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True & False. The real Middle Eastern (ME) dance is an ancient fertility dance originally for the Great Mother god. It is performed exclusively by women, for women, a form of communication where femininity and spirituality become one. It is performed to “difficult” and hypnotic music.
This is a dance of the Muscles, not of steps as we are used to. There are strong hip and abdominal movements, with the chest and head isolated and serene, expressive arms, shimmy (a harmonic wobbling of chest and hips), and occasional dramatic floor work. A low slung belt accentuates the hip movement.
Now-a-days it is ignorantly called “Belly Dancing”, with bra bangles, bare belly, navel jewel, and hot dance - all a false invention of Hollywood!

 

Origins. Long long ago, at a time immeasurable to the minds of modern man, lay the seeds of dance. When mankind had spread north and east from Africa about 50,000 BC, they operated as independent clans of stone age hunter-gatherers for thousands of years. Family and children were paramount, and from 15000BC the Matriarch and assorted fertility deities ruled the clans.
In the ancient land of the “Fertile Crescent”, known today as the politically sensitive countries of Iran Iraq Turkey Jordan Israel, existed an ecological paradise. Great forests, rivers, lakes, vast array of animals, and man. The ME people of the fertile crescent prospered, discovered, and invented long before anywhere else in the world.

 

Civilization. While our western European ancestors were stomping around in caves, the ME people of the fertile crescent by 8000BC, had already made the giant leap forward to advanced civilisation. It was they who discovered wheat, barley, peas, horse, sheep, goats, cattle, selective breeding, farming, irrigation, and horticulture. (Unfortunately they were so good, that they destroyed all the forests and vegetation and fertility of the land, contributing to its degredation and desertification).
They also developed social order, villages, towns, buildings, leaders, tradesmen, experts, and organised religion. Money, basic arithmetic, writing, promissory notes, weaving, pottery, and jewellery. Later they invented bronze, metallurgy, and the wheel.
They travelled and traded everywhere, taking their skills, inventions, religion, and dance, to primitive peoples in India, Egypt, and throughout stone age Europe over the next 3000 years. Primitive peoples who adopted the ME technology, thrived, and went on to become the great nations we know of today (eg Rome, Europe, England etc).
Those who ignored the ME, remained tribal or were over-run by others (eg Africa). Those who never knew the ME, remained as stone-age civilizations until modern times (American Indians, Polynesia, Australia). And yes, some other peoples independently developed their own style of agriculture and organised civilization, but much later and less advanced than ME (China, American Maya & Inca).
Note you well that Everything our civilization is today, owes its beginnings, its knowledge, and very existence to the ingenuity of those ancient ME people!

 

Great Mother’s Dance. The religion of the Great Mother god existed a long long time, from 15,000BC to 3000BC, then slowly waned. The last temple was closed in 500AD. It celebrated conception, birth, life, and death.
Great Mother was known as Ashar or Ishtar, or as Shakti in India, Tara in Tibet, Kwan Yin in China, Isis in Egypt, Aphrodite / Demeter in Greece, and Juno / Diana in Rome.
Ancient people saw themselves as children of the Great Mother. Birth and death were the great mysteries, and women became the ministers of this religion.
The ancient Matriarchal society favoured dancing for any social event, and quickly extended it into religion. Dancers were painted in the tombs of 5000BC. All rituals were danced. The strong pelvic / ecstatic dance of the time became a spiritual expression of the people and the Great Mother church. Thus ME dance was formalised and woven into the fabric of civilisation since the dawn of pre-history.

 

Women & Men, Men & Women. About 8000BC, sensing that social organisation brought power, ME Men began taking leadership positions. Societies became Patriarchal by 4000BC, with suppression and control over the old matriarchal order. Egypt lost matriarchy by 1800BC. Societies became insular, and developed warfare (and we haven’t changed since). New deities and rules overshadowed the Great Mother, and her ritual ME dance was suppressed.
When Islam came about 600AD, women were severely suppressed and their dance forbidden from public view. Men were barred. Full clothing was strict. Thus ME dance became strictly women’s business, shared only amongst women behind closed doors.
Not all followed the rules, and public performances by professional dancers did occur in certain places. Dancers got around the “show no skin” rule by wearing netting, or body stocking, and strategic jewellery. Recently Nasser(Egypt), Algeria, Saudi Arabia tried to ban public dancing, and failed. The people owned the dance, not the State.

 

Dancing the Ancient World. By about 5000BC, ME dance had been transported to Europe, the Balkans, Greece, Crete, India, Egypt and North Africa. In time these countries developed their own variations, but Egypt and the fertile crescent remained close to the original ME style.
The Roman empire initially cared little for dance, but by 400AD some 3000 ME dancers were working in Rome. Their pay was 12 times that of a brick layer, pretty good.
As Rome collapsed in the west, from the east from India after 400AD, came the Gypsies, roaming, stealing, copying. They adapted ME dance and took it with them all over Europe and Russia, once again re-invigorating the local styles with the original spirit.
ME dance had established in Spain by 20BC, but arrived in force with the Moors from Nth Africa, when they ruled 711 to 1200AD. Moorish descendants directly influenced the appearance of Flamenco dancing by 1500AD. Crusaders of 1096 to 1300AD took ME dancers back to western Europe. But it was then left until the arrival of modern tourists from the west, for ME dance to spread like fire over the entire world.

 

Demise in Europe. During the first 200 years of Christianity, ME dance was happily allowed. Then gradual disapproval. As Rome collapsed, the Church split into the Catholics in the west, and Eastern Orthodox in the Byzantine empire (north-east). By 476AD the empires of Persia, Byzantia, and China thrived, but the west was in Dark Ages. The western Church became strong and patriarchal, it suppressed dance, and targeted women.
St Augustine - “Women were bearers of all sin, and were sin incarnate”. Witches were hunted and tortured. The Church decreed “women’s single aim in life is marriage”. All non religious dance and song were banned. Dark days indeed.

 

Hippy or Stiff. Slowly the darkness cleared. By 16-1700AD intrepid entrepreneurs were bringing hip swaying ME dancers to theatres of Europe, unfortunately with no understanding of their spirituality. Aristocracy enjoyed it, but keen not to upset the Church, developed Court dances, characterised by genteel movements, a stiff body, and no passion whatsoever.
On purpose the exact opposite to ME dance. Court dances eventually evolved into Classical Ballet (1490 - 1643AD), again with a stiff body and graceful leg/arm movements. Thus in a perverse way, ME dance spawned the development of Classical Ballet.
In full circle, Isadora Duncan and Ruth St Denis, famous women artists of 1900 - 1968AD, created their revolutionary “Modern Dance” after studying ME dance.

 

Men maybe. From the very beginning, ME dance was only for and between women. Men were excluded. Powerful rulers and rich people could bend the rules and have their harem or professional troupes dance for courtly enjoyment. Some tribal groups regularly performed in public for money. In “public” dance groups, men were frequently the musicians. Sometimes they had to wear blindfolds, or be screened off from view like Bands adjudicators. Men did have their own dances, but nothing like the sophistication and spirituality of the ladies.
Under Islam, women were often prevented from performing in public unless heavily covered in clothes. As western tourism boomed, cabarets and equivalents got around this by dressing up boys and young men as bare bellied ME “women” dancers. They became quite famous. Many a western tourist in Victorian times, was utterly dashed to find the woman of his dreams was a man!

 

Into the West. Centuries ago, ME dancers were imported sporadically into France and England. Tourists of the 19 and 20th centuries flocked to hotels and cabarets of Cairo to see the exciting professional ME dance troupes. Cultured French called it “dance of the stomach”. Crass crude English dubbed it “Belly Dancing”. London’s Crystal Palace exhibition of 1851 had ME dancers showing, and they were in world exhibitions at Columbia USA in 1876.
A Mr Sol Bloom brought ME dancers and Miss “Little Egypt” to the Chicago World Fair in 1893, and caused a massive moral uproar (and publicity). Cunningly he banned women from seeing the show, but men came in their thousands. Mr Bloom became very wealthy and went on to become a senator (what’s new). “Little Egypt” and those who followed, blazed an everlasting impression across America, and directly influenced many of the popular dance crazes of the early 20th century.

 

Hollywood. Oscar Wilde wrote the classic play/opera “Salome & dance of the 7 veils” in 1892 (daughter of Herod, St John the Baptist’s head on a plate etc). It was all made up. It is not a ME classic at all, but Americans believed it. Hollywood latched on, and created many exotic films in the 1900’s. ME dancing, (and later Polynesian hula) was re-engineered for the movies. Bare bellies, navel gemstones, bra bangles, scanty costumes, and extravaganza choreography were all invented by Hollywood and the cabaret industry. And thus the myth and falsehood of cabaret style ME dancing was imprinted into the minds of western civilization.

 

USA. America led the rush. The first western ME school opened in 1954. It was so successful that the Women’s Lib movement picketed the school in 1970, but the school just kept growing. The world’s first annual 7 day ME dance Festival happened in California in 1980, and the first International ME dance Conference was hosted in 1997.

 

Music Mayhem. The music and song of ME dance is maddening to our biased ears. Our western music is founded on a fixed steady beat (eg 3 / 4 waltz), on which is planted the melody and decorations of chords. Irish music is similar, but the melody is so highly “decorated” it is almost unrecognisable.
Now turn your mind completely around. In traditional ME music, the Melody is fixed, and the Beat is variable. You cannot auto-toe-tap. The beat can be complex, multi layered, highly variable, and adds the colour or decoration to the melody. The variable beat system was adopted from Indian music in ancient times.
There are 24 notes to the octave, (13 in ours). They are equally spaced (not like ours) but so close that often only the voice can produce them. Harmony as we know it, is absent, because of the equal spacing. The “Song” may have several “verses”, each one a micro-tone different to the previous. Each evoking a different mood.
Tiny cymbals have been worn on dancer’s fingers since 500BC. They are used like castanets to augment the rhythm. Spanish dance inherited them from ME dancers. Modern ME music is more westernised, and has a regular but embroided beat.

 

The Dance. ME dance is an ancient fertility dance which has become a “soul” communication exclusively between women. It is generated deep in the subconscious emotions. Music and dance can sometimes lead to a trance like state, or, release the “wild woman within”.
The dance uses muscles rather than steps. The hips follow the drum beat, and a low slung belt accentuates the movement. The abdomen is the seat of the inner world, of darkness, life, and emotions. It performs strong serpentine or wave like muscular actions. There is intense use of hips, abdomen and chest. Arms and legs perform within the body sphere, they do not “lead you off“ somewhere else. A shimmy of the chest or hip embellishes the performance. Persian (Iran) dance has much more artistic use of arms and legs.
Movement around the floor is minimal, the opposite to western dance, and the feet are planted firmly on the floor. It is an excellent style in crowded situations or in the privacy of your living room!
ME dance is mostly gentle, overlaid by small delicate movements based on the dancer’s experience and emotion. Normally performed at private ladies meetings. Henna stain is used to colour the hair and nails, and decorate the hands.
For millennia, the knowledge and training was passed down from grandmother to child, and there were special teachers for advanced dancers. The dance can be performed at any age, any shape, girl to grandma, limited only by arthritis. 30 - 40 year olds are best. Acknowledged as the most famous dancer in the world was Tahia Carioca of Egypt, 1940’s.

 

Specials. ME dance exists as classical/traditional, popular/folk, and modern/cabaret styles. Special dances are defined traditional events of dance and music for special occasions, eg girl initiation, wedding, birth, illness, death, and soul communion. Illnesses are cured by trance or collapse-inducing dances. Mourning dances may be seen on tv news, as people rocking in unison, wailing. Soul dances achieved nirvana through whirling. The choreography for all is specifically designed to occupy the body and soul in a communication. Sometimes men were part of special dances, but performing as men, not women. Special dances generally had a leader or director to oversee the event.

 

12000 years later. ME dance is taught and performed all over the world, with schools in such diverse places as Japan, Finland, and Australia (even Ballarat). The cabaret version is the most popular. But remember it is based on a more gentle personal spiritual dance embroided with experience, and with its roots deep in the most ancient of ancient origins of man.

 

If you see it, watch in awe and understanding and humility, for it is the oldest stylised dance in all of human civilization.

 

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Message from the Ancients. Wisdom is not limited to recent times. Throughout the Maiden, you will find some Messages from the Ancients (MfA). The wisdoms and humanity of the ancient ME peoples were handed down from generation to generation, by families and Dance Teachers. They are incorporated into the lore of ME dance. MfA’s are as wise today as they were all those millennia in time past.

 

MfA - “So Dance, sister, dance. Keep dancing for life. Keep dancing through sorrow. Cry and know that we share your joy and your misery through every one of your tears”.

 

MfA - “Inner spiritual growth and intelligence are the 2 hands that hold the heart, and make it expand to understand the treasures and miracles of life”.

 

Dance was considered the fastest way to unite with the Divine.

 

MfA - “The wings of imagination soar through dancing”.

 

MfA - Through rituals of women’s gatherings, talking and dancing, the community is enriched by the existence of every single woman. The youngest girl to the oldest lady are helped on their way through womanhood.

 

MfA - Dancing is a true companion through all phases of life. Everything one has lived and experienced, sings through dancing. “Dance grows with you, as you grow as a human being”.

 

MfA - Dance teaches you an attitude, a way to open yourself far beyond blind imitation.

 

MfA. - Every time your body calls you, you must dance in that instance, that intense moment of being.

 

MfA - Dance teaches you an attitude, a way to open yourself far beyond blind imitation.

 

MfA - When reason becomes blurred, the wild woman wins!

 

MfA - “The gaze reflects the soul”.

 

MfA - “Open your arms when you dance, my daughter, for through your dancing life will awaken”.

 

MfA - “Trust is the mother of opening”.

 

MfA - “When your hips circle, the whole universe swings along“.

 

MfA - “The belly is the drum of feminity in dancing, and in life“.

 

MfA - The secret of a correct position lies in the feet. A good foundation enables the whole body to find its space, and the soul to unfold in harmony. (As true for modern dance as it was ten millenia ago!)

 

Through dancing, ancient peoples expressed their natural joy and emotions.
Today, as in times past, body and mind are set in motion as a Unity.
The body dissolves in movements far older than memory,
And Time melts into the heat of dancing.

 

Trilling. A unique high pitched wobbling-the-tongue call of ME women. It is used to reward a beautiful or outstanding performance, much as we would shout and clap in the theatre.
Not to be confused with a fast “la la la la” which is actually “La ilaha illa llah” meaning there is no God but God.

 

Day & Night The traditional old ME day goes from sunset to sunset. The day ends as the sun goes down. The immediate night is then the next day. If you were invited to ME tea “tomorrow night“, you would go tonight.

 

Moon Moods. Lunar cycles, Lunar months, and female cycles were all well known by 30,000BC. Women gathered for monthly fertility rituals on top of special hills, called the “Navel of the Earth”. They used dance to achieve spiritual levels. By about 3000BC, lunar rituals declined, being replaced by Patriarchy and Sun based religions.

 

Ouled Nail dancers, come from a tribe in Algeria. Once a year the women travelled to towns and performed wild ME dances for income. They were paid by having money thrown at them. They wore all their money and jewellery sewn onto their costumes. Western tourists were fascinated by these wild bejewelled dancers. Having made their fortune, the girls went home, bought a husband, and settled down. Recently the Ouled Nail have been banned from tourist areas.

 

ME Costumes. Before the 1800’s, costumes were floor length wide trousers, bright material, a lo slung belt, and a scarf.
1800’s, knee length skirts and semi transparent blouses became popular.
1900’s, costumes became even scantier, jewellery added, beaded bra, navel gem worn, high heels adapted, more active choreography introduced.

 

The Veil. A large light weight body wrap or shawl. Very common in Iran/Persia well before Islam. Used to indicate status, to flourish in a dance, to protect the face from sand and wind, and in part covering the face to create an element of mystery, mischievousness, or pride.
The little “surgical mask” veil that Muslim women wear is a religious requirement, and has nothing to do with real ME dance.

 

Navel Jewel. The wearing of a gem in the navel was invented by Hollywood film industry. In original ME dance there is no such thing. However as girls practise the abdominal exercises, a stone is placed in the navel, and held in place by muscle control. The better the dancer got, the bigger the stone she had to hold.

 

ME Speak. The ME alphabet has 29 letters (ours 26), 26 constantans and 3 vowels. ME words adopted into our vocabulary are - Cotton, Giraffe, Lime, Mummy, Sherbet, Sofa, and Sugar.

 

ME Song. The ME music has 24 notes to the octave (ours 13). They are evenly spaced (ours are not), thus it is not possible to make Harmony as we know it. It is also difficult to transpose western and eastern music.

 

Childbirth Dance I. Carolina Dinicu, in 1967, a correspondent and writer, was the first European person ever to see the normally secret ME birthing dance. She disguised herself as a mute servant girl to a ME friend, and went with her to the “event”. The mother to be sat on a rug near a shallow pit in the sand, at the centre of a large tent. She was surrounded by ladies and girls of her extended family. The father and friends were banned. The ladies chanted and danced their way round and round the mother, sometimes inviting her into the dance as well. When labour began, the dancing changed to strong belly waves or rolls and rhythmic chanting. Her panting and straining became embedded in the steady rhythm of the dancers. The mother, entranced by this powerful display of abdominal activity and female empathy, drew energy from her family, and gave birth using the same belly waves that all women learn from childhood, for the birthing dance. Carolina was most impressed and took the birthing dance exercises back to Germany, where it was used most successfully to train expectant mums in prenatal classes.

 

Syrian Bride Dance is a ME Sword dance by the ladies, it is to forcefully remind the groom to give the bride respect!

 

Sticks, Swords, Fire. Some ME dances use sticks clashed together to represent men! Swords can be delicately balanced on the head whilst the body does its ME gyrations. Fire sticks or fire pots can be twirled with great speed and complexity during active ME dances, especially of north African origin. Other props that can be used are castanets, small hand drums, candles, and most used of course is the Veil.

 

Bayadere dancers. Bayaderes were specialised Indian temple dancers of antiquity. They were exceedingly graceful, hence the classical ballet production of “La Bayadere”. Egypt imported Bayadere dancers in 1500BC, and ME dancers incorporated some of their movements, and their music technology.

 

Whirling Dervishes. A spinning around dance performed by men, can also be by women. There is a leader who directs the chanting and spinning. Generally spinning is counter clockwise to mimic the stars. The whirling goes on and on, and leads to a trance like state. The dancer “detaches himself from body and earth, in order to come closer to Unity with the spirits”.

 

A European comment. (Or inspiration for those of us over a certain age). A last century comment from a lady media correspondent in Egypt - “Zaki was the most celebrated dancer in Cairo, but she had not seen thirty in a while. Flesh clung heavily to her hips. I had never seen traditional ME dance before, but I recognised every movement. What she did with her body was what a woman’s body did, the natural movements of creation and childbirth.” The old Patriarchal societies forced women into stereotyped roles. These roles tore up a woman and robbed her of her individualistic strength. Women were split into saints or witches.

 

A.M. Cole 2005