Amulya

Yesterday I went to a lecture from Mo Gedawi (spelling might be wrong, sorry for that!) and he said some pretty strange things in his lecture!
First thing he said was that belly dance is 7000 years old! Secondly he said that the 2 piece costume was invented in Egypt (and not based on Hollywood costumes) and that the belt of costumes was based on ancient Egyptian clothes (he meant from ancient Egypt)
The rest of the lecture was interesting, more about how belly dance came into the movie business and a little bit of the quite recent history.

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Yshka

Dear Amulya,

now I cannot say I know bellydance is 7000 years old, but I also cannot say I don't. What I find interesting, what information did he give to back up his ideas about bellydance costuming? Did he present anything to back up that it was in fact based on Egyptian clothing and not the hollywood movies?

I'd like to know. I find him a very credible person and teacher and would like to know what more he said about it. I'm not sure I agree those are misconceptions per sé.

By the way, funny note, was that yesterday as in 5th of december? I had a workshop with him here in Amsterdam the same day

Sita

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Amulya

Yes that was yesterday, did you go to the gala show as well? He gave a lecture there, but he didn't give any references.

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Caroline_afifi

If you asked many people what the history of belly dance was they probably might say the same.

Many people repeat what they hear without really thinking about the definition or reading into it themselves. I cant say that this is the case here of course, I am just making a general observation.

Dance in Egypt maybe 7000 years old but the style known as 'Belly dance' is not, niether is the style known as Shaabi etc. it was all just dance and varied between peoples and regions.
Definitions and style are pretty much a thing of the last century although some styles and folk dances have been around a very very long time.

Some people call any dance out of the ME 'Belly dance'.

Kashmir

I attended a lecture from Dr Mo some years back when he also linked belly dance to the tomb paintings. He used the work of Irena Lexova (Ancient Egyptian Dances) as a source. Now from my reading of that book, what it shows is that the paintings did depict dancing and that maybe a move or two is similar. But was it "belly dance"? Unlikely I think - but definitely it was "Egyptian Dance". I suspect this is partly an over reaction to the "belly dance was invented by Gypsies" or "belly dance was invented in the States". People have been dancing in Egypt for over 7000 years and did not need to be shown how to move by wandering Gypsies or Hollywood.

The two piece costume was not invented in Hollywood. There is a long Orientalist tradition of depicting women thus dressed. The Ballet Russe also used it. What Egypt did was adapt this costume and use it for belly dance.

I suspect rather than a dancer thinking - "I will wear a belt like they do in the tomb paintings (which due to geography and lack of transport I have never seen)" they would have thought "how can I make that hip work more obvious?" And incidentally most dancers depicted are not wearing belts.

I love and respect Dr Mo, but I also take into account he was part of the first wave of defining Egyptian culture by linking it to the exalted past. I am only too aware of how much his folk dance is trimmed to make it seemly and acceptable.

jahbie

I'm curious.. What was considered unseemly and unacceptable in folk dancing that he needed to trim it?

karena

I'm curious as to how he was in Amsterdam and Australia the same day! That's amazing!

Kashmir

The peasants - they aren't elegant. Europeans see them as primitive. Men shimmy - hips and shoulders. Dr Mo was a founding member of the Reda troupe which actually did more than just made folk dance interesting to watch on stage. They created the image of the "modern" Egyptian. They removed men's shimmies and redefined the women's (smaller, less frequent). They added interest by using tableau - but invariably of happy, innocent, prepubescent villagers. They invented whole styles - such as the fellahi women's dress dance. They reinvented styles of dress - such as the "traditional" haggalla costume (based on that worn by the Banat Maazin).

Anthony Shay has an excellent chapter on Egyptian folkloric dance in "Choreographic Politics".

Yshka

Dear Amulya, were you at the From Cairo With Love festival in Amsterdam, or is it possible he magically transported himself to Australia?

*that would explain how he knows people were already bellydancing 7000 years ago