Belly dancing is generally a safe form of exercise for healthy women. If, however, you have back problems or you are in any doubt about your medical condition, check with your doctor before starting belly dancing. Most women can also continue belly dancing while pregnant but, again, check with your doctor to make sure.
The name belly dance most likely came from the French phrase dance du ventre or 'dance of the stomach.
Belly dancing is no longer confined to the world of burning sands. It is spreading through the western world as a unique and exciting way of keeping fit and at the same time adding a new zest to life. Belly dancing is now being recognised as a skillful physical art form, which combines health-giving exercise with the creative grace of dance movements and relaxation.
Many people agree it was the gypsy tribes who first drew dancing out into the streets and developed it into theatre. The gypsies originally hailed from India and spoke a Hindu based language called Romany. Around the 5th century A.D as a result of local oppression, need for work and sometimes banishment, the Romany gypsies began to migrate to other parts of the known world. Scholars suggest that many first travelled west into Afghanistan and Persia. From there, some migrated north to Turkey and on to Europe while others went south, following the coastline until they reached Egypt and other parts of North Africa.
Belly dancing developed in different ways in each country the gypsies migrated through. In Turkey the gypsies settled in the newly titled city of Istanbul. Working in organised groups, comprising the business leader, dancers, and musicians, they danced at bath houses, harems and other communal locations for women. They built an artistic style that is the root of many of the movements in belly dancing today. In Turkey today, belly dancing is primarily a tourist attraction, rather than spiritual entertainment.
As gypsies continued their migration south into Egypt, the dancers were liberated for a time regarding their audiences. Gypsies also danced for the public at celebrations, wedding processions and in front of coffee houses and market places where the flow of people and money was greatest. Their repertoire was a mix of music and dancing, including their own unique torso movements, native dances and improvised performances.
With veils, sticks, swords and candles. Some theorise that it was this public practice of dancing that generated the idea of adding coins to the performers' costumes. As gypsies danced, people who stopped to observe them would toss coins to their feet as tips. Dancers then sewed the money onto their clothes for safekeeping or used the coins to purchase jewellery which could always be worn.
Like other forms of dance, belly dancing is a wonderful medium for individual interpretation and role-playing. Once you have become thoroughly familiar with all the steps, you no longer need to plan your movements consciously and you can afford to let your imagination have full rein.
In recent years more and more women have discovered the true elements of this incredibly feminine and self-affirming art form. By combining the best of the ancient and the modern, contempory belly dancers have been able to rejuvenate the dance from the traints of yesterday to the visual delight of today, appealing to people of all ages and backgrounds.
Today's fashion is for an almost emaciated thinness which borders on the unhealthy and can have negative physiological effects. Few women are born with the build and metabolism to achieve the current popular body image, leaving a very hard and disappointing road for others, who strive to measure up but cannot because of their natural shape.
Belly dancing is a wonderful way to counteract these negative body images and celebrates the more natural, curvaceous feminine form in all its shape and sizes. In the ancient world, when belly dancing came into being, thinness was a sign of poverty, sickness and starvation. For a women of those times, having a soft layer surrounding her bones showed that she was well fed and healthy.
Belly dancers portrayed in films or paintings usually have a veil. Sometimes covering the face or body, sometimes held in the hands, the light and transparent veil seems to defy gravity as it floats about the dancer- a wonderful image that never fails to captivate the observer.
Swords
Sword dancing embodies the warrior goddess in every women. It empowers a dancers and allows her to extend her vision to include incredible images of power, freedom, risk, danger, and mystery.
Wings
Although wings are a modern addition to the world of belly dance, they manage to conjure up images of the great pharaohs, terrible gods and temperamental goddess of Ancient Egypt.
Candles
Candles are popular props. Most candle dancers work with a large silver tray, bearing candles in all shapes and sizes, which they balance on their heads. Others hold candles in their hands, similar to tea lights, which are held in tea light holders.
Canes
Dancing with canes may have roots in a masculine battle dance, or tahtiyb, from Upper Egypt farmland regions. In simulated fighting style, the men danced with long hardwood sticks, using powerful, aggressive movements. Over time, a feminine adaptation emerged with a more lighthearted and playful style, substituting a delicate hooked cane for a stick.
Finger Cymbals or Zills
Zills are the Turkish name, musical instruments for fingers date to 200BC, when dancers in celebrations would clack together two wooden or ivory sticks in each hand. As cultures progressed, so did the quality of instrumentation. Some evidence suggests that it was the Greeks who first began playing a metal form of finger instrument, but nobody is sure.
This is only a very brief history, and there are lots of different accounts of where belly dancing originates from. So please try and do your own investigating
The text was written by,
Tina Hobin, from the book 'Belly Dancing for Health and Relaxation'
Laura Cooper, from the book 'Basic Belly Dancing'
with thanks
I understand that there is probably a lot more information about Belly Dancing and where it originates from, I have only selected a small portion.
Belly dancing is generally a safe form of exercise for healthy women. If, however, you have back problems or you are in any doubt about your medical condition, check with your doctor before starting belly dancing. Most women can also continue belly dancing while pregnant but, again, check with your doctor to make sure.