THE ANCIENT ART of BELLY DANCE-AN ART SUBJECT TO EXPLOITATION?

Belly dance is an ancient dance performed by folks in the olden days! This dance was associated with fertility and is no way what it is today. The art has been compared with other styles of 'entertainment' such as lap dancing and strip tease and has perhaps been stripped of its culture by this current society. Many people are beginning to learn the art of belly dance but hold on! Is it an art? Or merely a degrading dance for women to perform for all those drooling men whom by the way, pay to watch!

Just a few years back, belly dance wasn't so popular as it is today. So how did it become so popular? Well, lets see. What influences people in society the most? Yes, celebrities. Since the latin star Shakira popped onto our screens, this changed the views of many youngsters about the dance or at least contibuted to it. The art was changed into a seductive dance which I must say can't be blamed due to the music industry's exploitation of the authentic dance. More recently, Britain's Got Talent featured a belly dancer in the semi final stage. This popularised it further but the main target for attention were men! So therfore, we could say it should be compared to other forms of entertainment (for men). Ummm...get the drift?

Many have probably seen traditional belly dancing when on holidays to Egypt, Morrocco and Turkey and of course the styles vary. From earthy balladi moves in Egypt to the feminine flowy moves in Turkey. This is an art in it's own right. So, lets talk technicality! The moves predominantly come from the hips and the whole discipline lies in the isolation of the different moves. It is a dance that needs concentration and gradual building. Professionals such as the 'belly dance superstars' offer a seductive but elegant angle to the art from the well known shimmy to the more controlled belly rolls. It is not what it is becoming today.

So basically, the moral of the story is, keep art as art and lets not change it into something cheap. Appreciate it as a culture and lets not turn it into something subject to exploitation.