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What is Belly Dance and where does it come from?
The name "Belly Dance" is not quite correct because it's not only the belly which is "dancing" but it is the most common name for this dance art in the western world. It may have evolved from the Arabic word Baladi or Beledi ("Beh-Leh-Dee") which means "dance of the people". Another name is Raks Sharqi "dance of the East".
You might also have heard the name Middle Eastern Dance, which describes the same dance art.
The ancient form of the Belly Dance we know today goes back about 7000 years. It originated in the Middle and Far East and it's said that 
it may have evolved from very old religious and fertility rituals but it is unknown what this ancient dance actually may have looked like. Similar dances are known from India, Africa, the ancient Greeks and Romans as well. One theory is that Gypsies might have brought this dance style with them on their way from east to west.
The western world's fascination with the "Orient" brought Belly Dancing to the fore in the 18th and 19th centuries.
This dance style was and is a social dance of the people, performed in a lot of different ceremonies, in earlier times mostly within a group of women only.
