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Eamanne Moharram

Dr. Rossen

UGS 303, 60710

3 December 2020

American Belly Dance: Authentic or Appropriated?

This essay will examine the origins of belly dance, the several types that emerged in the

20th century, and how its practice in American/Western culture is a result of transcultural fusion that contributes to problematic Western patterns of Orientalist appropriation. Its mixed origins and its history of appropriation make the practice of American belly dance distinct from its

Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) origins and the overall MENA culture and identity.

Central to this analysis is the question “Is belly dance an accurate representation of MENA culture?” The answer is yes and no.

One cannot say that belly dance isn’t Middle Eastern because its vocabulary and physical forms are deeply rooted in Middle Eastern, specifically Egyptian, dance vocabulary and the first belly dancers were indeed Middle Eastern. To fully deny the dance’s lineage would be an unfair erasure of its originators. However, its evolution was greatly driven by catering to Western tastes, both by its Middle Eastern creators and by its American dance practitioners, making it thoroughly distinct from authentic MENA dance practice. In contrast to other cultural dance forms in the U.S. like Indian classical dance, Latin dance, or other MENA dance forms like

Palestinian Dabke that maintain their cultural identity and ownership, belly dance exists as a manifestation of MENA culture that is no longer truly owned by its originators. In fact, the dance is primarily practiced by non-MENA dancers and is viewed by many Americans in the MENA diaspora as an inaccurate and uncomfortable representation of their culture (Deagon 3). Moharram 2

The core motions of modern belly dance are similar to what is at the heart of traditional

Egyptian dance, but overall, modern belly dance has evolved in a different direction. To fully understand the evolution and hybridization of belly dance, one must examine its history from the beginning. Belly dance is commonly known by its Arabic name, “raqs sharqi,” which literally ​ ​ translates to “eastern dance.” In fact, Egyptian raqs sharqi is arguably its own dance form, ​ ​ which was created in the 1920s Cairo Renaissance, and is the origin point of all modern

American belly dance (Deagon 3). Raqs sharqi is characterized by improvisation, hip and torso ​ ​ isolations, extended arm movements, and interaction between the dancer, audience, and musicians on stage (Lo Iacono). Dance is undeniably at the heart of Egyptian culture with three

“local social and celebratory dances and… traditions” informing the primary dance vocabulary of raqs sharqi: baladi dance, Ghawazee dance, and the Awalim tradition (Lo Iacono). ​ ​ First, baladi dance comes from the working class of Egypt with “baladi” translating to

“country,” “traditional,” or “local.” The dance is characterized by improvisation and, in contrast to the theatrisized and performance based raqs sharqi, is typically practiced as a social dance, at ​ ​ home or at parties, in women only spaces. The dance emphasizes the strength of the working class “thus [its] danced on flat feet rather than releve” but remains playful with the Egyptian concept of dela’a representing a “flirtatious and cheeky” feminine persona (Lo Iacono; Deagon ​ ​ ​ ​ 13). This baladi attitude remains a thread in raqs sharqi (Lo Iacono). ​ ​ Second, Ghawazee dance originates from the Ghawazee, a nomadic people in Egypt. In contrast to baladi dance, practiced privately, the dance of the Ghawazee manifests specifically as a performance art form. The Ghawazee were traditionally travelling performers with female dancers and male musicians who performed between holidays in the streets, primarily for rural and lower class Egyptians. These women performed in local costumes with simple props like Moharram 3 scarves or objects balanced on their heads or bodies. The dance itself focused heavily on torso movement with minimal arm movement and minimal footwork, was performed typically with a primary soloist, used finger cymbals, and was accompanied by live music from which the dancer(s) would improvise and build her movements (Lo Iacono).

Finally, the Awalim were female performers of the well-educated, Egyptian upper class.

In 1920s Cairo, these dancers who previously performed primarily at women’s celebrations and gatherings began to open up nightclubs in which to perform for the upper class elite, both

Egyptian and international. Awalim dance practitioners are crucial to the development of raqs ​ sharqi and to the hybridization and fusion of its roots which can partially be seen as a ​ combination of the privately performed baladi and the publicly performed Ghawazee dance traditions. The high class nightclub setting shifted the dance practice from a social, celebratory, and participatory dance to one “performed purely for watching” (Lo Iacono). This shift laid the foundation for the dance to become much more of a spectacle catered to the male gaze. Changes to the dance form were greatly influenced by the socio-cultural environment of urban/upper class

Egypt’s 1920s Cairo Renaissance. Egypt, and specifically Cairo, was highly multicultural.

Nightclubs became major cultural “contact zones” as international patrons and performers exchanged ideas with Egyptian patrons, performers, and nightclub owners. Additionally, in early

20th century Egypt, Westernization was often conflated with modernization by the upper class, furthering the dance’s evolution and development guided by and tailored to Western tastes rather than local traditions (Lo Iacono).

Arguably playing the most influential role of a single individual in shaping Egyptian belly dance was Badia Masabni, a prominent Syrian belly dancer and owner of many nightclubs in Cairo. In the late 1920s, the dance of the Awalim tradition in the nightclubs that previously Moharram 4 held so many similarities to Ghawazee dance began to deviate. Masabni incorporated more varied foot and arm movements, included dance ensembles alongside soloists, expanded the use of floor space, mixed music from Western and Arab orchestras, and incorporated Latin, Turkish, and Persian dance movements to ensure routines weren’t too repetitive or “boring” to international audiences (Lo Iacono). Though improvisation was still highly valued, Masabni brought in choreography as a dominant feature in the dance, bringing in many Western choreographers who incorporated ballet and ballroom elements into raqs sharqi. Non-Western ​ ​ choreographers were also employed and brought movements that became foundational to the

Oriental dance framework like adding figure-eight twists and dramatic drops to the floor.

Another massive change Masabni contributed to the dance form was the costumes worn by performers. Traditional costumes, which stemmed from Ghawazee styles, fully covered the body and consisted of long skirts, with a ribbon overskirt, long-sleeved tops, short vests, and heeled shoes. The first appearance of two piece, midriff-baring costumes was in the U.S. by Orientalist dancers like Ruth St. Dennis which were then incorporated by Masabni in Egypt in what became the bra and skirt look we know today. Masabni was so influential because a large percentage of her dancers were picked up by Egyptian cinema, and thus raqs sharqi spread to the masses in ​ ​ Egypt and to the world, attracting more Egyptian and foreign/Western dancers alike (Lo Iacono).

With all the changes by Middle Eastern creators like Badia Masabni, raqs sharqi was ​ ​ already a culturally mixed form before its arrival to the U.S. and the world stage. But how did it get to become a widespread practice in the U.S.? Belly dance first appeared on a large stage in the U.S. with the title performer “Little Egypt” and imported Algerian belly-dancers at the 1893

Chicago World Fair (American Belly Dance Legends). From the early 20th century, belly dance ​ ​ had a strong place in Hollywood. American practitioners of modern dance, like Ruth St. Dennis, Moharram 5 made careers out of performing “Oriental dance,” a mix of MENA dance, South Asian dance, and fantasy invention, while many films featured it for American and global audiences alike

(Maira 322). By the 1950s, belly dance was a popular form of U.S. entertainment in nightclubs with primarily Arab and Turkish performers. In the 1960s and 70s, a massive boom of non-MENA dancers joined the scene as demand for dancers went up and pay increased. These first nightclub dancers were trained by their Arab/Turkish employers and dance peers. However, as more non-MENA dancers took to the stage, MENA belly dancers and MENA “‘-owned’ belly dance’” were increasingly marginalized (Deagon 7).

The 1960s-1970s was a crucial time period for the formation of two other primary forms of American belly dance aside from nightclub performance: recreational belly dance and tribal belly dance. During this time period, the dance moved out of nightclubs and was marketed to the masses as a recreational activity. Recreational belly dance was co-opted by the White middle class and many of the hippie-type on the coasts, with the Bay Area in California as a huge catalyst for its growth. European ballet and vaudeville performer, Roman “Bert” Balladine, played a huge role in this shift, popularizing the dance form in 1960s California by teaching in local community centers and clubs. He was extremely sought after and even won an award from

Governor Reagan of California for his efforts which increased his popularity and credibility to teach more people. He was the first person to introduce the concept of dance workshops while touring in Germany, which opened the door for American dance workshops and the international dance seminars that have become so important to the dance’s modern practice and spread

(American Belly Dance Legends). In the 1980s through the early 2000s, the dance’s popularity ​ ​ as a fitness craze came to a head as new video technology pushed it further into the mainstream

(Deagon 9). Moharram 6

Tribal belly dance emerged in the late 60s in San Francisco renaissance fairs as a fusion style that mixed the MENA aesthetic, fantasy elements, and an eclectic mix of other ethnic styles. Its four defining characteristics are a strong focus on artistic expression, its emphasis on female expression and ownership, a sense of modernity, and a sense of tribe exemplified by group performances and alignment with tribal imagery. Tribal belly dancers account for a vast percentage of American belly dancers with the dance’s attraction being its distance from the glamour and sexual focus of nightclub style, the fact that it does not require one to adhere too strictly to any one original cultural form, and its focus on “Eastern spirituality and ….

[collectivism]” (Deagon 10-11; Maira 330).

Jamila Salimpour, the Sicilian-American known as the “Mother of Oriental Dance,” created the foundation for tribal belly dance with the creation of the Bal Anat dance troupe in

1968. A 40 member dance troupe, Bal Anat was created “part fantasy, part invention, part real” as it fused cultural elements from MENA, Arab, and South Asian cultures with Orientalist fantasy elements like sword and snake dances. The group was the launching point of many famous American belly dancers like De Ann (“Zaina”), Aziz, John Compton, and Aida al Adawi; to gain a spot on the team was highly sought after (American Belly Dance Legends). Aside from ​ ​ Bal Anat, Salimpour could be considered the most influential American belly dancer as she was the first to standardize the dance by cataloguing, naming, and sequencing the steps. “She ​ ​ self-published several books, including her dance manual, La Danse Orientale, and a guide for ​ ​ playing dozens of finger cymbal patterns, complete with musical staff notation, many of which she created herself” and was a big promoter of dancers pursuing long-term training (“About the

Salimpour School”). Her daughter, Suhaila Salimpour, continued her revolutionary legacy by Moharram 7 creating the first ever belly dance certification program with the Salimpour School (“About the

Salimpour School”).

Another form of belly dance in the U.S., distinct from recreational and tribal belly dance, is “Arab-Centered” belly dance, practiced by a minority of American belly dancers, who are primarily of non-MENA origin. This form focuses on staying true to Egyptian and Middle

Eastern culture and origins with more cultural sensitivity and authenticity. Practitioners of this form often shadow MENA dancers and/or study and train overseas in the Middle East (Deagon

13).

Although raqs sharqi moved away from its foundations in baladi dance as it evolved into ​ ​ a performance art, traditional baladi dance remains an integral part of Egyptian and MENA ​ ​ culture, thriving in private spaces. Contrasting the MENA diaspora’s practice of baladi dance to

American belly dance performance sheds light on the differences between the two and on issues related to American belly dance practice. Practice of dance today in many MENA diasporic circles resembles the practice of baladi dance much more than the post Cairo Renaissance and

American styles of belly dance because it is a purely social dance, typically practiced in female only spaces separate from the sexual connotations that dominate the performance art. They have shared roots and dance vocabulary but their similarities stop there (Deagon 17-18).

Though belly dance is portrayed positively by its American practitioners as a high art that elevates the feminine spirit and sexual power, there are some deep problems with its practice.

American belly dance repeats the story of the broader American culture appropriating and reinterpreting cultures freely to perpetuate racist or Orientalist stereotypes, to conflate distinct cultures as the same, and to erase the originators from the story. To examine these issues, I will Moharram 8 examine the scholarly viewpoints presented by American professor and belly dancer, Andrea

Deagon and Asian American/Middle Eastern studies professor and academic, Sunaina Maira.

Both scholars discuss how belly dance was given an “appropriative redefinition” that relegated the dance’s Middle Eastern origins in favor of a narrative that defined the dance as an

“ancient” ritual to worship a mother goddess and as a dance for female empowerment and sexual realization (Deagon 7-8; Maira 323). Also contributing heavily to the erasure of the dance’s

Middle Eastern origins was the manifestation of the dance as an embodiment of the 60s/70s neo-feminism movement and its new focus on sex and feminism as a primary selling point

(Maira 323). Additionally, the reliance of female dancers on male employers and restaurateurs

(versus the female dancer owned clubs of Egyptian Awalim) contributed to the creation of an increasingly imbalanced power dynamic and the dance being performed for the male gaze and as male entertainment (Deagon 7).

Maira takes the harshest critique of belly dance practice in the U.S. examining it as an extension of American imperialist practice and an imposing Western export to the Middle East, with its hybrid origins and sexual focus almost entirely independent of MENA agency and invention. From its American 1960s boom, problems arose as primarily White/non-Arab

Americans took on fake exotic identities by trying to “act Arab” in a “racial masquerade” and taking on Arabic stage names to attract their audiences, practices collectively referred to by

Maira as “Arab Face” (Maira 333-334). She points out the harm in these practices that replace

Arab bodies with non-Arabs in Arab face, creating an invisibility of MENA people in an extremely visible art form that is supposed to represent them. Additionally, she points out the absurdity of American appreciation of a Middle Eastern art in conjunction with American imperial hostility towards the Middle Eastern region and people. She especially criticizes the Moharram 9

American savior complex that views Arab and Muslim women as oppressed and in need of saving which seems to similarly manifest in belly dance practice as White/non-Arab dancers claim to have “saved” belly dance from a repressive culture. This claim denies and erases the role of the Middle Eastern women, like Badia Masabni, that laid its foundations and serves as a broader metaphor for saving Arab and Muslim women (Maira 336-337).

Deagon, on the other hand, examines the problems of belly dance through a much less macro-Imperialist lens, focusing primarily on the issues of appreciation versus appropriation.

Similar to Maira, she critiques the double standard in celebrating White bodies in “exotic” identities while MENA bodies are “demonized” through the lens of terrorism and 9/11 (4). She further discusses how non-Arab dancers frequently reject and minimize the Arab roots of the dance as irrelevant to its American practice and how belly dance can present stereotypes that are wrongly representative of Arab women (Deagon 4). However, Deagon takes a much more positive look at American belly dance and its evolution by introducing it as something that came naturally from Turkish and Arab dancers to the U.S. and was wholly their own cultural tradition without Western imposition of ideals or Orientalist tropes (Deagon 5).

I argue that neither Deagon nor Maira are fully accurate in their arguments. Belly dance as it exists today is not fully original to MENA culture as Deagon implies, as evidenced by all the changes made in the Cairo Renaissance to fit Western tastes and all the inventions of its

American practitioners. However, it also cannot be viewed as fully separate from MENA culture as Maira implies because of its deep roots in Egyptian dance culture and the important role

Middle Eastern women played in shaping the dance at its conception.

In conclusion, American belly dance is a beautiful art form, and it represents wonderful things for the American dancer like female empowerment, sexual liberation, and spiritual Moharram 10 connectivity. However, it is distinct from traditional MENA culture, and it simultaneously does a lot of harm in its pervasive appropriation as it perpetuates Orientalist stereotypes of the Middle

East, sidelines Middle Eastern people from the scene, and creates an uncomfortable narrative where non-Middle Eastern people attempt to tell the story of Middle Eastern culture without really understanding it and while simultaneously bashing it.

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Works Cited

American Belly Dance Legends. Performances by Adriana, Dahlena, Ibrahim Farrah, Jamila ​ Salimpour, Morocco, and Bert Balladine. Hollywood Music, Amaya Productions, 2010.

Deagon, Andrea. “Orientalism and the American Belly Dancer: Multiplicity, Authenticity,

Identity.” The Oxford Handbook of Dance and Ethnicity, vol. 1, Oxford University Press,

2016, doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199754281.013.011.

Lo Iacono, Valeria. “ Birth of Modern Raqs Sharqi, Baladi and Ghawazee (Late 1800s to 1930s)

and Belly Dance (5.2).” World Dance Heritage. Oct 2020.

https://worlddanceheritage.org/birth-raqs-sharqi/ Accessed 1 Nov 2020. ​ Maira, Sunaina. “Belly Dancing: Arab-Face, Orientalist Feminism, and U.S. Empire.” American

Quarterly, vol. 60, no. 2, Johns Hopkins University Press, June 2008, pp. 317–45,

doi:10.1353/aq.0.0019.

“About the Salimpour School: The Salimpour Legacy.”

https://www.salimpourschool.com/salimpourlegacy/ Accessed 29 Nov 2020. ​