| The World's Oldest Dance- A History of Bellydance (Revised) | |||||
| by Karol Henderson Harding, a.k.a. "The Joyful Dancer" | |||||
| 2.
Raks Sharki is "gender specific" and uniquely suited to express
both sensuality and sexuality. In western dance forms such as modern dance, it is possible and even customary to perform in a androgynous manner - neither male nor female, rather a colorful sticklike form. It is entirely fitting in modern western dances to dance in a style that is purposefully harsh and mechanical. There is no place for this in eastern dance. The dancer dances from his/her soul, but it expresses itself in a particular body. Thus it is also costume dependent. Costumes like loose caftans can be used to take the focus away from the gender of the dancer and help move towards a more neutral, or perhaps spiritual effect. Men may also dance Raks Sharki, but is always a human being with a sexual
identity who is This tradition caused great confusion for some English travellers of the Victorian era,who were greatly perturbed to find that the attractive young "lady" (or very ugly dancer!) who was dancing was no "lady"! This issue of sexuality is always present, and is dealt with partly by
moderation of movement and also by costume. Thus more "folkloric"
dances as well as trance dances are generally performed in a caftan of
some description (or equally covered garment such as a haik). Since it
is in fact illegal to perform in Cairo with a bare stomach, the dancer
will at the very least wear a body stocking. In Cairo it is also not permitted
to show the back of the neck. Dancers who wear the so-called "cabaret"
costume, a bra and belt combination with a skirt, find that some movements
like large chest shimmies which are fun and lively in a folkloric caftan
have entirely different connotations in the skimpier cabaret costume and
need to be performed more delicately - of course, this is entirely dependent
upon the dancer and the situation. |
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