Belly dance
A Middle Eastern dance emphasizing torso isolations and hip movements.
Belly dance, also known as Raqs sharqi or Middle Eastern dance, is a torso-driven dance form originating in the Middle East, with movements emphasizing articulations of the hips and torso. It has evolved into many regional styles, with Egyptian styles and costumes being the most recognized worldwide due to Egyptian cinema. The dance is popular globally, taught in formal settings and through family and community traditions in its countries of origin.
The term "belly dance" is a translation of a French phrase, first appearing in a review of an Orientalist painting in 1864. The first known use in English dates to 1883. In its cultural context, the professional form is called Raqs sharqi, encompassing styles such as Raqs Baladi, Sa'idi, Ghawazee, and Awalim, while the informal social dance is known as Raqs Baladi. The dance focuses on isolations of the torso muscles rather than limb movements, distinguishing it from many Western forms. Movements are categorized into percussive staccato accents of the hips or chest, fluid sinuous motions like figure-eight patterns and undulations requiring abdominal control, and shimmies—small, fast vibrations of the hips or ribcage that create texture. Dancers also incorporate level changes, turns, spins, and arm movements to frame the hips. Historically, Greek and Roman sources describe dancers from Asia Minor using undulating movements and quivering thighs reminiscent of belly dance. European travelers in the 18th and 19th centuries documented the Awalim and Ghawazi of Egypt. The dance is deeply rooted in Egyptian culture, with some tracing its origins to ancient festivities on the Nile. During the Umayyad, Abbasid, and Fatimid caliphates, belly dance was performed at court by trained slaves or prostitutes, as free women could not perform publicly under Islamic moral codes. In the Ottoman Empire, it was performed by women and boys in the sultan’s palace.
- field
- Middle Eastern dance
- known_for
- Hip and torso isolations, percussive and fluid movements, shimmies
- also_called
- Raqs sharqi, Arabic dance, Middle Eastern dance
Lore & Background
Belly dance is a Middle Eastern dance form characterized by movements of the hips and torso. It is primarily a torso-driven dance, emphasizing isolations of the torso muscles rather than limb movements, though some isolations resemble those in jazz ballet but are driven differently. The dance has evolved into many forms depending on country and region; Egyptian styles and costumes are the most recognized worldwide due to Egyptian cinema. Movements are broadly categorized into percussive staccato actions like hip lifts, drops, and twists; fluid, sinuous motions such as horizontal and vertical figure-eight loops and hip circles; and shimmies, shivers, and vibrations—small, fast, continuous movements of the hips or ribcage that create texture and are often layered over other movements. Dancers also use level changes, traveling steps, turns, spins, and arm movements to frame and accentuate hip work, with occasional accents like low kicks, arabesques, backbends, and head tosses. The dance is learned through formal instruction in schools, studios, and workshops, as well as through family and community traditions in its countries of origin. In the Middle East, it has a long history; Greek and Roman sources describe dancers from Asia Minor and Spain using undulating movements and quivering thighs. European travelers in the 18th and 19th centuries documented the Awalim and Ghawazi dancers of Egypt. The dance was part of courtly pleasures under Umayyad, Abbasid, and Fatimid caliphs, often performed by slaves or prostitutes trained to entertain male guests, and later in the Ottoman Empire by women and boys in the sultan’s palace.
Reader's Guide
Belly dance remains significant as both a folk and professional art form, particularly in Egypt, where it is performed at celebrations by ordinary people (Raqs Baladi) and by professional dancers. The modern Egyptian style was shaped by performers at Badia's Casinos and later Egyptian film stars like Samia Gamal and Taheyya Kariokka, who helped attract global attention. Despite its popularity, the dance is considered disreputable in much of the modern Arab world and Islamic Middle East, and is even outlawed in some regions. The dance's influence extends into pop music, and male belly dancers have increased in number in recent years.
Did You Know?
- In the Ottoman Empire, belly dance was performed by women and later by boys in the sultan's palace.
- Egyptian belly dance is noted for its controlled, precise movements.
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