Belly Dancing

We all know belly dancing as moving the hips and torso to dance. There are many famous belly dancers. An example of a famous belly dancer is Shakira. There is so much more behind belly dancing than what Americans see.

Belly dancing was named after the Ouled Nail dancers of Algeria. Believe it or not, every single part of the body is used to belly dance not just the hips. There are two reasons that people in the Middle East belly dance for. One reason is for performing and the other is for social/folk dance and the other reason is for performance (art). Belly dancing has roots in the Middle East, Egypt, Africa, and Turkey.

Belly dancing in America truly started in 1893 by Sol Bloom at the World's Fair in Chicago. Some slang for this dance when people in America first saw it was shimmy and shake, Hootchy-Kootchy, and Hoochee-Coochie. People were not happy about how belly dancing was very promiscuous for that time period. Belly dancing was in burlesque theaters and at the circus.

In the late 1980's the new belly dancing style emerged. It was called American Tribal Style Belly Dance. It takes traditional belly dancing styles and mixes it with modern style.

There are three different types of movements in belly dancing:

• Percussive movements: Mostly hips and this types of beat accents the beat. Also can be lifts in the shoulder and rib cage.
• Fluid movements: Continuous motion of the body that has a rhythmic pattern. Correlates well with the music.
• Shimmies, shivers, and vibrations: small and fast movements in the rib and hips.