Thoughts on belly dance as an Eastern art form

October 30, 2005 12:00 PM

In pursuit of the art of belly dance, we seek knowledge, movement training, self understanding, physical challenges, beauty, mystery… so many things. Part way through the journey we realize that becoming a belly dancer is so much more than absorbing “belly dance” movements into our bodies. Oriental dance artistry is a mind set, and in part, a lifestyle.

For many of us as Westerners practicing an Eastern art form, the revelations are ongoing and deeply layered. Belly dance, at its essence, is Eastern. On the surface this means we encounter exotic music, rhythms, tonalities, compositions and instrumentation; all things our ears are unaccustomed to at the beginning. With a little exploration we stumble upon politically charged ideas of Orientalism, feminism, authenticity, nationalism, art and sensuality—all surrounding this dance form. This is heavy stuff. And it’s possible that in the shadow of these weighty ideas the beautiful and joyous dance that sparked our passion gets muddied. It’s possible to be overwhelmed and seek certainty.

But this is art. And this art form is particularly alive and well. The visceral truth and universality of belly dance is highly accessible; you can feel its beauty and power in your own body. And the Eastern notions that spawned this art form are accessible too. Relax. Enjoy the journey. Share yourself. Celebrate the music. Express what is authentic to you.

As a dear musician friend of ours often describes old time songs of the Arab world, “they’re a meal to be savored, they’re not fast food and not to be rushed through.” So it goes for Oriental dance and adopting an Eastern approach for understanding the art form. There is no end goal in exploration. Discover. Create. Experiment. Play.

Be gentle with yourself, with the dance and with your community of dancers. Harshness and criticism abound in this world. In Oriental dance we can find a natural medium to be accepting of ourselves and others. The music is rich, the lines are soft, the movements are fluid and the expression is deep and varied.

On that note, I invite you all to join us for a weekend with Karim Nagi in exploring the roots of our dance. On October 22 and 23rd Karim will teach 9.5 hours of Arab music, folkloric dance foundations and more. The workshops are open to all. They’ll be high energy workouts full of lots of information, and of course, we’ll have tons shimmy fun at the dance party. :) I hope to see you there!

Yours in dance, Rachel

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