The Rise of the Dance
The belly-dance saw the light
in Central Asia and had a sacral meaning, namely, it constituted a part of a
ceremony glorifying the female maternity spring. This ritual used to take place
on the occasion of a child’s birth, whereas the dance itself gradually pervaded
the countries of the Near and Middle East and Mediterranean countries. There are
implications about the movements of abdominal press in the Tibetan Book of the
Dead. They were used for the purposes of meditation and passing onto a new
astral layer. The sick people in Greece were cured with the help of the dance
accompanied by a noisy music and screams. The Indians imparted grace and
softness of the movements on the dance, the Turkish enriched it with complicated
and unusual rhythms and the Gypsies infused it with desire.
Every and
any dance of the Eastern origin is frequently and incorrectly called a
belly-dance in Europe. It should be noted that there does not exist a sole style
of the dance performance in the East; it is rather a blend of multiple folklore
trends that originated from the traditions of various nations living in
different regions and countries. Each of them is characteristic of individual
peculiarities of the movements, music, national costumes and other attributes.
Morocco can be mentioned as an example where one can count up to 200 kinds of
folklore dances.
However, two basic styles can be distinguished from the
total diversity of styles and trends: Haivaze and Beladi. The official native
land of the former is the upper Egypt where it is most widely spread. The
Gipsies from India are assumed to have brought along the technique of the dance
in the 10th century. The Gipsy tribe was called Haivaze and, subsequently, that
name was ascribed to the style of the dance. Due to their nomadic way of life,
the Gipsies adopted local traditions and customs of other nations as well as the
peculiarity of their national costumes and dance movements, and later on they
promulgated them in Eastern countries, though in a different quality. In the
18th century, the European travellers evaluated the unique style of Haivaze and
brought the news to their native countries.
However, Europe saw the
pervasion of the other trend of the dance which was Beladi. This word comes from
the Arabic language and means ‘motherland’ or ‘native town’. In this respect, it
reflects a great popularity of the style among Egyptian nations. Since many
years in the past it had been considered a female dance and it was performed for
women alone. This trend is mainly specific of diverse hand movements which have
no clear system or obvious relation with hip swinging. Generally, the dance made
a vivid, though somewhat cumbersome impression.
More and more traders
from abroad were gradually coming to Cairo and some of them stayed there for
altogether. Subsequently, some changes took place in the style of Beladi dance
and in some ways it even mingled with Haivaze. In the result, a brand new trend
was created – Rax Sharki, which can be translated as ‘the solo dance of a
woman’. Consequently, the style of the Eastern dance foresaw the performance of
a single dancer, not a whole group of dancers as was the case with a folklore
trend.
The first performance of the dancers from Eastern countries in
the West took place in Paris in 1889, whereas in 1893 a similar performance was
held in Chicago. The dance was christened with a French phrase ‘Danse du
Ventre’, meaning ‘a belly-dance’. In respect of the performance promotion, this
title had an enormous success; alongside, however, miscomprehension and
perversion of the meaning of the performance occurred. Morally immature audience
considered this wonderful dance to be completely libertine. Nothing doing: a lot
of people in the contemporary world associate this dance with scenic striptease.
In the forties and fifties of the 20th century, a belly-dance gained in
huge popularity in the West thanks to Hollywood or, to be more precise, to the
cinema art. American film producers portrayed the East in accordance with their
imagination – shining and blazing, thus wiping off the boundaries between the
natural Eastern style and travesty. The use of such accessories as snakes or
swords also have nothing in common with Egyptian or Indian roots.
Today
the study of a belly-dance attracts women in all parts of the world. From
women’s point of view, this dance embodies exotica, femininity and thrill. It
should be noted that, apart from being charming and beautiful, the dance
movements of the Eastern trends are very useful as well.
A belly-dance is
called an individual kind of yoga for women by professionals in choreography
inasmuch as it is actually impossible to perform some movements of the dance
without breath regulation. Furthermore, the dance helps in burning calories, in
developing limber joints and improving circulatory system. Shaking elements
prevent from the formation of cellulites and act as a massage for a spine and
viscera.
Professional dancers are greatly considered in the East:
similarly to ballerinas who are admired in the West, skillful performers of a
belly-dance are worshipped in Syria, Lebanon and other countries. This trend has
not received appreciation only in the Islamic nations. According to their
religion, denudation of a stomach is almost equal to a crime which is strictly
punished by a husband or relatives.
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