The Ancient Art
Belly dancing has been around for centuries and in that time has encircled the globe, attracting devoted disciples along the way. One of those is 16-year-old April Hyer.
In a dance form traditionally passed down from one generation to the next, it's particularly appropriate that it was April's grandmother, Joanna, who drew her attention to it. April said, "She was like, 'Maybe I should try belly dancing,' and I was like, 'I'll try it with you.' So that's how I got into it and I love it. It's my life. I'm bored without it."
Certainly belly dancing - Raqs Sharqi in Arabic - has been popular for centuries. Its origins, however, are murky. Wikipedia lists two prominent theories and says both have strong oral histories to back them up: it was a female tradition in which the movements helped to demonstrate or ease the discomfort of childbirth; it spread across continents from the influence of the Roma, the gypsies.
Regardless of which theory is right, one thing is for sure: in its day and age, Raqs Sharqi would never have allowed bare bellies. How then did "Raqs Sharqi" become "belly dancing?"
With a technique that uses round, circular movements to emphasize a woman's feminine curves, it is perhaps not surprising that the focus shifted with each generation and that non-Arabic performers began to wear more revealing costumes to show off their mastery of the stomach muscles. Imported from a French version called "danse du ventre" or "dance of the stomach," belly dancing reached America via the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago. A flirtatious dance, viewed as slightly scandalous, it earned the nickname "hootchy-kootchy," probably derived from the Kuchi tribal jewelry adorning the costume. Interest in this exotic dance, however, exploded during World War I when the infamous spy Mata Hari performed her own version (actually bastardized Indonesian dances) and posed for photos in a racy, stomach-revealing costume.
But, April said, belly dancing has always been more about the emotional connection to the music. "You're telling a story with your body. You're showing what you feel and the way your body feels and the way your body moves to the audience. If the song has like a dip in it and you do a hip circle and a dip, you've just played the music and you're showing it to the audience...It's like telling a story but you use your entire body. You use your arms; you use your legs; you use your stomach; you use your head; you use your eyes. Very much you use your eyes in belly dancing. A lot."
And props. Belly dancing employs lots of props: baskets, veils and cymbals. The one most prized, however, is the artful use of the cymbals. Dancers are not considered accomplished until they've mastered the finger cymbals. April said, "I'm so proud of myself cause I've been practicing, practicing and those are so hard to master because you don't want it to be chomp, chomp, chomp. It's got to make like a ringing noise."
Whether learning shimmies, vibrations or rolls, belly dancing harkens back to venerable cultures. Expressive and sensual, it requires the isolation and control of the muscles - not the simple task it would initially seem and one that deserves more respect than April thinks it gets. "A lot of the time I do feel like people think of you as, 'Why are you doing belly dancing? It's not really anything,' but like I said, the people who haven't tried it, don't know."
And many of the ones who do, discover that that simple looking belly roll takes lots of practice to perfect. April said, "You either do it the reverse way or you do it the regular way. And some people just do it reverse naturally and then they can't do it the regular way. Top to bottom is the regular way and then bottom to top is reverse. Just push your top muscle out and then tuck it in, like you just tuck your stomach back in. And then eventually, it'll just start rolling."
Of course, it looks better, she said, if the dancer isn't shaped like a matchstick. After all, Raqs Sharqi's movements are meant to show off a voluptuous, womanly body. She said, "I'm glad I don't have a six pack because you can see the belly rolls and your body movements much better. Your body moves better when you have meat on your bones."
"It's just what I love about dancing is you get to be very womany and very feminine and you get to have fun too, when you're doing it." So pastime or professional, belly dancing - Raqs Sharqi - has survived for centuries and with performers like April Hyer carrying on the tradition, it will surely continue on.