Belly Dancing Costume

Archive for December, 2009

 
By Ramona Klein

The sound of swirling silk crackles softly as I spin, my veil catching the air like a sail from Cleopatra’s ancient barge. The scent of my jasmine perfume evokes feminine mysteries, an aroma associated with a timeless dance that has fascinated people since the age of the Pharaohs.

Belly dancing grabs hold of your imagination and links modern times with earth’s ancient past. This dance evokes timeless archetypal images and movements inspired by animals such as camels, snakes and birds; totem animals for a dancer. Belly dancing expresses all those feelings inside us that we can’t put words to, and tells stories of love and life with mystic movements.

For many dancers, fascination with belly dancing begins with the exotic costuming. The heavy coins and elaborate silver bracelets and earrings of the folkloric belly dancer appeal to the earthy, sensual goddess archetype inside a woman. The sophisticated cabaret glamour of beaded bras and wide belts, with their sparkling fringe, silky skirts and veils, transform a dancer into a mystic princess.

My earthy hips tell timeless stories with their sinuous curving movements. Like ancient dancers of the past, my hips twirl and circle in mysterious geometry.

Although historical details of ancient dances are obscure, dresses worn for dancing have survived. An Egyptian dress I saw in a museum exhibit consists of beads linked in a fishnet mesh. Five thousand years later, modern belly dancers wear this same style of fishnet dress, now made with crocheted yarn and tiny glass beads, and paired with a colorful bra, wide hip belt, and skirt or pants.

Cabaret costumes (the familiar embellished bra, hip belt and skirt) are a more recent innovation, made popular by Hollywood movies in the early 1900′s. Although fabrics have changed, the basic cabaret style remains popular today. Many of these costumes are surprisingly heavy, embellished with shiny sequins and glass beads lovingly sewn by hand. Fringe adorning the hip belt vibrates with the dancer’s movements and shows her dexterity.

My knees are bent and my feet are grounded; my Roman-style sandals lace up my ankles.

This dance is so old that no one is sure where it originated, but it is certain that belly dancing evolved from a variety of influences. Traveling nomadic tribes of antiquity danced across the Near East and Asia Minor, working as entertainers at banquets and celebrations.

Modern belly dancing includes movements and costume elements from around the world: elegant beaded dresses and jingling coin costumes from Turkey, Egypt and Lebanon; scarves, choli tops and colorful skirts from India; embellished bracelets and rings from Morocco.

American dancers popularized dancing with colorful veils and set worldwide trends with new costume designs. Belly dancing is linked with many countries, and the music for the dance varies widely according to region. Rhythmic steps and dance movements vary with the music, but some steps in belly dancing are universal.

Belly dancing is grounded in the second and third chakras: the pelvis and belly. Some legends say that belly dancing evolved from the childbirth preparation rituals of our ancestors. In ancient Egyptian paintings, dancers are depicted with tattoos of the demi-god Bes on the thigh. Bes was believed to ease childbirth and to protect women and children.

Many modern belly dancers adorn their bodies with colorful tattoos, and their motifs are more recent themes: meaningful words, symbols, totem animals and floral designs. Vibrantly colored cosmetics and henna for temporary body art are also timeless icons of the dancer.

Heavy drumbeats accent the arcing movements of my hair and torso as I sway from side to side. Pieces of an ancient trance dance find their way into my modern bellydance.

Some people think of belly dancing as a mysterious erotic art with the power to seduce. In truth, the dance is a womanly expression of love, empowerment and sensuality, rather than an erotic expression. Belly dancing is rooted in wedding celebrations and birth celebrations, which express the power of love: romantic love and love for a new baby.

From ancient times and into the present day, having a belly dancer perform at a wedding reception is seen as a good luck charm for fertility, like the custom of throwing rice. The belly dancer at a wedding also inspires a romantic mood for the newly married couple. At the same time, she invites party guests to dance with her in celebration of the happy event, an innocent expression of healthy sensuality and joy. An old tradition of belly dancing around a laboring woman also expresses love and support from the community.

I push and pull my belly out and in, my torso mirroring the rhythm of an ocean wave as I breathe deeply.

Many steps in belly dancing are reminiscent of images and movements found in nature. Movements which are performed standing in place are especially fascinating, because they require fine muscle control. It is hypnotic to watch a dancer move her belly while the rest of her body remains silent.

Basic movements are not codified; belly dancers in different regions call movements by different names. Many movements are described as geometric shapes or images from nature. Basic movements include hip circles (also called the “full moon”), the undulation (camel), the hip shimmy (shaking the hips), snake arms (undulating arms), and traveling steps moving forward, backward, and from side to side.

Challenging movements such as diaphragm flutters and belly rolls speak to us in mysterious ways; these movements come from muscles deep within the body and express emotions that we usually hide from others.

Albert Einstein said, “The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science.”

Belly dancing, that timeless art of hypnotic movement, exotic music and costuming, recalls mysteries of the ancient world, creates a link to our primordial rhythms, and explores the sensual movements of our totem animals.

Ramona is the author of Dynamic Belly Dance, the Joyful Journey of Dancemaking and Performing. See free belly dance videos, read book excerpts and order an autographed copy at http://www.DynamicBellyDance.com

Copyright 2009 – All rights reserved worldwide. Reprint Rights: You may reprint this article as long as you leave all of the links active, do not edit the article, give author name credit and follow the EzineArticles terms of service for publishers. Thank you!

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By Ryu Calledo

Belly dancing scarves can be found online at bellydancecostumes.com and at thebellydanceshop.com. They can also be found in Turkish-emporium.com, missbellydance.com, shimmyshimmy.com, moondancebellydance.com, safticraft.com, thebellydancemovement.com and bellydance-shop.com

Belly dancing is a popular form of dance that was known to originate in the Middle East. It is also called as the Arab Dance. This form of dance has been quite popular especially to the females as this has become a great form of exercise, reduces osteoporosis, increases breathing and circulation, strengthens the cardiovascular system and burns calories. Another thing about belly dancing that made it quite popular is its colorful and oriental attire – hip scarves, veils, footwear and accessories. If you’re looking for belly/Arab dancing scarves, you can find them at the following online shops:

Bellydancecostumes.com

Lila’s Bellydancecostumes.com started since 1995 and is the world’s first belly dancing costume and accessories website. It has been offering a large inventory of authentic costumes and accessories, which are proudly made in the Middle East and ideal for the professional, starter or recreational belly dancers. Costumes and accessories have many colors and sizes available.

With their accessories category, you can find belly dancing scarves of various designs, forms, colors and sizes. You can choose from rectangular coin or triangular coin hip scarves. These types of scarves have faux metal coins and glass beads sewn on it. Available colors are orange, white, yellow, fuchsia and red. Prices range from $25 – $55 (exclusive of shipping). You can also choose from rectangular bead or triangular bead hip scarves. These types of scarves are of high quality and decorated with glass beads. Available colors are turquoise, pink, navy blue, mauve, yellow and red. Prices range from $25 – $ 75 (exclusive of shipping).

Thebellydanceshop.com

This online shop has the largest belly dancing hip scarves collection. They have tons of designs, colors and sizes for you. They also have coin, beaded, wave, crescent, crocheted, and multi-pointed hip scarves and many more. Most of their prices are below $ 50.

Other online shops where you can find belly dancing scarves:

Turkish-emporium.com

Missbellydance.com

Shimmyshimmy.com

Moondancebellydance.com

Safticraft.com

Thebellydancemovement.com

Bellydance-shop.com

For more information on scarves, please go to: http://www.fashionscarvesandshawls.com/

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http://EzineArticles.com/?Where-to-Find-a-Belly-Dancing-Scarf-Online&id=3231752

 
By James K. Robinson

The dance we know as the belly dance originated, it is believed, in the Middle East in ancient times dating back to the dawn of civilization. And while it has changed from region to region over its lengthy history, it has perhaps never changed to the extent that is seen today in the American Tribal Style Belly Dance.

Unarguably American, as its name signifies, the American Tribal Style Belly Dance, we can call it ATS for short, while incorporating the moves and body motions of the traditional dance of the Middle East, takes the traditional dance techniques and incorporates them together with American inspired dance moves, becoming a fusion of Middle Eastern and American forms, but still unmistakably belly dance.

The American version is characterized by colorful and exotic costumes. Many dancers favor wide legged pants narrowing at the ankles, and tiered skirts, short blouses and decorated bras, turbans and tattooed faces. Adorned with decorative jewelry, often called ethnic jewelry, dancers often wear ankle rings similar to those often worn by gypsies. It is interesting to note that the nomadic gypsies, originating in Northern India, and migrating to Persia, Turkey, and other parts of the Middle East, have been associated with belly dance for centuries.

Compared to the thousand year old traditions and practices of Middle Eastern belly dance, the American Tribal Style of dance has evolved only over the last 50 years, generally credited to the creative efforts and guidance of Jamila Salimpour, followed later by Masha Archer, and finally by Carolena Nericcio, all resident at the time in the San Francisco area of California.

Jamila Salimpour, in the late 1960′s formed the dance troupe Bal Anat, and drawing on her past experience with the circus of Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey, Jamila assembled a variety show that was “half real and half hokum” as she described it. The show was accepted by her audience as the real thing, as belly dancing, and so, with its fusion of dance styles and American influences, the American Tribal Style of Belly Dance was born.

In the 1970′s, Masha Archer, a former student of Jamila, a trained artist and now a famous designer of jewelry, who was then director of her San Francisco Classic Dance Troupe, added to Jamila’s new belly dance style, a varied blend of folkloric and classic Egyptian dance together with whatever else captured her artistic and creative interest.

After the San Francisco Classic Dance Troupe was disbanded in the late 1980′s, Carolena Nericcio, who was a student of Masha Archer and a dancer with her troupe, established a small dance studio in San Francisco and began teaching belly dance, blending the methods of Salimpour and Archer with her own ideas and so the American Tribal Style continued its evolution, until Carolena eventually established the now famous dance troupe Fat Chance Belly Dance. The FCBD is now one of the largest and most popular of American dance troupes.

Rather than being a solo dance as it is in the traditional Middle East dance, the ATS, and the FCBD, is mainly a group dance, with the participants following a leader who establishes the patterns and movements, possibly improvising but doing so in a highly skilled fashion. In addition to the group performance, as the overall program proceeds, there are also featured solos and sometimes duets, trios, or quartets.

Highly popular and successful, Fat Chance Belly Dance has been described as “mesmerizing, with the group dancing in elegant unison creating a magical effect”.

A performance of American Style Tribal dance is a performance of women having fun, a joyful and exuberant dance experience.

Jim Robinson, the author of this article, has recently launched a blog, summarizing the history, culture, personalities, art and literature, of the Arabic Belly Dance, and invites your comments.

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http://EzineArticles.com/?An-American-Version-of-the-Belly-Dance&id=3146487