I've mentioned on other threads the bits of English translations available of Badia Masabni's biography from the 1960s -- Madame Badia mentioned seeing dancers from Alexandria, Egypt, using veils in some kind of dance.
Unfortunately, there isn't much detail available in English. I don't know if they were the kind of veils we're used to seeing today, smaller ones like those used in Tunisian hankerchief dances, or what.
Madame Badia also stated that early in her career she was the only ME dancer in a dance troupe headed by a Frenchwoman. The French were a colonial force in the ME for a long time and brought ballet and other Western influences to the clubs and theaters that catered to Western tourists.
The other likely influence for the veil in theatrical belly dance abroad was Hollywood. "The dance of the seven veils" was a Western construct associated with the fad of "Salome dancing" that was popular in British and American vaudeville from about the 1890s to the early 1900s. And it was a short hop from theater to the movies.
We know Hollywood had an impact on the costumes, music, staging, etc. of raqs sharqi, oryantal danzi and Greek belly dance -- I suspect veils were a part of that, as well.
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What if the hokey pokey is really what it's all about?
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