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Very common myths and misconceptions
about Belly Dance...
This list was put together by Angelique from the US and was used here with her friendly consent.
If you have ever believed any of the following statements, you probably learned about the dances of the Middle East from Hollywood, or you have personally seen just one aspect of the dance. No one ever told you that there is more to it than what you saw! Here is a more complete picture:
MYTH 1
Belly Dance is some sort of sex dance performed by "harem girls" fo
r some sort of "sheik" or "sultan."
Bellydance was not invented to arouse men.
Millions of women in dozens of countries enjoy belly dance at gatherings that are entirely or predominantly female. The women talk, eat and dance in the same way that western women talk, eat and play cards.
The dance predates both Islam and the development of the culture that now dominates the Arabian peninsula. Traditionally, women danced during labour, and their friends danced along with them. This practice has dwindled in the Middle East due to the new dominance of Western medicine.
In many countries, Belly Dance is the predominant form of exercise for girls and women.
MYTH 2
Belly Dance is the same as Hula Dance, Gypsy Dance or East Indian Dance.
People who show their tummies and shimmy are not necessarily belly dancing .
Belly Dance has a few elements that are similar to Hula, Gypsy and Indian dances, but these dances are all different.
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Hula and Indian dancers use their hands (and in Indian dance, their eyes and feet) to tell a story. |
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Polynesian dancers do a lot of shimmying, but they do not perform many other moves that are essential to Middle Eastern dance. |
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The dances performed by Gypsy tribes have much more in common with the folk dances of Eastern Europe than with dances of the Middle East. |
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The European dance that is probably best related to belly dance is flamenco, which developed from Middle Eastern dance when the Muslims ruled Spain. |
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MYTH 3
Belly Dance is performed in "Arabian" countries by women who must have large bellies. If a slender woman performs this dance, she will develop a large belly.
There are no "Belly Dance laws" requiring dancers to have a certain body type .
For some strange reason, Westerners conclude that a women needs to have a certain body type to learn Middle Eastern dance, but they do not place such restrictions on their own dances.
At a typical nightclub, wedding, or New Year's Eve bash, people of all ages and sizes dance. If there is a dance craze, all sorts of people flock to dancing schools. No one has ever said, "You have to have a large butt to do the Macarena" or "I have to lose ten pounds before I can learn the Electric Slide."
MYTH 4
Belly Dance is performed in Greek nightclubs by young women with flat tummies and silicone-enhanced chests. It is inappropriate for heavy women to try this dance, especially because it must always be performed in a skimpy costume.
It is true some that nightclubs prefer to hire Belly Dancers who look like fashion models, but nightclub performers make up only a tiny percentage of the women who enjoy Belly Dance.
The largest audience you will see for a Middle Eastern dance event will be at a show by dancers, for dancers. The audience will be overwhelmingly female, and in the audience and on stage you will see women from the ages of seven to seventy.
You will see every conceivable body type and a variety of attitudes about revealing or concealing them.
You will see girls who began to dance at their mothers' knees, and women who took their first class at age fifty or older.
You will see women who began to dance professionally after just one year of training, and women who have taken the same intermediate-level class for fifteen years just for fun and fitness.
The laws of exercise physiology are not suspended by the presence of Middle Eastern music .
Have you ever heard anyone say, aerobics will give you a big tush, stretch-and-tone class will give you a big tummy, or swimming will make you grow gills? Of course not!
When you raise your heart rate, you burn calories. When you use a muscle, it becomes stronger and tighter.
Belly Dance is a fun, non-impact form of exercise. Like any other form of exercise, it will burn calories, tighten and build muscles and increase flexibility.
Last but not least a few also very common misunderstandings about Belly Dance:
Belly Dancers wear jewels in their navels
This is not a Middle Eastern tradition but started in Hollywood during the 30's as a form of censorship. Navels were too risky to show at the cinema. (Times have sure changed!)
Belly Dancing is sexual or lewd
Real Belly Dancing is family entertainment. It is a dance that children can do as well as older women.
Belly Dancing is easy
Just like any other dance form, Belly Dancing takes a lot of practice and discipline to learn.
It is an art form and, to become an expert, requires learning not only steps from Egypt, Morocco, Turkey, Arabia, Syria, Persia, Tunisia, etc, but also the rhythms.