Dance styles

[trang1808]

I am seeking through our forums for my questions. Thank you for contribution and reply.

I know there are many styles of belly dance (it is great to last this art form forever). In my opinion, I choose original style - Egyptian. Needing basic to develop.

I wonder how we could definite each style? Not only the music? Is there any different in step, moving...?

I have read that in Egyptian style, the veil dance is performed in 1-2 minutes. Therefore, hip drops, hip backward is used for this style.

Would you tell me more, details in each style? Thank you very much. <hug>

 

[trang1808]

I have a little question more: I can't use quick reply function from I first join our forum. How could I fix it?

 

[maria_harlequin]

A lot of the "styles" of "belly dance" that you see today isn't belly dance at all. It's belly dance mixed up with a whole bunch of other stuff to a point where it becomes pure fantasy - not that it's a bad thing until you start mislabeling it.

My advice to you is to find a teacher that's an expert in the area that you want to learn - and make sure that she/he is actually an expertise. A lot of teachers will claim that they teach Egyptian style when they're actually doing something else.

And the veil isn't always used in Egyptian style, but if it is, you're right that it's usually used for the entrance and then discarded. Not sure what you mean by "hip backward".

Here's Samia Gamal doing her veil thang:



And Mia Shauri being absolutely awesome with a fantasy inspired belly dance using a tambourine as a prop:



Here's Shira's page on styles of belly dance commonly seen in the USA:

Belly Dancing: Dance Styles Used In The U.S.

 

[jenc]

dear Trang
It is really impossible to tell everything about bellydance in posts like this. you have been a member of the forum for some time, so please read through some of the back threads. there is a lot of information there. You will also learn a lot by reading answers to more specific questions, but if you ask such wide open questions you will not spark the debate that we learn so much from on this site

 

[jenc]

to use quick reply, you must first click on icon on bottom right of the message you are replying to

 

[Kashmir]

Course of Study

I know you do not have access to a teacher so I suggest you watch lots of performances over and over. For Egyptian include a range from the past such as Naima Akef, Samia Gamal, Tahiya Karioka, Suher Zaki, Nagwa Foud, Fifi Abdou, Mona Said and the more recent dancers such as Lucy, Dina and Randa. Others to look for would be Farida Fahmy (Reda Troupe), Aida Nour, Raqia Hassan.

I'm not so up on Lebanese but as a minimum Nadia Gamal (yes, she was born in Egypt but her style is far from Egyptian and she has influenced a lot of Lebanese belly dancers) and Amani.

Try and get at least 30 minutes (more is better) of each dancer as there is quite a bit of variation even with a single dancer let alone between them (Mona is very different from any other dancer as far as I can see). As you watch them (not the first time, not the second time, maybe not even the third) you will start to see a pattern emerging.

Also keep in mind within Egyptian there is a range of styles - eg Fifi is very beledi - and it leaks through even when she is doing Orientale. Aida is influenced by her Reda folkloric background. If you get a range of Egyptian performances probably a third of any professional Egyptian dancer's set will be folkloric - opinions vary on whether this can be called "belly dance" - but knowledge of folkloric is part of an Egyptian belly dancer's training.

Further note - in the old movies not everything the belly dancers do is belly dance. Just because you see a dancer doing a big show number with a male chorus line and a bowler hat doesn't make it "belly dance". These women were dancers and performed a range of styles.

 

[Caroline_afifi]

Further note - in the old movies not everything the belly dancers do is belly dance. Just because you see a dancer doing a big show number with a male chorus line and a bowler hat doesn't make it "belly dance". These women were dancers and performed a range of styles.

This is very true.

There was alot of experimentation in films that was produced to add variety and fit in with the theme.

 

[maria_harlequin]

Of course, just by posting an old movie of Samia Gamal, I didn't mean that what everything the dancers did in the old movies was belly dance!

 

[Kashmir]

Of course, just by posting an old movie of Samia Gamal, I didn't mean that what everything the dancers did in the old movies was belly dance!

No, I didn't mean the clip you posted! But some people do assume if it is Samia Gamal it must be belly dance. As Trang is very inexperienced I was hoping to fence that one off from the start.