About the Art of Bellydance

The art of bellydance has a long and colorful history, originating over 3,000 years ago as a ritualized fertility dance. Belly dance has roots in all ancient cultures ranging from the Orient to India, Egypt, Turkey and Greece.

There are many theories on the history of bellydance but the one theory that many share is that it started as a fertility ritual for women by women; possibly preparing a young woman for marriage and childbirth. The greatest misconception about bellydancing is that it is intended to entertain men. In most performances, the presence of men was not permitted.

Bellydancing is natural to a woman's bone and muscle structure, with movements emanating from the torso rather than in the legs and feet. The dance often focuses upon isolating different parts of the body, then moving them independently in sensuous patterns to weave together the entire feminine form.

Bellydancing is generally performed barefoot, thought by many to emphasize the intimate physical connection between the dancer, her expression, and Mother Earth. Its authentic Arabic name is “raks al-sharqi”, which means “dance of the east” which got its name when the European painters discovered Middle Eastern dance in the eighteenth century, and then introduced it to the west as bellydance, because of the woman's exposed belly.

In America, bellydancing was first seen by the famous dancer Little Egypt performed at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893. Americans were fascinated and included belly dancers in many silent films made just a few years later. Costumes and dancing styles took on a distinct Hollywood flare and in turn, influenced dancers in the Middle East, thus taking the art form to an entire new level.