So, Bellydancing 101;
1)Belly dancers are stippers...No, we are NOT strippers. We do not take our clothes off when we dance. Bellydancers can dance better than any stripper with all our clothes on, thank you very much. The reason the majority of costumes are made up of a bra and skirt/trouser combo is because if you're doing a bellyroll (contracting different muscles of the stomach at different times to give a wave effect), no one is going to see it very well if you have something covering your tummy! Which brings me to my next point;
2) You have t
o show your belly. Lies! Lies and slander! Lots of costumes do have the stomach covered. In caberet/Egyptian, you can wear elaborate skin tight dresses which flare out at the knee; in the style Baladi, it's traditional to wear a loose dress with a hip scarf holding it tight against your hips; if you find any paintings of older styles of costumes, you'll see that the costume consists of either a turkish vest, harem pants, a hip scarf and a see-through, loose dress kind of thing underneath, or the same as above but with an overcoat instead of a turkish vest. I've been going to classes 
for about a year, and we've never had to show our stomachs in class, unless of course we're showing/being shown how to do a bellyroll, as I have 'volunteered' to do a couple of times.
o show your belly. Lies! Lies and slander! Lots of costumes do have the stomach covered. In caberet/Egyptian, you can wear elaborate skin tight dresses which flare out at the knee; in the style Baladi, it's traditional to wear a loose dress with a hip scarf holding it tight against your hips; if you find any paintings of older styles of costumes, you'll see that the costume consists of either a turkish vest, harem pants, a hip scarf and a see-through, loose dress kind of thing underneath, or the same as above but with an overcoat instead of a turkish vest. I've been going to classes 
for about a year, and we've never had to show our stomachs in class, unless of course we're showing/being shown how to do a bellyroll, as I have 'volunteered' to do a couple of times. 3) We all have lovely slim figures. Ha! Bellydancers come in all shapes and sizes. There's no such thing as a perfect shape anyway. The famous Tribal-fusion Bellydancer who made me want to start Ame
rican Tribal Style and Tribal-fusion myself (Rachel Brice), said herself that she was inspired by a large bellydancer. In fact, in bellydancing, the curvyer you are, the easier it is! If you're shimmying (bending and straightening your knees to create a piston-type effect, pushing your hips up and down, one after the other) it's soooo much easier if you have more meat on your bones, 'cos there's less work to do! Your fat does the majority of the shaking for you! It's great. See? There is a reason for it!
rican Tribal Style and Tribal-fusion myself (Rachel Brice), said herself that she was inspired by a large bellydancer. In fact, in bellydancing, the curvyer you are, the easier it is! If you're shimmying (bending and straightening your knees to create a piston-type effect, pushing your hips up and down, one after the other) it's soooo much easier if you have more meat on your bones, 'cos there's less work to do! Your fat does the majority of the shaking for you! It's great. See? There is a reason for it!4)Only women can bellydance. Bull, lol. At one point in history, women were banned from bellydancing. So, men dressed up as women and performed instead! If you look on youtu
be, you can find loads of videos of male bellydancers. In the caberat/Egyptian style, it may come off a little...camp, but it's still fantastic to watch, a male tribal bellydancers are also very popular. It's traditional a female thing, but this doesn't mean that men can't do it too!
5)Bellydancing was created to entertain men. Again, this is crap. It was actually a rite of passage. Women learned to bellydance from their mothers and other female relatives starting from a very young age. The original point of bellydancing was to ease the pains of childbirth, as the movements with the hips increase bloodflow into the pelvic area (I sound like a textbook >.<). Bellydancing was by women, for women. It was not to entertain men, and the majority of bellydancers will not dance for a male only audience (goes back to the whole stripper thing). I see nothing wrong with practicing some moves in front of friends (I have practiced in front of a male friend once for opinions), but I wouldn't do a male-only performance (unless we were married and I got something in return ;) heh heh heh :P). Related to this, is the taboo surrounding the word 'Harem'. In our western culture, a Harem was where a Sultans concubines were, lounging around and and existing purely to entertain him. Harem actually means 'Forbidden place' (coming from a Turkish/Arabic word) and it was the part of the house where only women and men of the family were allowed to go. This was to protect the women from strange men. Although I don't entrily agree with that kind of thing either, it was not a place where women hung around, half-naked all for one man, ok?!
That's pretty much all I can think of on the misconceptions front, but I'm sure there will be more! Lets talk props bitches!
be, you can find loads of videos of male bellydancers. In the caberat/Egyptian style, it may come off a little...camp, but it's still fantastic to watch, a male tribal bellydancers are also very popular. It's traditional a female thing, but this doesn't mean that men can't do it too!5)Bellydancing was created to entertain men. Again, this is crap. It was actually a rite of passage. Women learned to bellydance from their mothers and other female relatives starting from a very young age. The original point of bellydancing was to ease the pains of childbirth, as the movements with the hips increase bloodflow into the pelvic area (I sound like a textbook >.<). Bellydancing was by women, for women. It was not to entertain men, and the majority of bellydancers will not dance for a male only audience (goes back to the whole stripper thing). I see nothing wrong with practicing some moves in front of friends (I have practiced in front of a male friend once for opinions), but I wouldn't do a male-only performance (unless we were married and I got something in return ;) heh heh heh :P). Related to this, is the taboo surrounding the word 'Harem'. In our western culture, a Harem was where a Sultans concubines were, lounging around and and existing purely to entertain him. Harem actually means 'Forbidden place' (coming from a Turkish/Arabic word) and it was the part of the house where only women and men of the family were allowed to go. This was to protect the women from strange men. Although I don't entrily agree with that kind of thing either, it was not a place where women hung around, half-naked all for one man, ok?!
That's pretty much all I can think of on the misconceptions front, but I'm sure there will be more! Lets talk props bitches!
1)Veil- Not something you wear round your face. A veil is a large piece of material that we swing around and make dances look more elaborate and purdy. Lots of fun!
2)Zills- or
finger-cymbals. Complicated to use, you have to practice while you move, otherwise when you try dancing with them, you'll just get confused. Basic rythmn is rightleftright rightleftright rightleftright etc etc.
3)Canes- Traditional with the baladi style, originally making fun of a mens dance, which u
sed large sticks and simulated fighting. Canes get swung around, hit on the floor and balanced on various places. Fun! ^_^
finger-cymbals. Complicated to use, you have to practice while you move, otherwise when you try dancing with them, you'll just get confused. Basic rythmn is rightleftright rightleftright rightleftright etc etc.3)Canes- Traditional with the baladi style, originally making fun of a mens dance, which u
sed large sticks and simulated fighting. Canes get swung around, hit on the floor and balanced on various places. Fun! ^_^4)Swords- 
These are specially balanced and blunt for dancing. Seriously, you'd have to be very good/crazy to dance with a sharp sword. These don't really get thrown around, like canes, but they are used mainly in balance. They look amazing!
These are specially balanced and blunt for dancing. Seriously, you'd have to be very good/crazy to dance with a sharp sword. These don't really get thrown around, like canes, but they are used mainly in balance. They look amazing!5)Wings of Isis- although they have a very posh sounding name, these aren't traditional 
bellydance props like the four above. Mainly used in cabaret/Egyptian, but there's a video of a girl on youtube doing a Tribal-Fusion dance with these!
bellydance props like the four above. Mainly used in cabaret/Egyptian, but there's a video of a girl on youtube doing a Tribal-Fusion dance with these!6)Fans
- Going more into Fusion bellydance now, these can look really spectacular, especially if in Tribal and they're all snapped out the same time.
7)Fan Veils- I love these! I have two! They are baisically bamboo fans with silk attached and look amazing open or closed! Again, the
se are mainly used in tribal-fusion.
8)Tray of candles- Another balancing act! Best to practice whilst they aren't lit so that you can get th
e position of the candles right to balance with.
9)Fire fans, Poi etc- Woo! Pyromania! These can be used like fans in bellydance, they're just something a bit different.
So, there's a little insight on bellydancing! an amazing way to keep fit, make new friends and just generally feel good about yourself. I'd recomend it to anyone!
- Going more into Fusion bellydance now, these can look really spectacular, especially if in Tribal and they're all snapped out the same time.7)Fan Veils- I love these! I have two! They are baisically bamboo fans with silk attached and look amazing open or closed! Again, the
se are mainly used in tribal-fusion.8)Tray of candles- Another balancing act! Best to practice whilst they aren't lit so that you can get th
e position of the candles right to balance with.
9)Fire fans, Poi etc- Woo! Pyromania! These can be used like fans in bellydance, they're just something a bit different.
So, there's a little insight on bellydancing! an amazing way to keep fit, make new friends and just generally feel good about yourself. I'd recomend it to anyone!
2 comments:
Well i knew some of that from you telling me but it was intresting reading non-theless, especially the bit about it orignally being to help ease child birth.
One thing though, does that mean you'll kill me if, when you in your bellydancing outfit, i start yelling "Strip strip!" ? :p
Yay to belly dancing!!! =^.^=
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