Ouled Nail

LilithNoor

LilithNoor

New member
So the thread about belly dance and stripping got me thinking about the Ouled Nail. I've seen pictures and articles about these dancers that suggest that as well as doing proto belly dance (I use the term loosely), they also performed at least partially nude, and may have worked as prostitutes in order to earn a dowry.

So then I hit Google, and discovered that actually I have read the same article several dozen times, (Ouled Nail is a dance term that falls entirely in the realm of tradition and folklore) with no citations.

Any tips for some reputable research on these dancers? I'm wondering whether people ignore the 'dancing with bare boobs and sleeping with guys for money' thing because it doesn't fit with their view of belly dance, or whether it is actually made up by over-sexed Orientalists with enough spare change to pay women to strip off for the odd photo.
 
Mosaic

Mosaic

Super Moderator
I am trying to find an article I read sometime ago on the Ouled Nail. From what I remember the woman would go out & dance to collect their dowries and once they had that would return and become "good wives" - but the half nakedness was more an orientalist view ( I believe) because any exposure of skin was 'shocking' to the white traveller/explorer. It is possible some ended up in prostitution for a short while, hasn't that happened the world over through the ages ( the white puritans forget about that happening in their own societies). I will keep searching for the article. I find the Ouled nail interesting people.

An interesting youtube narrative about the Ouled Nail I came across a while ago



This one is a short clip of dance moves but they are certainly completely dressed:D


A beautiful painting of an Ouled Nail Dancer


The link below is not exactly what you are looking for but interesting all the same and maybe further research into this artists life may throw up more information.

Interesting article
Ouled Nail

Still hunting the other article:D
~Mosaic
 
Kashmir

Kashmir

New member
LilithNoor said:
Any tips for some reputable research on these dancers? I'm wondering whether people ignore the 'dancing with bare boobs and sleeping with guys for money' thing because it doesn't fit with their view of belly dance, or whether it is actually made up by over-sexed Orientalists with enough spare change to pay women to strip off for the odd photo.
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I helped Tanya research her Oulid Nail workshop last year. It would appear that yes, they did swap sex for money; they normally danced very covered - but (some) would on occasion dance naked.

By the by, the dance vocab is quite different from raqs sharqi - and it is not certan that there was any social stigma within their own culture for a brief foray into getting miney by dancing and prostition.
 
LilithNoor

LilithNoor

New member
Cracking, thanks folks.

I was getting very frustrated seeing the same info everywhere with no citations whatsoever- there are already enough myths floating around the dance.

That Gilded serpent article is particularly interesting for its take on dancing as a source of independent income, not just something to lure in a man. I find it easy to imagine that a woman who spent her formative years marketing herself and managing her own life and finances might not be inclined to just hand all her savings over when she finally married.

I recall reading an article some years ago that covered the role of single women in certain Arab/Maghreb cultures, notably those who were divorced or widowed, and talked about how sex work was seen as a moderately socially acceptable way for such women to earn a living, Wish i could find it again!
 
Amanda (was Aziyade)

Amanda (was Aziyade)

Well-known member
The book Flute of Sand talks about the dancers, and there were a few articles in Arabesque 20 years ago about the Ouled Nail, if you are looking for additional resources.
 
meddevi

meddevi

New member
If you ever get a chance to take Amel Tafsout's Ouled Nail workshop (or frankly anything with her), I highly recommend it.

In Ted Shawn's (of Denishawn dance fame) book "1001 Night Stands", he discusses his search for the Ouled Nail in Algeria, which is quite interesting, and I believe Ruth St. Denis discusses them as well in her autobiography, but I have so many books on her, I can't say for sure that's the source.

But in a nutshell, a lot changed on how things were done once the French colonization/occupation happened - particularly how the dance was done/perceived/become perverted in nature - which pretty much became the cause of it dying out.
 
LilithNoor

LilithNoor

New member
I shall have to track down some of these books, I see. My dance library is a bit thin at present!

a lot changed on how things were done once the French colonization/occupation happened
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You said it!
 
H

Hind

New member
Hello!

I noticed that many people are confused about Ouled Nail. The Ouled nail are a "confederation" of several tribes living in the east of Algeria: the region of Biskra, Djelfa, Laghouat etc. etc. and it was also the name of the professional dancers, that don't exist anymore.
Well I don't know what kind of dance of Ouled Naïl you are talking about..but I noticed that people call ouled nail dance another kind of dance and not the right ouled nail dance. I watched a lot of videos of dancers performing a dance they call ouled nail dance.
Lot of things mostly 'n'importe quoi"
Ouled Nail dance Saadaoui this is the name they use. I saw a video of aisha ali, I discovered her work few days ago and I respect the work and research she does but the dance she performed looks like Zendali which we dance in all east of algeria and notably in Constantine. It is confusing... We can't find a video of zendali but here is some pictures of the Algerian National Ballet: http://www.ballet-national-dz.org/fr/?action=zoom_detail&dossier_id=41&filiale_id=23
We dance it on a music with tbel and zorna instruments.


I think that berber chaoui living in Aurès (east of algeria) dance it too in their way:you can see it in this video from 2min30

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=As6RyAyrUxg


In another thread, I saw the right videos representing the dance of ouled nail: one foot forward and the other one behind in demi-pointe and the dancer evolves on the music with the wrist doing a circular mouvement. And in a particular point of the music, the rythm changes and the dancer grabs a cane and does shoulders shimmy or a belly move as the chaoui do. This is mostly a duet dance: 2 womens or a man and woman which is rare in traditional dance. And sometimes they do some hands moves which have significations.

I recommend the book by the ethnologist Viviane Lièvre, Danses du Maghreb. A rare book about only the dances of Maghreb: kabyle, chaoui, chikhat, ouled nail, dances from algiers, zedali, bedouin tunisian etc etc. She describs very well the dances.

(next page two...had some problems with editing)
 
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H

Hind

New member
And for those who speak arabic dialects, maybe you will be able to understand these videos of a very good report on the algerian tv about the traditions of ouled nail:

Musique, Chant et Danse des "Ouled Nail" - YouTube

Musique, Chant et Danse des "Ouled Nail" - YouTube

My god! There is so much to say about ouled nail. But you have to know that they were not the only professional dancers, there was also what we called Azriet in the berber chaoui people. You have to know that like the shikhat in Morocco and west Algeria or Azriet (Meshta in Tunisia), these women had a special status of a free women. I don't find the right translation (status de femme libre). As a dancer, they could have a man or boyfrind without being married. yes yes, that's what i said without any disapproval from the maghrebi society according to what I read except may be from the very religious men. But that was common at this time. Even a man could be proud to marry an Azriet. But they stopped being professional dancer when they get married but could be again a dancer when she divorced, or be a widow or after a repudiation. For some of them it was a way to be independent and to earn some money. And that surprised some european people; some of them did not understand that, and understood from their european late XIX and early XXth century point of view. These europeans were tourists or from the army, we cannot expect from them a smart study or point of view. So they thought it was prostitution. Of couse some of Ouled nail were prostitues but doesn't mean that all the dancers were prostitutes. Some of them tarnished the way they danced to earn money in a dance far away from their original dance. After the colonization, some tribes decided to hand down the dance in a private space to avoid to tarnish the dance. In the first gathering of the folkloric troups after colonization to promote the national heritage, we could see the famous saadaoui or naili dance.

I also recommend the book by the dancer and teacher Djamila Henni-Chebra, Les danses dans le monde arabe ou l'héritage des almées. Very well documented!!
 
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LilithNoor

LilithNoor

New member
Thanks for those links, Hind. I don't know why it didn't occur to me to look for information in French, what with so much of the Maghreb world being francophone!

I was hoping the programme links would be at least partially comprehensible to a french speaker, but sadly not, however I think I can learn a lot just from watching it.
 
H

Hind

New member
LilithNoor said:
, what with so much of the Maghreb world being francophone!.
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lol 132 years of colonization, this language is now part of our culture and we can't speak our arabic dialect without using a french word, i'm myself francophone. I'd say why some good english book about Maghreb are not translated in french?! :)
 
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LilithNoor

LilithNoor

New member
A tribe from Algeria known for their dancing and costume style, and discussed in fairly exhaustive detail throughout this thread and its links.
 
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