History

Picture
Through the research I have done on Belly Dancing I discovered many intersting facts about this dance. According to Marilee Nuget, the history of Belly Dancing is in many pieces due to the fact that there is little documentation on the women's work and activities througout the age of literacy. I, however, have obtianed lots of new information I was not aware of before this research.

I always thougth Belly Dancing was a term original to the Middle East and that it was a dance mainly performed for entertainment or fun. However, this is not the case. Apparently the term Belly Dance was first used by the French to describe the isolation movements of the body, and it was primarily as a birthing aid (The Oriental). It appears that the sisters of the mother would help her by indulating and rolling their bodies in natural curvy snake-like movements to help with the delivery of the baby (The Oriental). Therefore, Belly Dance was not done for entertainment, but for child birth. In fact, Belly Dancing became a form of entertainment very slowly. 

I learned that one of the topics agreed about Belly Dancing is that it is a very old dance, and sometimes considered the oldest dance in existance (About). It was very intersting to know that it retains its connections to fertility and erocticism by being an indispensible feature at weddings (picture on the top right) in many Middle Eastern countries (About). Apparently, the purpose of the belly dancers at the weddings is to get the bride and the groom in the mood, becase most of the time the wedding is their first encounter face to face. Furthermore, the belly dancer serves as a blessing of fertility on the newlyweds and entartains the guests. Today, as I have heard before, belly dance is enjoyed for tis artistry, ethnicity, beauty, health erocticism, and for fun!