Belly Dance Evolution Confusion

I want to continue the discussion of belly dance fusion confusion begun in my previous post. Inevitably, the reasoning in many an article and comment I have read is that belly dance is a living, evolving art form, so questions of authentic representation are moot. I agree that certainly over the thousands of years that belly dance has existed there have been gradual changes, modifications, and creative expressions that have evolved over time. We don't have youtube videos from ancient Egypt, only paintings on the walls of temples and tombs. So we can only guess, right? So whatever one wants to do with the dance is okay, yes? No.

Now, I am not a "purist". That is, I don't think you need to travel to Egypt and live with the Saidi people to learn to belly dance, using only Saidi music and wearing the traditional dress. Some Saidi styling can be incorporated while wearing a bra and bedlah and dancing to modern Egyptian music. But think how odd it would be, if you know anything about Saidi, to do that folkloric dance to industrial, gothic music while wearing a corset and ruffled skirt. Costuming is not really my biggest area of concern, but you get the picture. In case you don't...

There is nothing necessarily wrong with this look, but it would be an insult to the Saidi to do a traditional cane dance to moody, gothic music wearing something like this. As I said before, the music and the dance are married, and the costuming should reflect the general dance style. As Bahaia said at Island of Isis a few years ago, if you do not like Egyptian music (or Turkish, Lebanese, etc...), you need to ask yourself why, and that maybe this isn't the dance for you. She mentioned that there is a lot of fusion music available using Middle Eastern rhythms and instruments that would perhaps work if one does not prefer the traditional, classic styles. There is also Middle Eastern pop music. Bahaia added that she feels there is too much division between the two camps of "cabaret" and "tribal" belly dance, especially since both have their roots in the Golden Era of Egypt from the 1930s to the 1970s.

That brings me to my next topic, in regard to these two camps. Jamila Salimpour's troupe, Bal Anat, performed at Renaissance fairs in the 1960s, making popular a folkloric inspired look in opposition to the sparkly beads and sequins that were popular in the night clubs at that time. She developed a chorus line format in which individual dancers or small groups would take turns coming out from the group to showcase their individuality. Dancing with snakes was common. Some dancers prefer the covered up, earthy look of Tribal, which originated with Bal Anat. And some think cabaret dance is too flirtatious, and it's just not their style. I would argue that you can dress modestly doing any form of belly dance, and that you can embody the music in a way that reflects your personality, whether you are shy, bubbly, outgoing, funny, loving, ethereal, intense, or fierce. Besides, don't we women have many, many moods? That's what makes us so glorious!

Bal Anat

Jamila was married to a Persian man, and they owned a Middle Eastern night club, where she was self-taught by observing the dancers from various countries who came through. As I explained before, Americans approximated the movements as well as they could. Jamila is a well-respected innovator in the belly dance community. Carolena Nericcio, founder of ATS (American Tribal Style) and Fat Chance Belly Dance, learned from a former student of Jamila. Carolena's format is based upon Bal Anat's chorus line idea, but her technique is her own creation, and the element of improvisational leading and following was added. Carolena is regarded highly in the Tribal world.

Because ATS has the look and feel of a folkloric dance, it is thought by some to be a more authentic representation of what belly dance might have been like in ancient times. Tribal belly dance is often explained as a modern Gypsy styling, taking what one encounters along the way and "fusing" it together. This is not actually the case. It is an amalgamation of dance inspired by the folkloric forms of various tribes of the Near and Middle East, North Africa, India, and Spanish flamenco. If you have ever seen true Gypsy dance, such as Turkish Rom, which is always done to a 9/8 rhythm, you will recognize nothing similar to ATS, except for dancing in a circle. That being said, the Gypsy spirit certainly lives on in the Tribal belly dance world.

The authenticity issue is not one of tribal vs. cabaret. I have never even heard an Egyptian style dancer refer to what she does as "cabaret." This is a generic term used in America and other countries to refer to belly dance that is not folkloric or tribal. The Egyptian term for what is referred to as cabaret is actually Raqs Sharqi. Raqs Sharqi evolved from the Baladi (meaning "of the country"), the social dance of rural Egypt, which was brought to the urban areas during the Industrial Revolution. In the 1920s the Baladi was polished up for professional night club performances, and Raqs Sharqi was born. The Baladi is the mother of modern Egyptian belly dance. 

ATS/Tribal may be understood as a sub-genre of American belly dance, considering its roots in Bal Anat (which was dubbed in its heyday as "California Tribal"); or it can be considered its own thing, a separate style of belly dance created by Carolena Nericcio. There is nothing wrong with Tribal as long as it is presented as an American representation inspired by the ethnic dances of a wide range of peoples, incorporating various movements and aesthetic elements, rather than as a pure form of Middle Eastern dance.

A more recent development is a partial return to cabaret styling by tribal dancers who want the "best of both worlds" and incorporate elements, in costuming and movement, of the two styles. The effect is similar to the blending of various Middle Eastern styles into American belly dance in the 1970s, with a Tribal flair. Therefore, Tribaret is considered by some to be the "new classic" in American belly dance. The best example of Tribaret I know is Carrie Konyha, who also incorporates Gypsy styling into some of her dances.

Zoe Jakes

The problem of the degeneration of belly dance occurs with the proliferation of "fusion" which is not true fusion, whether it is classified as tribal, cabaret, or other. There is in many cases no blending together of two or more different styles that a dancer has mastered through years of study and incorporated into a cohesive whole. Tribal Fusion has become a catch-all umbrella for anything that contains some element of belly dance, no matter how small, but is not easily classified. And this validation of anything goes is defended in the name of evolution. Let's take a look at the animal world for an analogy here. The elephant of today evolved from the prehistoric wooly mammoth. We can see that while the mammoth's tusks are larger and he has more hair, he is still clearly recognizable as the ancestor of our elephant. The same cannot be said for the difference in the dances of Naima Akef and Zoe Jakes, for example. Birds may be descended from dinosaurs, but a Tyrannosaurus Rex and a robin have very little in common!

wooly mammoth

In conclusion, as Bahaia said, know what you are doing so that you can do what you want. And I would add that if you are going to call your performance or your class belly dance, make sure you have a solid background in a traditional form and that in your creative expression you do not cross the line into a region that is no longer an authentic representation of the cultural dance. I always explain the origins of ATS when I teach in the improvisational Tribal style, which I consider a reasonably authentic form of American belly dance. If you love Tribal, learn it well! Within the realm of Egyptian dance alone, there are already several forms that can be learned and take years to master. There is ample room for your uniqueness to shine. In any case, know where your dance comes from, whether it is tribal, folkloric, gypsy, or cabaret! Make sure your dance has not evolved from a beautiful swan...to an ugly duckling.

Belly Dance and Religion: A Conversion Story

Many loose ends have come together for me since last May, which in Catholic tradition is Mary's month, but I didn't know that at the time. Since then I have undergone two conversions, one in the world of belly dance, and the other in the realm of religion. Only today have I realized the connection, and that is what I wish to share in this article.

Every year in May I attend the Island of Isis Dance Retreat in Loveland, Ohio, near Cincinnati, organized by my beautiful sisters in the dance, Conchi and Nataj. The town is historic and picturesque, and the Grailville Center where the event is held is holy ground. Last May our teacher was Hadia of Canada, who in addition to possessing over 30 years of belly dance experience is also a master of Flamenco and Turkish Rom (Gypsy) and is a massage and manual therapist. Up till this point in my dance career, I had mostly focused on an American concoction of belly dance know as Tribal, a "fusion" of Middle Eastern, Gypsy, Spanish flamenco, and North African dance styles. I put the word "fusion" in quotes, because as I learned from Hadia, that is not an accurate term in the way it is often applied to Tribal belly dance. To be a true fusion form, the dancer must be a master in all the forms being fused. This was not the case with the origins of American Tribal Style belly dance in the San Francisco Bay area, and it is generally not the case today.

I had begun belly dancing in a style that my teacher described as "Egyptian Cabaret." However, through the phenomenal instruction I have received over the years at Island of Isis, I have come to understand that much of what I learned was actually Lebanese, so for years I was confused. Also, at the particular studio where I began my training, I learned to dance through choreography and as part of a troupe. There were many gaps in my learning of the most basic steps, and I did not learn to dance on my own. The very nature of Middle Eastern dance is that this art form is traditionally performed as a solo dance, albeit often in a social setting. I was, quite frankly, impoverished in the area of solo technique. And once I had discovered it, I clung to my Tribal style, which is a group improvisational dance.

That is, until Hadia. Over the weekend of the retreat, I was slowly persuaded to authentic Egyptian dance. I struggled back and forth in my mind regarding the authenticity of Tribal belly dance. I had to admit that while it is inspired by those cultures mentioned above, and it contains a movement vocabulary and aesthetic qualities akin to those forms, it is ultimately its own thing. Tribal is Tribal, as Egyptian dancers had repeatedly tried to explain to me.

The moment of my conversion happened Friday evening, after Hadia's explanation of "Body Logistics," in which she taught us how to dance safely from the perspective of her in depth knowledge of anatomy. We learned to get out of the "squatting" position that most of us are taught from day one of belly dance classes, and she broke us out of "arm prison." This completely natural orientation of posture and movement is truly Egyptian. Both sides of the Cabaret vs. Tribal debate had missed the point. It's not about costuming or dancing flat-footed vs. dancing on the ball of the foot. My friends, it's about the Baladi. It all comes back to the Baladi. If you don't believe me, read Hossam Ramzy's and Hadia's online articles.

It was Friday after the class, alone in my room, when I had my moment of epiphany. I was listening to a Golden Era of Egyptian Belly Dance CD that I had just purchased, and all I can tell you is that the music seeped into the pores of my skin and transformed me at the cellular level. I got it. I finally understood. And I'm sorry, but I can't explain it to you. It was nothing less than a religious experience. I knew I had found the real thing. I listened to that music with my entire being every chance I got that weekend, and for most of my 4 hour drive home.

Back home, I became obsessed with watching Golden Era dancers on youtube--Naima Akef, Samia Gamal, Taheya Carioka, Fifi Abdo, Soheir Zaki, and the list goes on. Full orchestral, classical Egyptian music. Raqs Sharki dance based on the Baladi, which is the urban dance brought to Egyptian cities from the rural areas during the Industrial Revolution. This is the dance of the people, the Mother of Belly Dance. I shocked my students with my sudden change of direction. Luckily, I had not taught them Tribal exclusively. We had focused on that style, and I had taught them solid technique, but I had always incorporated what I knew as Cabaret into my choreographies and instruction in solo technique. In fact, after learning the Baladi Taksim from Bahaia at Island of Isis in 2010, I passed that training on to my students. Combined with what I learned from Hadia, and in light of my conversion experience, the Baladi Taksim is where I began a new direction with my students last May, and we went deeply into it. We are about ready to order sparkly, heavily beaded bras and belts--the standard Cabaret costume--so the transformation is almost complete!

So what I am professing to you here is that the Baladi is the real deal. The Baladi is home base. If you want to call yourself a belly dancer, in my opinion you must endeavor, at some point on your path, to understand the Baladi. In some mystical way that I can't quite explain, my belly dance conversion prepared the way for my recent conversion from Protestantism to Catholicism. I have been watching youtube interviews with people who have made this conversion, particularly those who were once Protestant church ministers. I have heard more than once from these men that their former church gave them a good foundation in Christianity, that there was much good and truth in what they had learned, but that in Catholicism they found the fullness of the faith, the missing pieces. That is true to my own experience as well. It is a feeling of coming home.

In a similar way, I think of Tribal belly dance as the foundation I have given to many of my students. Learning that style filled some of the gaps and corrected the awkward posturing and imbalance that I experienced in my first "Egyptian Cabaret" classes. Tribal belly dance contains its own, unique beauty, and many people are drawn to its sense of community. But for me, for the time being at least, the Egyptian Baladi is like coming home. It is most closely connected to the ancient source of this deeply feminine, empowering, spiritual dance, which has been preserved by the people from generation to generation. Thank you, dearest Hadia, and all of my lovely teachers, for this most amazing gift!