Belly Dancing, what is it, and why is it name Belly Dancing?

Answer 1

wobbling the belly to music, thats what it is and thats why its called that!

Answer 2

I started typing and went from thought to thought, without organizing my thoughts first. Forgive the haphazard way I threw this together, I usually do MUCH better.

This form of dance is called "belly dancing" in the West, but "raqs el sharqi" (Oriental dance) in the East. Wait a minute... it's called raqs el sharqi in the Arabic speaking East.

At the Chicago World's Fair in 1893, Sol Bloom, the entertainment director, coined the phrase "belly dance" because the women moved their midsection very freely. At the time, women were donning tight corsets, and movement of the midsection was pretty much impossible. When the public saw the dance ("The Algerian Dancers of Morocco"), they became fascinated!

One performer was called Little Egypt (even though she was not Egyptian), and the dance she performed was called the Hootchie Kootchie, or the shimmy and shake. It came to be known as a suggestive dance, although none of the dancers wore anything suggestive at all. Eventually, the American hootchie kootchie evolved into what we now know as cabaret. Seedy, even though real Oriental dance is anything but seedy.

Original "raqs" costuming wasn't costuming at all, but normal clothing that people would wear at celebrations. Originally, raqs el sharqi was done by women for women, usually at weddings. In the MidEast, such events are segregated by gender, and the women would dance with each other. It was never used as a tempting dance that "dancing girls" did for the mighty sultan, that's Hollywood fluff. Raqs was just dance, the stuff that was popular, like doing the fox trot or waltz in the West.

After the World's Fair, the West became fascinated with this art form. Unfortunately, its image evolved into something seedy, and some people equate raqs el sharqi with stripping, like the "Dance of Seven Veils." There isn't any original dance of seven veils, and certainly not one that has any stripping in it. In this dance, Salome (dancer) is dressed in only veils, and she slowly removes them. But in the Bible, Salome (daughter of Herodias), was a child who probably did a little jig to amuse the adults.

Oscar Wilde wrote a play called Salome, and in the play is featured the dance of seven veils. It's a titillating dance as described above, but that didn't happen that way.

I digress.

There are many styles of belly dance... Egyptian, Turkish, Persian, and others. Hollywood has popularized the beaded and sequined costumes, because again, these are not traditional.

Answer 3

It´s a kind of dance very common in Arabic Countries. It is called that because the women use mostly their bellies to dance. It was really quite beautiful if it`s well performed

Answer 4

Belly dancing is an enticing dance where women shake an gyrate with great control and precision. It is not in the KORAN therefore it is of the devil and these belly shakers must be punished. With spankings and the application of honey to their naughty bits as prescribed by the prophet.

Answer 5

You DON'T use your stomoach you use your hips to move your stomach going in and out so it looks as if something is crawling through your body. It's a lot of butt shakin to. It's called belly danceing because it shows off your belly.

Answer 6

I think its mainly to do with the way the stomach muscles( belly!) are used to move up and down hence dancing!

Answer 7

Well there are many types of belly dancing;
seductive, erotic, joyful, even sadden styles...

Is depends on the Culture, and Country...

Answer 8

peopl make their belly dance like Shakira