Origins of belly dancing

Google and you'll find hundreds of websites claiming that belly dance originated from a Middle Eastern birthing ritual. If so many sources say so, it must be true - or is it? The truth is by no means as straightforward.

The prevalence of the "birthing" theory is easily explained. For one thing, it appeared on Wikipedia for a long time - and many websites get their information from that source.

Secondly, Western belly dance teachers want to believe it! Faced with constant misconceptions about belly dance - "isn't that like stripping?" and so on - being able to cite a wholesome, non-sexual origin for the dance is like manna from Heaven.

The inconvenient truth, though, is that there's no evidence to support the theory.

Wikipedia used to cite "numerous oral historical references, backed by a commentary in the work The Dancer of Shamahka".

Try to find documentation of those "oral historical references" and you'll draw a blank. As for the book - far from being an ancient work, it's an autobiographical novel by an Armenian belly dancer, published in 1918. Here's the relevant passage:

"Thus in Cairo one evening I saw . . . one of our most sacred dances degraded into a bestiality horrible and revolting. It was our poem of the mystery and pain of motherhood, which all true Asiatic men watch with reverence and humility. . . In this olden Asia which has kept the dance in its primitive purity, it represents maternity, the mysterious conception of life, the suffering and the joy with which a new soul is brought into the world. . . But the spirit of the Occident had touched this holy dance and it became the horrible danse du ventre, the "hoochie-koochie"."

Remember the author, Armen Ohanian, was writing at a time when belly dancing's reputation in the West was at its worst, as she's clearly aware (she had been living in Europe for years when she wrote the book). Given the overblown romantic tone of the novel, we can't be sure whether her statement above is factual, or is an attempt to counteract the negative press - much as the theory is used today by modern belly dance teachers.

Besides, you note she doesn't suggest the "sacred dance" is for women only - she says "true Asiatic men watch with reverence".

There is evidence that some belly dance moves are used in childbirth in the Middle East, albeit from a relatively modern source.

In 1961, the belly dancer Morocco (Carolina Varga Dinicu) had the fascinating experience of being invited to a traditional birthing in Saudi Arabia. She witnessed first-hand how the women walked in a circle, executing belly rolls and flutters, with the mother alternately joining the circle or squatting.

Morocco was very moved by her experience. But even so, she has never claimed that belly dancing originated from a birthing ritual. She makes it clear in her article that only two abdominal moves are used in the ritual - and as we all know, abdominal moves are only a very small part of our repertoire.

Of course, it is possible that the dance evolved from those two basic moves. But why not the other way round? Let's imagine a dancer in some ancient village noticing that belly rolls eased her labour. She tells the other women of her village and soon, they all adopt the idea. They meet mothers from other tribes at the bazaar and the word spreads, further and further with each generation. Isn't that just as plausible?

Even if the birthing theory is true, the transition to performing took place so long ago, it scarcely matters. All the evidence indicates belly dancing has been used to entertain, and particularly to entertain men, for hundreds of years.

The Roman poet Martial (A.D. 38-101) commented on the female "erotic ballerinas" who entertained visitors to Ephesus, Turkey, in the days of the Roman empire . They wore diaphanous robes and "gyrated...to a steady beat". Of course, we don't know how they danced - but they did wear tiny cymbals on their fingers.

Female dancers also appear in Persian miniature paintings of the 12th and 13th centuries.

With the advent of Islam, Muslim women were no longer allowed to dance in public and their place was taken by men. These koceks were still dancing in the 1850's and they belly-danced. Unlike the male bellydancers of today, they aped women, heavily made-up and dancing effeminately - which suggests they were copying the dance previously performed by women.

In Egypt, female belly dancers were common in 1798 - over two hundred years ago! We have the testimony of Napoleon's invasion troops to prove it.

There were two types of dancers: the Ghawazee, gypsy dancers who danced in the street for money and (not surprisingly, given their low status and lack of education) often resorted to prostitution; and the Almeh, educated women skilled in singing, dancing and poetry, who were well-paid for performing. An Egyptian man would never marry a Ghawazee woman, but an Awalim was considered an acceptable bride, provided she gave up her profession.

Personally, I wonder why modern belly dancers are so fixated on "authenticity" and the origins of bellydance.

The truth is, belly dance has been debased and associated with prostitution in its countries of birth for many centuries. It is still not a "respectable" dance in the Middle East.

By contrast, modern Western belly dance is a family entertainment, performed in restaurants and community fairs. By our cultural standards, belly dance costume is modest (just take a look at any beach, night club or music video) and the movements not at all raunchy.

That style of belly dancing has its origins not in the mists of time, but in the America of the 1940's. Even our costume, the bedleh, comes from Hollywood! There are so many belly dance styles out there today - why should we be ashamed of having developed our own version of the dance, and feel the need to connect to a tarnished history?

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All text copyright Marisa Wright.