing, tell jokes, do acrobatics etc. And they were both male and female. There were entertainers for the street and entertainers for homes; the awalim IIRC only performed for other women.

It's my understanding that the street dancing was suppressed in early colonial times (like the male dancing), with dancers who once performed on the streets starting to perform in coffee houses instead.

According to Anthony Shay's article Male Dancer in the Middle East, the dancing before WWI was more athletic than what was subsequently seen in the cabarets.

Isn't there a video of a dancer who has a chair in her mouth? Or is that strictly in the US?

There is indeed a video of a dancer with a chair in her mouth. The video is from 1904.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42Tj7k9Egig]YouTube - Princess Raja - 1904[/ame]

I posted it on Facebook one time and Cassandra Shore commented the following "I've seen the Ghawazee still do that in some places...maybe she saw it during the worlds fair- or maybe she's a native dancer transplanted-I think she's not Western..."

From my research I learnt that the first "coffee house" run by a dancer was opened by Shafiqa al Qibtiya (the Copt) in 1896 called Alf Leyla. She got her start in a famous coffee house called the Eldorado. It's in my history of belly dance article in the Dancing with Genies album booklet, complete with an old photograph of her.

Gosh, that's incredible!!! I watched a few other videos too, it's very folkloric and at times balletic I think. It's amazing how the dance has progressed over 100years! How did you find out about the dancing with a chair?
H x x

Originally Posted by yameyameyame

Before Badia Masabni, what was "belly dance" like in the Middle East?

Was it just raqs baladi; improvised social dances done at special events by many people, or did it also exist on a professional level?

Badia didn't spring from a vacuum. She herself was a professional dancer - originally from Greater Syria. Egypt had a long tradition of professional dancers. Immediately prior to Badia these could be grouped as `awalim (urban, trained under an usta) and ghawazee (rural and family based). Female performers had three main areas of employment. Private celebrations - such as weddings, birthdays and circumcisions, moulids (Saints Day Fairs) and public shows. All this dancing was known as raqs beledi.

Originally Posted by yameyameyame

I read that people throughout the Middle East already used to hire dancers (mostly male) for weddings and such before Badia opened her Opera Casino in Egypt, but that Badia was the first to put "belly dance" on a stage, so to speak, in response to a demand largely from Western tourists. Is this true? Did she actually open the first "cabaret" in Egypt, or was she just one among others at the time? What were other famous cabarets at the time?

She was one among many. She wasn't even teh first woman to own a sala. What made her different is she made the dance the focus. In other clubs dancers were support acts.

Her other claim to fame was she modified the dance (and the look of the dancers) to European tastes. Her clients were Europeans and the Egyptian elite (who were Europhiles)

Originally Posted by yameyameyame

How did the dancers who were hired to dance at weddings dance before 1926, when her Opera Casino opened? How did regular people dance socially back then?

Did the term raqs sharqi (and its equivalents in other Mideastern languages) already exist in the Middle East before Badia's Opera Casino, or did it start at that time, or after?

From work I have done with Aida Nour and Denise Enan, I'd say the dance was simpler; it travelled less; the posture was more lean back. The difference in posture meant, for instance, the classic hip drop (lift hip straightup and drop it staright down) would be unlikely to be included in the movement repertoire - rather a move rolling forward and twisting back was used - all with the heel on the ground.

Dr Mo Geddawi says he can find no evidence that the term "raqs sharqi" existed before the 1920s. Badia may or not have coined the phrase but she certainly made it well known.

Originally Posted by yameyameyame

Before Badia Masabni, what was "belly dance" like in the Middle East?

Was it just raqs baladi; improvised social dances done at special events by many people, or did it also exist on a professional level?

I read that people throughout the Middle East already used to hire dancers (mostly male) for weddings and such before Badia opened her Opera Casino in Egypt, but that Badia was the first to put "belly dance" on a stage, so to speak, in response to a demand largely from Western tourists. Is this true? Did she actually open the first "cabaret" in Egypt, or was she just one among others at the time? What were other famous cabarets at the time?

How did the dancers who were hired to dance at weddings dance before 1926, when her Opera Casino opened? How did regular people dance socially back then?

Did the term raqs sharqi (and its equivalents in other Mideastern languages) already exist in the Middle East before Badia's Opera Casino, or did it start at that time, or after?

Enlighten me, history buffs ..g.:

It's been a year or so since I reviewed this history, so my facts here are slightly murky...

I don't know much about the history in countries other than Egypt. There certainly were professional dancers before Masabni's club, and had been for hundreds of years. They might dance at weddings, religious festivals (not without some disapproval of course), the subu' (party for a seven-day old baby), private shows, and so on. Some time in the late nineteenth century or so (can't remember a more exact date -- I'll look it up in the next few days) the dance had begun to appear more on what we might think of as "stages." Which of course required greater use of space.

The opening of the Suez Canal brought an increase in contact with Europe. Then of course World War I was bringing in a whole lot of British soldiers who were exceedingly interested in this "danse du ventre." So the clubs in Cairo were, as Kashmir mentioned, catered strongly to European taste.

As for how, when and where the term raqs sharqi originated, that is something I have always wanted to know but have never gotten around to asking someone with the knowledge!

If I recall correctly, the club "Eldorado" mentioned by Serpentine was the first nightclub in Cairo.

Facinating thread! Ill be checking back for sure..Thanks to all with info

Originally Posted by kashmir

Badia didn't spring from a vacuum. She herself was a professional dancer - originally from Greater Syria. Egypt had a long tradition of professional dancers. Immediately prior to Badia these could be grouped as `awalim (urban, trained under an usta) and ghawazee (rural and family based). Female performers had three main areas of employment. Private celebrations - such as weddings, birthdays and circumcisions, moulids (Saints Day Fairs) and public shows. All this dancing was known as raqs beledi.


She was one among many. She wasn't even teh first woman to own a sala. What made her different is she made the dance the focus. In other clubs dancers were support acts.

Her other claim to fame was she modified the dance (and the look of the dancers) to European tastes. Her clients were Europeans and the Egyptian elite (who were Europhiles)


From work I have done with Aida Nour and Denise Enan, I'd say the dance was simpler; it travelled less; the posture was more lean back. The difference in posture meant, for instance, the classic hip drop (lift hip straightup and drop it staright down) would be unlikely to be included in the movement repertoire - rather a move rolling forward and twisting back was used - all with the heel on the ground.

Dr Mo Geddawi says he can find no evidence that the term "raqs sharqi" existed before the 1920s. Badia may or not have coined the phrase but she certainly made it well known.

YES, to all of the above, and just to add.. Badia had other clubs before Casino Opera. Casino Opera was just the most well known and had a greater vision.

There were also small clubs for locals who had hostesses who also danced, and there were also other local nightclubs.

The development of the 'Oriental' was to stylise local dance so it looked 'showy' next to the other styles of dance they were displaying.
It is a bit like cruise boat cabaret we have today.

Thank's for some good information.

I have read several times (but can't quote any sources) that "raqs sharqi" was used in Badia's place (an others'?) to differentiate oriental dance from other dance performed (like the Carioca perhaps?). So maybe the struggle for correct labeling was already a big thing back then.

Sharqi was used to differentiate it from baladi and to make it sound Serphisticated and at the same time Eggsotick. Best of both worlds.

I dont know what this source is either to be honest.

what we do know is Baladi was stylised for stage and theatrical purposes and it was known as 'Sharqi'.

There still is a snobbish element to this which exsists today.

Did you see this book? It may not answer all your questions but it does give a picture of just before her time:
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Trade-like-Any-Other-Singers/dp/0292787235]Amazon.com: "A Trade like Any Other": Female Singers and Dancers in Egypt (9780292787230): Karin van Nieuwkerk: Books[/ame]

Originally Posted by yameyameyame

Before Badia Masabni, what was "belly dance" like in the Middle East?

Was it just raqs baladi; improvised social dances done at special events by many people, or did it also exist on a professional level?

I read that people throughout the Middle East already used to hire dancers (mostly male) for weddings and such before Badia opened her Opera Casino in Egypt, but that Badia was the first to put "belly dance" on a stage, so to speak, in response to a demand largely from Western tourists. Is this true? Did she actually open the first "cabaret" in Egypt, or was she just one among others at the time? What were other famous cabarets at the time?

How did the dancers who were hired to dance at weddings dance before 1926, when her Opera Casino opened? How did regular people dance socially back then?

Did the term raqs sharqi (and its equivalents in other Mideastern languages) already exist in the Middle East before Badia's Opera Casino, or did it start at that time, or after?

Enlighten me, history buffs ..g.:

Originally Posted by habibiyaeini

Facinating thread! Ill be checking back for sure..Thanks to all with info

What great information! And like Habibiyaeine, I too will be checking back soon!
Loved the video, wow! That was amazing! But you won't see me dancing with a chair in my mouth any time soon! ..l;,

Originally Posted by anthea

Did you see this book? It may not answer all your questions but it does give a picture of just before her time:
Amazon.com: "A Trade like Any Other": Female Singers and Dancers in Egypt (9780292787230): Karin van Nieuwkerk: Books

This book is a must read!

Yes, every dancer should read van Nieuwkerk's book! It's where I got much of the information in my post above.

Originally Posted by zumarrad

Sharqi was used to differentiate it from baladi and to make it sound Serphisticated and at the same time Eggsotick. Best of both worlds.

If this is the case, then was the use of the term "sharqi" aimed at non-Mid Eastern foreigners somehow? I've always wondered if the use of the term "Eastern" was created to differentiate it from European dances, from Maghrebi dances, or what. "East" is relative, after all. Does anyone know if the term raqs masri was being used in Egypt in Badia Masabni's time?

Originally Posted by yameyameyame

Before Badia Masabni, what was "belly dance" like in the Middle East?

Was it just raqs baladi; improvised social dances done at special events by many people, or did it also exist on a professional level?

I read that people throughout the Middle East already used to hire dancers (mostly male) for weddings and such before Badia opened her Opera Casino in Egypt, but that Badia was the first to put "belly dance" on a stage, so to speak, in response to a demand largely from Western tourists. Is this true? Did she actually open the first "cabaret" in Egypt, or was she just one among others at the time? What were other famous cabarets at the time?

How did the dancers who were hired to dance at weddings dance before 1926, when her Opera Casino opened? How did regular people dance socially back then?

Did the term raqs sharqi (and its equivalents in other Mideastern languages) already exist in the Middle East before Badia's Opera Casino, or did it start at that time, or after?

Enlighten me, history buffs ..g.:

Not a historian at all, but some points I am very sure about:
- Male dancers in women's clothes are a phenomenon of only some Arab countries (I am thinking of some Maghrebine countries particularly).
- Professional dance entertainers definitely existed before Badia al Masabny put them on club stages known by the fact that she herself was a dancer who ran away from home to perform with an ensemble (more folkloric though, from what I remember). The costume most definitely was an invention of that time (catering to European audiences used to revue and variete shows, and Arab audiences who loved that "European breath of fresh air", and who loved being "modern" and sophisticated, which by many unfortunately was equated with being European for quite some decades).
- Ghawazee entertainers are confirmed by many sources - when f.e. historical sources speak of the prohibition of their trades in some time periods like in the mid 19th century in Egypt. They were all-round entertainers though, not dancers in the sense we'd imagine them today.

Originally Posted by zumarrad

According to Anthony Shay's article Male Dancer in the Middle East, the dancing before WWI was more athletic than what was subsequently seen in the cabarets.

Interesting! More like "circus" entertainment, then?

There was an interesting article on Nomadic tribes' female dancers earning money in Maghrebine cities, and going back to their tribes to get married later. I have no knowledge whatsoever on these professional dance traditions to judge the accuracy of this information. I could not find it now, but maybe someone knows author or title?

Originally Posted by dinavienna

Interesting! More like "circus" entertainment, then?

Not necessarily. It's a big jump from "normal BD" to "circus". But, I believe from what I've read in a few places that people didn't tend to be just dancers - they did tricks, jokes, playlets, sang...

Originally Posted by Mihrbanu

Yes, every dancer should read van Nieuwkerk's book! It's where I got much of the information in my post above.



If this is the case, then was the use of the term "sharqi" aimed at non-Mid Eastern foreigners somehow? I've always wondered if the use of the term "Eastern" was created to differentiate it from European dances, from Maghrebi dances, or what. "East" is relative, after all. Does anyone know if the term raqs masri was being used in Egypt in Badia Masabni's time?

I think it was aimed at foreigners *and* locals who aspired to Western style. It was a special local style but not like that old raqs beledi. And yes, it was also probably differentiating itself from other dances they were performing as well.

Originally Posted by dinavienna

There was an interesting article on Nomadic tribes' female dancers earning money in Maghrebine cities, and going back to their tribes to get married later. I have no knowledge whatsoever on these professional dance traditions to judge the accuracy of this information. I could not find it now, but maybe someone knows author or title?

That's the Ouled Nail. Can't tell you the author or title of any article, it's commonly circulated information.

Thanks!

Dancing for Dowries, Part 2: | Belly Dance News & Events - Gilded Serpent

That's the article - seems well researched/by a reputed author, but I'd read more in the respective body of literature before trusting one source blindly (or the ladies here with specific educational background in the field on their knowledge). An interesting read for sure.

Originally Posted by Mihrbanu

If this is the case, then was the use of the term "sharqi" aimed at non-Mid Eastern foreigners somehow? I've always wondered if the use of the term "Eastern" was created to differentiate it from European dances, from Maghrebi dances, or what. "East" is relative, after all. Does anyone know if the term raqs masri was being used in Egypt in Badia Masabni's time?

Mo said it was called just "raqs beledi" - "dance of our country/ community/ people".

I've always wondered if the use of the term "Eastern" was created to differentiate it from European dances, from Maghrebi dances, or what.

Again according to Mo, it was to distinguish it from raqs beledi; to make it exotic. Van Nieuwkerk threw out another hint. When belly dance was banned many clubs responded by dropping it only to present a “different” foreign dance – that looked very much like belly dance. I believe it is possible this new “foreign” dance was called raqs sharqi.

Originally Posted by dinavienna

There was an interesting article on Nomadic tribes' female dancers earning money in Maghrebine cities, and going back to their tribes to get married later. I have no knowledge whatsoever on these professional dance traditions to judge the accuracy of this information. I could not find it now, but maybe someone knows author or title?

This is the Ouled Nail. Many writers mention them. "Flute of Sand" by Lawrence Morgan (1956) is best but they are also mentioned by Ahmed Ben Mostapha (1920), Cherry Kearton (1924), E. Alexander Powell (1926), Hafsa (1927) and Hendrik de Leeuw (1954).

Oh, thanks for these references!

Not sure if this applies 100% to raqs sharqi, but with "Eastern" (way of life, traditions, peoples, philosophies) you do refer to "your own" as opposed to Western. So from that use of "sharq" and "sharqi", I somewhat doubt that adjective was meant to signalize a "foreign" nature of the dance, but rather the opposite.
Just judging from use today to my impression though..

Originally Posted by dinavienna

Not sure if this applies 100% to raqs sharqi, but with "Eastern" (way of life, traditions, peoples, philosophies) you do refer to "your own" as opposed to Western. So from that use of "sharq" and "sharqi", I somewhat doubt that adjective was meant to signalize a "foreign" nature of the dance, but rather the opposite.
Just judging from use today to my impression though..

In Egyptian Arabic? As I mentioned above I discussed this a bit with Dr Mo Geddawi who not only was born in Egypt but snuck into the Casino Opera as a young boy, made a life long friendship with Samia Gamal and was a founding member of the Reda Troupe - and more to the point also speaks fluent English. His take was that "raqs sharqi" was thus named for the European clientale. Is was to differentiate it from raqs beledi which involved "ordinary" Egyptian dancers (ie bigger, darker, more covered than the fantasy that the Europeans wanted). The name was feeding the fantasy. The raqs sharqi dancers were what they expected to see - with European features, younger, thinner and doing arabesques in two piece costumes. So, yes, it was meant to be foreign.