Dance in the pre-Islamic past

Dance is a very fundamental human activity. It was practised in ancient cultures and is popular all over the world from the most primitive to the most sophisticated cultures. The word 'dance' derives from the Sanskrit 'tanha' meaning 'joy of life' and the Arabic word for dance 'raks' derives from the ancient Assyrian 'rakkase' meaning 'to celebrate'.

The art of ancient Egypt, from the earliest dynasties, shows dancers and musicians as part of normal life. There is also much evidence of dance in ancient Syria, Turkey and other countries. Some aspects of this dance was simply a form of entertainment, but it was also related to the worship of various fertility goddesses, such as Hathor in Egypt, Aphrodite in Greece and Ishtar in Babylon. Ancient writers record these dances as being based on movements of the hips, circling, swaying and shaking of the body. The female worshippers often danced themselves into an ecstatic frenzy where they felt they were linked to the power of the goddess.

Gradually the ancient goddess-worshipping cultures waned and more male dominated cultures took over in the Middle East. From the 4th Century AD when Christianity began to have an influence, and later with the rise of Islam, the old pagan rituals were vigorously suppressed. In particularly those rites associated with goddess-worship and the ecstatic sacred dances were forbidden by cultures that disapproved of such a celebration of female sexuality and fertility. However it is difficult to entirely repress something like dance, that is so much a natural part of human expression. Although the sacred dance was forbidden, a dance form as entertainment continued and incorporated many of the moves described by ancient writers which are still to be seen in modern Arabic dance.

Under Islam.

Islamic traditions have drawn heavily on the influences of Judaism and Christianity. These religions all share a mistrust of sexuality and tend to regard the feminine as a disruptive, dangerous influence. In the Arab world the solution to this has been to confine women to the spheres of home and family. Respectable women are veiled when they have to go out of the home and do not show their bodies in any way that could be thought to be immodest. Within the confines of the home, with other woman and at family celebrations, women continued to dance for their own pleasure.

The restrictions imposed made it impossible for any respectable woman to be a professional dancer, so the role was taken on only by women living at the margins of society for whom it was often the only way of making a living. Occasionally a woman could cross the dividing-line into the respectable world, but most did at least enjoy more freedom than other women. Paradoxically, although dancers were regarded as risqué, they were also though to bring good fortune and helped enliven public and private celebrations which ensured there was plenty of work to be had.

Gypsy tribes, originally from Northern India, moved into the Middle East in the 5th Century AD. Many became travelling musicians and entertainers - and of course dancers. As they were outsiders, often following a religion based on the worship of Hindu deities, they were not subject to the same restrictions as the local Islamic population. A style of dance was developed, picking up influences from other cultures as the tribes moved around the Middle East. The profession of entertainer was passed down through families with the girls dancing and the men acting as musicians. Some of these tribes (known as ghawazee in Arabic) settled in Egypt and can be found there today. The style of dance spread with the expansion of Islam into all of North Africa, the Middle East, Turkey and even into Spain with the Moorish invasion. Influences from all of these areas can be found in the modern dance.

In the 18th Century European travellers began to take an interest in the Arab world and came into contact with its unique dance styles - styles very different from what was familiar in Europe at the time. Napoleon led an expedition to Egypt in 1798 he took with him a team of scholars to study the country's ancient and modern culture. The French occupation of Egypt proved short-lived, but the documents produced by his team fuelled the interest in the Middle East that lasted for many years.

In Napoleon's time many ghawazee dancers and entertainers lived in Cairo and along the banks of the Nile. However there was now another group of entertainers, the awalim, these were more respectable women who mainly earned a living by singing and story-telling, but also danced for women's parties. While the ghawazee fraternised with the French, the awalim moved out of Cairo, refusing to entertain outsiders.

Following the withdrawal of the French, power in Egypt was taken by an Albanian called Muhammad Ali, who set out to modernise the country. Pressure from religious leaders, and the low reputation of the ghawazee, led him to banish them out of the city. Although the awalim returned, and continued to make living, they had to take care to maintain their respectable reputations or risk banishment.

In the late 19th Century many more visitors came to the Middle East from Europe as it became a fashionable extension to the 'Grand Tour'. Among those drawn to the area were many artists seeking inspiration from the exotic East. A visit to a dancer became an essential part of the tour and dancers often features in 'Orientalist' paintings of the period. Some artists and travellers became closely involved with the region and gained an understanding of the culture, but for many the interest was based on a fantasy. Their pictures show a distorted image of a decadent, opulent world - a dream that was perhaps very attractive to artists who found Victorian values restrictive.

When the Crystal Palace Exhibition was held in London in 1851, and later at similar events held in Europe and the USA, mock-up streets and villages from all over the world were set up for the amusement of visitors. Among these were representations of Egyptian and other Arabic areas complete with dancers brought to the West. For the first time ordinary people in the West got to see Arabic styles of dance. The dance drew huge crowds, but critical reaction was very mixed. Some saw the fluid movement of the dancer's body, so different to current Western dance styles, as disgusting and lewd. Others wondered at the freedom of expression that was possible unrestricted by tight corsets and heavy skirts. The most famous of these dancers was Fahreda Mahzar, known as Little Egypt, who appeared in the Great Columbia Exposition at Chicargo in 1893. From this point onward there were many others, who often used the stage name "Little Egypt", who appeared in burlesque shows throughout America as the dance form became increasingly popular.

Modern developments.

In the early 20th Century dance was very influential art form. In Europe and the USA dance was being transformed by people such as Isadora Duncan and Ruth St Denis, who took their inspiration from the dances of ancient Greece and also from the Arabic styles (known at the time as "Oriental").

Two forms of Oriental dance existed. One was a refined, westernised version, consisting mainly of upper torso movements, dramatic poses and ritual mime. Explicit movements of the hips were taboo for these dancers who performed in respectable 'artistic' circles. At the other extreme were the hoochie koochie dances of the vauderville, the development of dances performed at the great exhibitions. These dancers made full use of their bodies and were generally considered to be not at all respectable.

In the 1920s the craze for Orientalism influenced artists in many fields in particular the Art Nouveau movement. It was also an influence in the new movie industry of the USA and Europe. Many early epics depicted scenes of ancient times - complete with ancient temples and dancing girls. At the same time the general relaxation in dress styles gave women a greater freedom of movement and this was expressed in dances such as the Charleston and the Shimmy - both of which incorporated movements long seen in Oriental dance. In Egypt music and dance blossomed, fuelled by a growing Arabic movie industry and night-clubs set up to serve the local and colonial population. The cabaret venues allowed dancers to develop the rather static baladi style that had been popular for centuries. They adopted and adapted moves from Western dance and made use of veils for the first time. There was also a move away from dancing bare-footed, the very fact that a dancer could afford shoes was a sign of her success. In the 1930s and 1940s many dancers achieved a high standing, particularly Samia Gamal and Tahia Carioca, whose performance styles are still influential today.

Dance today in the Arab world

If you go to the Middle East today you will dancers performing Belly-dance in tourist hotels and night-clubs in most liberal Arabic countries such as Egypt. However dance is under threat from Islamic fundamentalists and from general social pressure in a male-dominated culture where respectable women do not dance. As a consequence many of the dancers performing for tourist shows are not Arab women but come from Europe and the USA. Arab women who dance professionally still suffer from poor social status, even those few who have star status are often forced to stop their dance careers if they marry. Others flout tradition at the risk of incurring attack from fundamentalist terrorists.

Among ordinary people dance is still popular as a private entertainment and girls learn from their mothers in women-only gatherings as they have done since earliest times. At such gatherings women will dance for each other, accompanying themselves with drumming and singing. Everyone joins in, but each dancer comes forward to take a turn to entertain her friends, showing her favourite and best moves. There is little distinction in such a situation between performer and audience. Particularly skilful performances are generally acknowledged by the zhagareet a cry made by trilling the tongue against the roof of the mouth while making a high-pitched note. Such dance sessions can go on for a very long time, the whole event and the dances within it being entirely improvised.

Arabic Dance in the non-Arab world

Following on the interest in Orientalism in the early 20th Century Arabic styles of dance have been presented in many formats. Some Government-sponsored folk-dance groups have presented traditional forms of the dance to wide audiences and the night-club performance has always been found in Turkish and Arabic cafes in cities world-wide. Alongside the growing interest in World Music the interest in actually trying out the dance of other cultures has grown in the West. Arabic dancers living in Europe and the USA were able to teach their style to professional and amateur dancers - and found women ready and willing to take up this form. The dance, as it is generally taught in this country, is uniquely accessible to all and seems, if anything, to be more popular with older women. In their simplest form, most moves are relatively undemanding and gentle but, like any physical activity, the expert can push themselves to more spectacular performance.

Like any art form this dance has a life of its own. There are any number of variations in styles to choose from once you get the basics. There are some teachers with a westernised approach teaching bellydance as a cabaret style (or as portrayed in film) with little or no link to the true dance of the Middle East. There are others who restrict themselves to the modern styles performed by dancers in Egypt or Turkey. There are others who take an interest in folkloric styles or fusion styles like American Tribal. For the most part teachers are aware of other styles and fashions, many cover different styles in their classes and they should be able to help their students find a form of the dance that suits.

Locally the Arabic Dance 'scene' is very active with classes running in Leeds, Bradford, Keighley, Skipton and Halifax and many other towns. Nationally there are several organisations 'networking' dancers and teachers with magazines and web sites for the newcomer and experienced dancer alike. These often provide a venue for performance and help organise workshops with professional dancers from the UK and beyond.