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Originally Posted by Dipali
Dear A'isha Azar. Its always nice to read your post/s, Why do I think ? Belly Dance started in India, No I don’t think I am 100% correct, (Lets assume I have used one certain Belly dance historians thought) after reading so many articles about the origin of Belly Dance I am still not sure where Belly dance actually originated. But we know that the dance style travelled through many countries in many different forms, (again I could be wrong) Regarding loosing its essence in Egypt, Well numerous articles -News clips (I believe quite a few articles were published on this website .) it tells the story of the current situation of Belly Dance culture in Egypt, Either I am reading all the negative stories or its just the truth, Dear Aisha, I am not very educated in Belly Dancing. I have not gone through every detail of its past and present but am trying to learn, I am always willing to ask if I have any questions and want to know about it. And personally I thank you all for replying to my queries.  |
Hey Dipali:
I understand your confusion. as Aisha pointed out, you have to be deserning with the sources and claims. Raks Sharki as we know it today was developed in the early 20th century. This is well documented. The movement vocabulary is based primarily on the traditional social dance called Raks Baladi. Exactly how old is Raks Baladi? No one can really say. There are descriptions of dances involving shaking of the hips being done in the region by Roman observers, but a closer look at the movement suggests that it is an amalgamation of different movement traditions.
The hip movements are definately African. This can be seen by the fact that many of the movements are identical to those done all across the continent. The movements of the arms and hands are definately of Central Asiatic origin, as can be seen by the fact that those movements are identical to the movenents still being done in those areas today.
A basic study of India's history will show that for most of their history, they were isolated from the rest of the continent. They never lead any conquests into Western Asia, however, Northern India was repeatedly invaded by Central Asian cultures, Afghans, Persians, and Mongols. This is why the music, languages and dances, unlike Southern Indan, have a lot of Persian, Arabic and Afghani influences. On the other hand, India did have a very significant influence on the religion, foods, arts and dance of South East Asia. Even to the untrained eye the dances of Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia all have a very strong Indian flavor. This was due to centuries of trade and settlements in those areas from the Indian Sub Continent.
Tarik