Brief History of Belly Dance
A Brief History of Belly Dance by Mellilah
Seen as an ancient dance form, belly dance evolved through various ancient dance traditions throughout North African and the Middle East.
Baladi means “country” or “folk” and refers to a particular style and costuming. Primarily in the US, baladi is also used to represent a specific rhythm, the masmoudi sagheer. Prior to the twentieth century, baladi was performed primarily for weddings, outdoor festivals, coffee houses and private residences. The baladi style was performed in small spaces and was improvisational, utilizing movements of the shoulders and hips. Traditional instruments accompanied Baladi dancers, including drums, wind or string instruments, and tambourines, and their costumes consisted of an optional headscarf, a floor length dress, and hip scarf.
Although today belly dance is practiced all over the globe, the Golden Era of belly dance rests in the mid-twentieth century in Egypt. In 1926, Badia Masabny, Lebanese dancer and actress, opened “Casino Badia,” a nightclub in Cairo that was modeled after the cabarets in Europe. Casino Badia featured Eastern as well as Western entertainment, which both European and Middle Eastern audiences found appealing. Similar nightclubs emerged in Beirut, Algiers and throughout Cairo. It is at this time, that the evolution of baladi to raqs sharki, the sophisticated art form that we know today, began.
Baladi was transformed into a refined art form, utilizing more sophisticated movements, veils, and encompassing a larger stage area, as well as embracing ballet inspired arms, posture, and foot placement, on the balls of the feet. Dancers wore bedlahs, two-pieced, sequined costumes, inspired by Hollywood, and for the first time, dancers reached celebrity status and gained prestige. Products of this period are famous dancers Samia Gamal and Tahia Carioca.
The translation of Arabic term “raqs sharki” is “dance of the East” or “oriental dance.” French travelers referred to raqs sharki as danse du ventre (dance of the belly), as what they witnessed was bizarre to them. The terms belly dance or raqs sharki are widely used today.
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