Tryout TV; Belly dancer: The Midriff myth

The following program is a tryout TV production made possible in part by a special grant from the friends of channel 21 incorporated. Belly dancer. What image does your mind conjure up when you hear the term. To those who are uninitiated the images run the gamut from slave girls and harems to carnivals and strippers and worse. This program is going to explode some of those myths and probably shatter a few long held fantasies. But I'm willing to bet that once you see it for yourself and understand its heritage you'll be pleasantly surprised and possibly become a fan. Belly dancing is an absurd name but I'm afraid we Americans have to take the blame for that.

We coined that term at the Columbian Exposition in 1893 and we know that better as the Chicago World's Fair. The exposition featured some exotic exhibits such as the streets of Cairo, the Turkish village, and the Persian palace. Among these exhibits were some spectacular ethnic dancers, but ethnic dancing was no crowd pleaser, so streets of Cairo promoters thought of a gimmick to change all that. He found that the French who travelled extensively in the Middle East had become fascinated by what the locals called "dance orientale". The French [French speaking], which translated into English as Dance of the Stomach. From this he came up with belly dance much to the surprise of the straight-laced Victorians of the late 1800s. Although the dancers at these exhibits were more than fully clad, it did little to dispel the sexual connotation that the racy title "belly dance" evoked. The sensational publicity and gossip resulted in a prosperous business with

the streets of Cairo exhibit. Audiences saw what they wanted to see. The facts were irrelevant. Belly dancing is very misleading. It's really a beautiful dance. The correct term is Dance Orientale and it's a shame that so many people have been turned off by the term "belly dancing". They've all got to see it. It would indeed be a shame to miss an opportunity to see Morocco perform. She's internationally known not only as a dancer, but a scholar of Dance orientale. [music and dancing] [music and dancing] [music and dancing] [music and dancing] [music and dancing] [music and dancing]

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[applause] Oriental dance is over 6000 years old from those parts of the world with the events in the Bible took place, North Africa, the Near East, in the Caucasus. It was done by everyone as one of the religious dances that continue today as folklore and had basically two parts. The fast parts around the human heart beat, giving thanks to the gods for life, and the slow parts which were a direct imitation of the movements of labor and childbirth, thanking the female of every species for continuing the life cycle by giving birth. It had a strange side effect

strengthening the muscles necessary for childbirth, a lifelong natural childbirth course way before Dr. Lamaze invented his method. British and French colonialists in the Middle East saw it in the 18th and 19th centuries and were fascinated and shocked. French writer Gustav Flaubert was so intrigued he spent years searching out the dancers. First seen in America at the 1876 Centennial in Philadelphia it was billed as ethnic dance and attracted no notice whatsoever until Saul Bloom misnamed the belly dance in Chicago. Then the mid-Victorian hypocrites couldn't wait to see the Dance that drove the Sultan wild. The harem beauties did do this dance so that the harem uglies. The Sultan couldn't have cared less. He was busy courting intrigue, [unclear] his camels, and chasing the dancing boys. With no electronic entertainment they danced strictly for their own enjoyment. Today in the Middle East the same goes. Women dance with and for women and men with

and for men depending on the village the conservatism of the current leader, and the degree of misinterpretation of the Qur'an. In Arabic it's called [Arabic word] which translates Oriental dance. But when we say Orient in America, we mean the Far East. So to localize it better we call it mid-eastern Oriental dance. To use the misnomer "belly dance" is equivalent to calling flamenco cockroach killing. The skills Oriental dancers exhibited 6000 years ago are the same ones needed today. Balance is of major importance for any dancer or athlete. Dinara, a sword dancer, is a prime example of the ultimate in balancing ability. Grace and poise are invaluable to a dancer's performance. Tara

flows with the music in her own relaxed and confident style. She projects these feelings to her audience making the performance that much more enjoyable to watch. Muscle control is a must. Jemra shows the control of the lower torso and abdominal muscles, the movements that started the belly dance controversy. They take years to master, but they are an integral part of the dance from several other mideastern countries. All dancers aren't as lucky as Marisa who seems to be able to stretch and bend in

almost any direction. A dancer can improve in this area with constant practice but much of this ability is a gift bestowed by nature. The Oriental dancer is known for stamina often dancing for 30 minutes or longer. Karima might continue with this pace for a full five minutes before a tempo change. Like all dancers she moves between slow and fast tempos to conserve energy. (rhythmical drum beats) Rhythm and the charisma are high on those two requirements. With that rhythm a dancer can drive

an audience and a musicians that's crazy with frustration. As with charisma who is going to watch someone methodical and unresponsive. Morocco has no problems in either category. [drumming] Now it's time for Dinara's performance, her tribal style cabaret style has pleased audiences throughout the world. [drumming]

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How does a person learn all of these mysterious movements. Now there are schools in the Mideast and

the United States that teach the disciplines just as in ballet. Classes start with a warmup to prepare the muscles for more strenuous work. [dance teacher instructing class] [dance teacher instructing class] [dance teacher instructing class] [dance teacher instructing class] [dance teacher instructing class] There are three basic types of movement involved in Dance Orientale: twisting movements, undulation or snake like movements and shimmies. Classes work on technique, style, improvisation as well as finger cymbals and choreography.

An Oriental dancer must be able to convey love joy sorrow and passion but above all dignity. For life is all these things in our dance is an expression of life. That's how one dancer expressed in. Our final performances by another internationally known dancer Tara. Yeah. [music, signing, dancing] [music, signing, dancing]

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[applause] [applause] [music] [music] The preceding program was a tryout TV production made possible in part

by a special grant from the friends of channel 21 incorporated.