whats the difference

bellyqueen · 12-12-2007, 08:57 PM

hi everyone.
i was just wondering whats the difference between turkish belly dancing and ejyption belly dance. thanks
bellyqueen xxx

Aziyade · 12-12-2007, 09:04 PM

99% of it is the music.

Or I should say it WAS the music.

Today's Turkish dancers are either going completely out of their way to be different and innovative (like Didem) or they're dancing to Egyptian music in the way they believe to be Egyptian style.

(not quite sure WHY, but everyone's been complaining about it -- especially Turkish people.)

Egyptian belly dance has a strong root in Egyptian folk dance and music. Turkish belly dance has a strong root in Turkish folk dance and music.

If you study the music, and check out some of the folk dances, you'll start to see that traditional Turkish music just requires a different kind of movement style than Egyptian music does.

The usual cliche is that Turkish is more outward and energetic, with more hip lifts rather than drops, but that's describing Turkish dance from 30 years ago.

bellyqueen · 12-12-2007, 09:10 PM

hi aziyade
thanks for the reply it was very knowledgeable.
belly queen

teela · 12-12-2007, 09:54 PM

As I understand it, the traditional turkish is done to a 9/8 music, strong arms and alot of the steps are similar to many of the same egyptian steps but with a bit of a pause for 7,8,9. In addition, turkish tends to use more hand gesterues and bounces more. I'm told turkish is more outward while egyptian is more self contained.
Hope this helps. YOu might want to check out Artemis's introduction to turkish dance DVD. Its a good one.

Kashmir · 12-13-2007, 09:58 AM

While I believe some (good) Turkish dancers are changing in style towards more Arabic. Traditionally there are some differences. Here's what I think some of them are:

The music - Turkish music (ie their own maqamat and more use of 9/8).
More full body work - larger flow through the body - those costumes work very well as the move comes up through the leg into the torso. Egyptian and Lebanese (as a generalization) is more hip focussed.
Moves tend to be larger on the whole than Egyptian which smaller with strong down focus on the hip work (cf Lebanese with larger, upwards emphasis)
Costumes - less restrained than that by Egyptian law - also cultural differences make it less of an issue. More likely to wear shoes – like the Lebanese.
More use of athletic moves - "wow" factor is a plus in Turkish, considered rude in Egyptian. This leads into differences in age and body type - Turkish dancers (on the whole) are younger and thinner - they have to be!
Attitude is very different - more entertainment and dancer focussed for Turkish, with Egyptian the dancer is more one of the band and expresses the music through herself – but doesn’t over power the music. You are more likely to see “casual moments” with Egyptian dancers (I was told that many of these are choreographed into the performance!)

There are always exceptions!

nicknack · 12-16-2007, 08:14 PM

Another difference between Turkish and Egyptian music is that Turkish music has it's origins based in chamber music, small band, more intimate closer to the audince, wheras classical Egyptian music has an orchestral basis, hence there are more layers in the music (and layers in movement).

12-12-2007, 08:57 PM	#1 (permalink)
bellyqueen Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 55	whats the difference hi everyone. i was just wondering whats the difference between turkish belly dancing and ejyption belly dance. thanks bellyqueen xxx

12-13-2007, 09:58 AM	#5 (permalink)
Kashmir Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Christchurch, New Zealand Posts: 246	While I believe some (good) Turkish dancers are changing in style towards more Arabic. Traditionally there are some differences. Here's what I think some of them are: The music - Turkish music (ie their own maqamat and more use of 9/8). More full body work - larger flow through the body - those costumes work very well as the move comes up through the leg into the torso. Egyptian and Lebanese (as a generalization) is more hip focussed. Moves tend to be larger on the whole than Egyptian which smaller with strong down focus on the hip work (cf Lebanese with larger, upwards emphasis) Costumes - less restrained than that by Egyptian law - also cultural differences make it less of an issue. More likely to wear shoes – like the Lebanese. More use of athletic moves - "wow" factor is a plus in Turkish, considered rude in Egyptian. This leads into differences in age and body type - Turkish dancers (on the whole) are younger and thinner - they have to be! Attitude is very different - more entertainment and dancer focussed for Turkish, with Egyptian the dancer is more one of the band and expresses the music through herself – but doesn’t over power the music. You are more likely to see “casual moments” with Egyptian dancers (I was told that many of these are choreographed into the performance!) There are always exceptions!

12-16-2007, 08:14 PM	#6 (permalink)
nicknack Moderator Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Nottingham UK Posts: 269	Another difference between Turkish and Egyptian music is that Turkish music has it's origins based in chamber music, small band, more intimate closer to the audince, wheras classical Egyptian music has an orchestral basis, hence there are more layers in the music (and layers in movement). __________________ *Cause I'm not here to let you down. But the costume makes the clown.*

12-12-2007, 09:04 PM	#2 (permalink)
Aziyade V.I.P. Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Cornfields of Evansville Indiana. Posts: 1,050	99% of it is the music. Or I should say it WAS the music. Today's Turkish dancers are either going completely out of their way to be different and innovative (like Didem) or they're dancing to Egyptian music in the way they believe to be Egyptian style. (not quite sure WHY, but everyone's been complaining about it -- especially Turkish people.) Egyptian belly dance has a strong root in Egyptian folk dance and music. Turkish belly dance has a strong root in Turkish folk dance and music. If you study the music, and check out some of the folk dances, you'll start to see that traditional Turkish music just requires a different kind of movement style than Egyptian music does. The usual cliche is that Turkish is more outward and energetic, with more hip lifts rather than drops, but that's describing Turkish dance from 30 years ago.

12-12-2007, 09:10 PM	#3 (permalink)
bellyqueen Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 55	hi aziyade thanks for the reply it was very knowledgeable. belly queen

12-12-2007, 09:54 PM	#4 (permalink)
teela Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Alaska Posts: 292	As I understand it, the traditional turkish is done to a 9/8 music, strong arms and alot of the steps are similar to many of the same egyptian steps but with a bit of a pause for 7,8,9. In addition, turkish tends to use more hand gesterues and bounces more. I'm told turkish is more outward while egyptian is more self contained. Hope this helps. YOu might want to check out Artemis's introduction to turkish dance DVD. Its a good one.