Belly dance


The history of middle –eastern dance is
embedded in the culture of the middle east,
where a party is never complete without music
and dance! Children learn to dance from a very
young age and men and women dance to
express their joy. There are  different styles in
middle-eastern dance, ranging from fiery Turkish
to relaxed Egyptian style.

During the World fair in Paris in 1893, the Ouled
Nail dancers from Morocco performed for the
European world fair visitors. The audience was
amazed by the way that the women danced, and
that they didn’t restrict their body with a
corset, as was the fashion in Europe in those
days. The dance was soon referred to as â
€˜dance du ventre’ or ‘belly dance’.
Western dramatic actress and dancers of the
1900-1920s, like Maud Allan, Isodora Duncan
and Mata Hari, performed their own versions of
this exotic dance.

Middle- Eastern dance has evolved ever since,
from the classic styles in Egyptian movies of the
forties and fifties of the previous century to the
development of ‘tribal style’ and ‘tribal
fusion’ in the nineteeneighties and nineties.
Women of all ages and sizes can learn this dance! Many myths still exist around belly dance. A
lot of them are based on fantasy and Hollywood movies. To name a few:

-belly dance is a seductive dance / striptease
-belly dance started its existence in the harem
-you have to be slim to be a belly dancer
-a belly dancer should wear a diamond in their navel
-belly dance is a lot of shaking around
-belly dance is some kind of birthing ritual.

These myths do not do justice to the difficulty of Middle Eastern dance or the many layers of
emotions that can be expressed and experienced through dance!