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Originally Posted by zumarrad
Reda's dance was created in the late 50s I think.
It's my understanding that interest in modern Egyptian belly dancing really kicked off in the US during the 1990s, after Shareen el Safy (and others) came back from Cairo. Since Shareen was publishing Habibi I imagine she got to promote the style pretty hard. So as interest in modern Egyptian dance grew, more and more dancers would have been keen to attend any workshop with an Egyptian star dancer and to present dances they thought of as particularly authentic.
I get the impression that belly dancers picked up the idea of dancing with the melaya and ran with it (to borrow an expression from rugby) which is why things like the gum chewing and more "earthy" personality were added by individual dancers. THere's quite possibly an element of snobbery in some of their presentations of a beledi woman.
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Cool, actually, Egyptian had a nice little congregation in Los Angeles through Feyrouz Aram since the 1970s (one of Shaeen el Safy's teachers before Shareen went to Egypt). Feyrouz is considered one of the pioneers in establishing Egyptian dance in Southern California and was one of the first "converts". Sabrina Bellydancer here on Bhuz is one of Feyrouz's main representatives today along with Shareen El Safy, may I add.
Modern Egyptian as done by the Egyptians surely grew as the festivals and instructor-tours increased, but prior to this - there was a typical trend among , at least among Californian dancers, that the movements would be executed in American Cabaret Bellydance postures, technique and intent (so the movement didnt always end up looking identical with the Egyptians' movement). I know for a fact that Mona El Said has been a huge idol for many dancers that started their professional careers in the 70s and 80s. Of course, along with some Turkish dancers and some Greek dancers and some Lebanese dancers and some Hollywood reenditions of Bellydance and so forth.
I would say that Egyptian technical execution got a boost in the 1990s - and through that the Egyptian specific posture and intent in movement as well - but that there was an Egyptian stylistic following since the 1970s.