Belly Dance History
The History of Middle Eastern (Belly) Dance
(The super condensed mini version)
Middle Eastern Dance is an umbrella term which refers to all dances of the Middle East and it's surrounding areas from both the past and present. However its also a term commonly used to refer to Raqs Sharqi or "belly dance" and its various styles, offshoots, and predecessors. Many scholars believe that Raqs Sharqi stems from older dances. It has been called the world's "oldest dance," with theories linking it to ancient dances in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Persia, India and other ancient civilizations. There is no way to know for sure just how far back the roots of this dance style actually go.
Middle Eastern dance may have many origins. It is possible that this dance can be traced back to Mesopotamia where temple engravings depicting dancers have been found. These same types of depictions have been found on temples in Egypt dating back to 1000 B.C. and in Greece. It is believed by many that this dance started as an ancient ritual dance for fertility and childbirth. The priestesses were sometimes "sacred prostitutes" where they would perform these dances for clients as they invoked the Goddess. Around 0 B.C. there were Greek writings that described Nile dancers as rapidly vibrating. Some of the movements from these dances might still be the same as modern MED (Middle Eastern dance).
Our modern version of Raqs Sharqi only goes back as far as the early 1900's when it was modified as a stage art to compete with western style stage performances and offer entertainment that would have more appeal to foreign occupiers and tourists. However, the original dances in their pre modified version were likely a form of Raqs baladi or even Ghawazee.
During the Middle Ages, Egypt had different classes of dancers. There were the Ghawazee who were considered street performers and the Awalim who were trained slaves and courtesans to the wealthy. The Ghawazee are "Gypsies"
(The super condensed mini version)
Middle Eastern Dance is an umbrella term which refers to all dances of the Middle East and it's surrounding areas from both the past and present. However its also a term commonly used to refer to Raqs Sharqi or "belly dance" and its various styles, offshoots, and predecessors. Many scholars believe that Raqs Sharqi stems from older dances. It has been called the world's "oldest dance," with theories linking it to ancient dances in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, Persia, India and other ancient civilizations. There is no way to know for sure just how far back the roots of this dance style actually go.
Middle Eastern dance may have many origins. It is possible that this dance can be traced back to Mesopotamia where temple engravings depicting dancers have been found. These same types of depictions have been found on temples in Egypt dating back to 1000 B.C. and in Greece. It is believed by many that this dance started as an ancient ritual dance for fertility and childbirth. The priestesses were sometimes "sacred prostitutes" where they would perform these dances for clients as they invoked the Goddess. Around 0 B.C. there were Greek writings that described Nile dancers as rapidly vibrating. Some of the movements from these dances might still be the same as modern MED (Middle Eastern dance).
Our modern version of Raqs Sharqi only goes back as far as the early 1900's when it was modified as a stage art to compete with western style stage performances and offer entertainment that would have more appeal to foreign occupiers and tourists. However, the original dances in their pre modified version were likely a form of Raqs baladi or even Ghawazee.
During the Middle Ages, Egypt had different classes of dancers. There were the Ghawazee who were considered street performers and the Awalim who were trained slaves and courtesans to the wealthy. The Ghawazee are "Gypsies"