Post by yenilira on Nov 17, 2011 22:58:47 GMT 1
Most belly dancing shows in holiday resorts in Turkey involve a scantily-clad lady gyrating her hips in a provocative fashion. She then selects a man from the audience (usually the one with the biggest beer-belly) who has to remove his shirt on stage and imitate her movements. While she ripples her belly alluringly, the man can do nothing more than jiggle his bottom forwards and backwards rather clumsily, much to the amusement of the audience, of course, who are left with the idea that this is what belly dancing is all about.
'Touristy performances', as these situations are referred to for convenience, give belly dancing a bad reputation. In western countries belly dancing is seen as an art form, on a par with other dances. Women use it as a means of expressing their femininity, as a sport and as a means of self-enlightenment. Because of cultural and religious influences, belly dancing is not considered a serious form of art in Turkey.
Despite belly dancing being a popular form of entertainment in Turkey (göbek dans), it is still mainly performed in public for tourists and men. Whilst Turkish women of all ages can belly dance, they’re in no hurry to do this in public, especially not in village communities, except, for example, amongst themselves or family. From a historical perspective, ‘respectable’ women were forbidden from dancing in public in countries like Turkey, especially if they were scantily-clad.
These days, professional belly dancers are found predominantly in Turkey’s nightclubs. There are some well known belly dancers, for example Asena, who also regularly appears on TV.
However, up to now, this has had little effect on improving the general image of belly dancing and belly dancers. This is in spite of professional belly dancing, like other arts and sports, having its own set of rules and regulations and demanding hard work.
Belly dancers need total control over all the muscles in their body, enabling them to move different body parts independently. The term belly dancing is not very comprehensive as it's mainly the abdominal muscles, hips and bosom that are involved. Similar dances are often grouped together under the heading ‘oriental dance’.
The belly dance name came about in the 18th and 19th centuries when Romanticism and Orientalism were the chief influences in art and literature. While strict Victorian standards were being practised in Western Europe, poets and authors from the Orient were writing about harems and erotic, scantily-clad dancers. The term ‘Dance du ventre’, meaning belly dance, originated from French.
There are different types of belly dance, each with its own identity, depending on where in the country it is performed. Arabic countries and Turkey are well known for these dances but variations of belly dancing also exist in Africa and India.
The Turkish version has its own unique features. Turkish belly dancers have to be able to dance with zils, or rattling spoons, for want of a better expression.
A Turkish belly dancer’s costume is often just as revealing as that of, for example, her Egyptian counterpart. Turkish belly dancing is also rather gymnastic and energetic, involving exaggerated arm and leg movements, as opposed to, for example, the Arabic version of belly dancing, where dancers tend to stay in one place and make rather more limited belly movements.
A good belly dancer can translate the emotion and rhythm of the music into visual movement, and to do this training alone is not enough. It has to be in your blood and it’s just like learning a new language.
You may have a good theoretical grasp of grammar and a good practical vocabulary, but before you can call a language your native tongue, you need to be able to feel it. If you speak by thinking alone, it sounds cold and disjointed. The same is true for music. You can hear it, but if you can also feel it you can convert it into movement. Music may be sad or happy, melancholy or loving. As a dancer you try and convey the mood to the audience.
Belly dancing is also a creative dance. There are no set choreographic rules like you find with ballroom, so with belly dancing the better you can sense the music, the stronger and more intensive the movements.
Say, for example, a belly dancer worked with a live band in an Arabic restaurant. She had to learn how to improvise as the music with the musicians’ mood. They would speed up or slow down and a rapport would develop between the musicians and the belly dancer.
Exactly when and where belly dancing originated is anyone’s guess. It is generally accepted that the dance has been around at least five thousand years and originated in the Middle East and North Africa.
The modern-day belly dance costume only came into fashion from about 1920. Prior to that belly dancers would usually wear loose-fitting skirts or pants and long-sleeved blouses.
YL.
'Touristy performances', as these situations are referred to for convenience, give belly dancing a bad reputation. In western countries belly dancing is seen as an art form, on a par with other dances. Women use it as a means of expressing their femininity, as a sport and as a means of self-enlightenment. Because of cultural and religious influences, belly dancing is not considered a serious form of art in Turkey.
Despite belly dancing being a popular form of entertainment in Turkey (göbek dans), it is still mainly performed in public for tourists and men. Whilst Turkish women of all ages can belly dance, they’re in no hurry to do this in public, especially not in village communities, except, for example, amongst themselves or family. From a historical perspective, ‘respectable’ women were forbidden from dancing in public in countries like Turkey, especially if they were scantily-clad.
These days, professional belly dancers are found predominantly in Turkey’s nightclubs. There are some well known belly dancers, for example Asena, who also regularly appears on TV.
However, up to now, this has had little effect on improving the general image of belly dancing and belly dancers. This is in spite of professional belly dancing, like other arts and sports, having its own set of rules and regulations and demanding hard work.
Belly dancers need total control over all the muscles in their body, enabling them to move different body parts independently. The term belly dancing is not very comprehensive as it's mainly the abdominal muscles, hips and bosom that are involved. Similar dances are often grouped together under the heading ‘oriental dance’.
The belly dance name came about in the 18th and 19th centuries when Romanticism and Orientalism were the chief influences in art and literature. While strict Victorian standards were being practised in Western Europe, poets and authors from the Orient were writing about harems and erotic, scantily-clad dancers. The term ‘Dance du ventre’, meaning belly dance, originated from French.
There are different types of belly dance, each with its own identity, depending on where in the country it is performed. Arabic countries and Turkey are well known for these dances but variations of belly dancing also exist in Africa and India.
The Turkish version has its own unique features. Turkish belly dancers have to be able to dance with zils, or rattling spoons, for want of a better expression.
A Turkish belly dancer’s costume is often just as revealing as that of, for example, her Egyptian counterpart. Turkish belly dancing is also rather gymnastic and energetic, involving exaggerated arm and leg movements, as opposed to, for example, the Arabic version of belly dancing, where dancers tend to stay in one place and make rather more limited belly movements.
A good belly dancer can translate the emotion and rhythm of the music into visual movement, and to do this training alone is not enough. It has to be in your blood and it’s just like learning a new language.
You may have a good theoretical grasp of grammar and a good practical vocabulary, but before you can call a language your native tongue, you need to be able to feel it. If you speak by thinking alone, it sounds cold and disjointed. The same is true for music. You can hear it, but if you can also feel it you can convert it into movement. Music may be sad or happy, melancholy or loving. As a dancer you try and convey the mood to the audience.
Belly dancing is also a creative dance. There are no set choreographic rules like you find with ballroom, so with belly dancing the better you can sense the music, the stronger and more intensive the movements.
Say, for example, a belly dancer worked with a live band in an Arabic restaurant. She had to learn how to improvise as the music with the musicians’ mood. They would speed up or slow down and a rapport would develop between the musicians and the belly dancer.
Exactly when and where belly dancing originated is anyone’s guess. It is generally accepted that the dance has been around at least five thousand years and originated in the Middle East and North Africa.
The modern-day belly dance costume only came into fashion from about 1920. Prior to that belly dancers would usually wear loose-fitting skirts or pants and long-sleeved blouses.
YL.