That is interesting about Masabni's biography. There are a couple of interesting things I've heard about the use of the veil in dance. I am not sure about the source of tis information, as I have studied wit a lot of different people and followed various discussions for years and I don't think I kept good notes on this... If anyone knows more--I would be interested to learn about this...
*I had heard the word Egyptian dancers use for a dance veil is a different word than what they would use for a modesty garment. Do any of our Arabic speakers know if this is true?
*Another interesting thing I heard is that there are Caucasian or Uzbek (?) dances where the dancers carry or manipulate a large piece of fabric. I heard Russian dancers were inspired by the visual of this and incorporated that into ballet and other dances. I had also heard that sometimes Persian dancers carried large pieces of fabric while they danced. These would most likely not be much like the elaborate veil work a lot of American dancers perform today but these have been mentioned as possible inspiration for the use of fabric occasionally seen in ballet (which is often cited as the introduction of the veil to Egyptian dance).
*I just got a vintage "how to bellydance" 70's book by Roman Balladine (and others). They claim the American Veil is inspired by the Egyptian Malaya Leff. I doubt that, as the techniques used are so different and I thought dancers performed with a "veil" earlier than the Malaya (as I understand it to be a Reda invention). But I could be wrong on that...
Has anyone read Artemis' document about her research on the use of veil in dance? I hope to read the full length manuscript one day, but I have read an excerpt that is available on Shira's website. (
Oriental Dance: Veil Dancing In North Africa And The Middle East)
I am curious about Turkish veil work as well--if anyone knows about the history and development of veilwork in Turkish Oriental!