Belly Dance originated in the Middle East and is one of the oldest forms of dance in the world, also called "Raks Sharqi" It is a solo dance that emphasizes abdominal movements with an oriental feel.
She was first practiced as a religious ritual, recounting stories about the endless cycles of nature and human reproduction, celebrating women's prolificacy and celebrating the mystery of life. This explains why belly dancing is based on abdominal swaying and requires bare feet, as a way of maintaining a connection to the land. This dance form gradually developed into a folk art, and eventually became widely popular in the Middle East countries a unique form of entertainment and performance, is the mysterious Arab cultural arts in a flower.
Belly dance as a beautiful body art, through the pelvis, hips, chest and arm rotation as well as dazzling crotch swaying movements, shaping the elegant and sexy soft dance language, give full play to the feminine beauty of the female body. It is a whole-body exercise that allows your legs, abdomen, shoulders and neck to be fully active, thus improving the elasticity and flexibility of your body. The movement of the arms is very important as it expresses the grace and delicacy of the dancer. It is not just a movement, it also creates a spiritual bond between the mind and the body. You can be as joyful and free as a butterfly, an ocean wave, or a flowing stream. As you dance, the Goddess in you makes you more graceful, more powerful, more sensual. It is the dance of a lady exploring herself, an adventure into her body and her inner world.
The modern Egyptian cabaret (performance) genre is very introspective, elegant, and often includes some balletic movements. There is a strong emphasis on muscle control, and the movements are relatively small. The idea of "very little is very good" is very different from the Turkish cabaret, where "anything goes" is more in line with their dance philosophy, with large, flamboyant movements. Jumps and hip movements are very common. Turkish dancers usually wear very little, although this is not a requirement for this style.
Lebanese cabaret is a genre of belly dance that falls somewhere between modern Egyptian and Turkish styles.
Besides the genres mentioned above, there are many different styles of belly dance in folklore.
Beledi is an Egyptian country dance and the name of the music. When it is brought to the stage it becomes " Urban Beledi ", with gorgeous and dazzling attire. Usually it is a fitted, long-sleeved dress with a belt and openings on one or both sides, called a Beledi. A triangular turban is also a common piece of jewelry.
Khaleeji is a belly dance popular in Persia, the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, and Saudi Arabia. The dancers wear colorful, ornately embroidered dresses called thobe nashal and distinctive headdresses. Shoulder movements are predominant. Kay Hardy Campbell is an authority on Khaleeji dance.
Persian belly dance and other Middle Eastern countries belly dance is not the same place is that it rarely have abdominal movements, more beautiful arm movements and shoulder swing and rotation.