ARAB TANGO LIVE – QAMARHOM
ARAB TANGO LIVE – QAMARHOM
Due to the misperceptions about the Middle East and its people, this paper will analyze how Middle Eastern culture has been represented in the US through belly dance. This project examines what we know about the roots of belly dance, specifically in relation to how such origins may be presented within the dance, as well as the first exposures that the American public may have had to belly dance through literary accounts, theatre, and design in the late 19th century and early 20th century. These sources are discussed in relation to current representations of the Middle East used in belly dance, as well as their representative accuracy and impact. In the next chapter, we examine the dance itself in the United States, from the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 to current performances, looking at how different aspects of the dance and the culture from which it came have been emphasized or neglected over time. Using literature reviews, observations of performances, and interviews with current performers, this project demonstrates that belly dance has never been truly Middle Eastern since it was introduced to the US, and by extension much of Western society. American expectations, interpretations, and some gross inaccuracies have always shaped it, and current performances are no longer Middle Eastern in origin as much as American.
However, it could be argued that belly dance has always been a Middle Eastern dance, regardless of where it is performed. The movements and origins of the dance are from the Middle East, and thus it can be said that the dance is truly Middle Eastern.
When various world fairs were held in London, Philadelphia, Paris, and Chicago in 1893, belly dancers from the Middle East and Northern Africa created scandal surrounding exhibitions. But the scandal was nothing compared to when a camel decided to join in on the fun and started belly dancing too! The legend of Little Egypt was launched and inspired an entire entertainment genre known as “Hoochie Coochie.” Belly dance costumes 3 in the West were reduced from the quite modest traditional garments to such revealing things that they could be compared to the modern bikini top, or even skimpier. Rather than long shirts and wide trousers, short and even sheer skirts were worn. Costumes for cabaret performers in particular became accordingly small, overriding customs that had been in place for many years in the Middle East. Western prejudices came to dominate local practices.
