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Dev - Tarik many researchers relate Raqs Sarqi to ancient dances from Middle East , some relate to the Gypsy from India and for some it is a goddess dance. One of the reasons the dance has so many theories is generally there is no scientifically documented history about this dance and most theories come from personal observations and study, as a teacher and educator what would be your explanation to the students who are interested to learn the culture and history of this dance.
Tarik - The major reason why we have so much inaccuracy regarding the dance is because we have divorced it from the context of its native culture. We’ve marketed it as everything from a new form of worship to a new form of exercise. Very few people knew anything at all about the people or cultures where the dance came from. In an attempt to gain acceptance and an air of legitimacy, people felt the need to explain its origins. Not knowing anything about the actual cultures though, they had to speculate.
The overwhelming majority of people who were attracted to the dance were people of European origins and for them, the movements were so alien to anything they knew as dance, they had to explain why people would move in such an unusual way. So, perhaps it was created as a fertility ritual. Not knowing that in culture, men also dance in this way at social gatherings, they assumed that it was some sort of female ritual, perhaps to honor a female deity. It never occurred to them that in the part of the world where the dance came from, moving the hips is not strange at all, Its ordinary. Now people are gradually beginning to understand this as they turn their attention to the fact that it is in fact based on the local native social dances.
As to why the dance hasn’t received more academic recognition? I think a certain amount of it is due to a degree of prejudice and ethnocentricity. People didn’t believe that it was worthy of attention and so whenever they did mention it, they always fell back on well-worn stereotypes.
In culture, Dance isn’t considered an academic subject worthy of consideration.
Something I would like everyone to consider though when dealing with the question of the dance’s origins. Why should we assume that Egypt’s dances originated in any place other than Egypt itself? Listen, we will never be able to place a date of inception on this thing as a whole because folk dances evolve over time and no one sits don and documents every aspect of social life. If anyone tells you it started in this time period or that time period, the information is based on myth. As far as the current stage style called Raks Sharki, we know when that evolved because its was relatively recent and its documented; but the social dance that itscame from, we will never know.
Every culture borrows elements on their own terms. Egypt is no exception. We can see though that it is a combination of native and foreign elements if we look at it. Egypt is an African nation and is connected to Asia by land. If we look at the core movements of the dance, we see that it shows a relationship to other dance forms in East and Central Africa. For one thing, the torso and hips are the main focus of movement, rather than the feet. This is a feature common to a great deal of the dances of Africa. We see that in Somalia and the East African coast, Ethiopia, Uganda, the focus of the dance is the torso. Therefore, Egypt’s movement vocabulary is nothing more than a regional variation on a larger theme. In other words, these are movements that are and always have been native to the Egyptian people.
By contrast, the torso figures very low in the dances of Asia. There, the most noticeable aspect of dance is placed on the hands and arms. Graceful, fluid hand and arm motions are a recurring theme. If we look at the way the arms and hands are used in Egypt, we see that we find the exact same movements in Central Asia, but not in Africa as a whole. We do know that Egypt has over the course of its history seen many waves of migration from Asia, but exactly when these Asiatic elements became blended with the native style, who knows? We will never know. In any case, these elements were added to what was already there. They borrowed it on their own terms, just as in the early 20th century, Western ballroom dance elements were borrowed by Egyptian dancers, on their own terms to create Raks Sharki.
Rather than speculating how old it is, why it was created, lets consider that it always was at its heart what it is now, an expression of joy and celebration done socially for fun. When we go to Egypt, this is what we see. It’s a social dance. Women aren’t getting up to dance while in labor, they aren’t learning it to bond with other women or develop a sense of sisterhood, they don’t do it to gain a positive body image and no one does it as a form of worship. Not all of them know how to dance, not all of them dance well, but they all dance just to have a good time and celebrate that’s it!
What I encourage my students to do is to stop looking at these people as if they’re some sort of exotic curiosity. No matter how benign exoticism is, its still dehumanizing because it assumes that the object of attention is exactly that, an object. It assumes that these people are fundamentally different from normal people and so their actions need to be examined, analysed, categorized so hat we can understand the workings of their minds. It doesn’t occur to us that these are people just like us. The majority of their life’s efforts are spent in the pursuit of providing for their material needs. They have the same challenges of how to negotiate interpersonal interactions etc. In effect, they may have different ways of doing things, but they are us. They have the exact same needs and desires that we do. There’s nothing mystical and exotic about them, they’re just people. If we can wrap our heads around this basic fact first, then we can better understand the more abstract things like religion and dance and the role it plays in their life. Like us, people dance to have fun and celebrate. Like us, they have a need for entertainment and so they have performance artists. Out of this developed the Oriental Dance we see on stage, but this in no more central to their lives and identity than a Las Vegas or Broadway review is to our lives. Yes, it is a part of our culture, but not the part that is central to our daily lives. We may go to see a show review once in a blue moon, but outside of the artistic community and a small circle of art aficionados, no one is having heated debates on how to do a high kick or if so and so ‘s dance style is authentic Americana. Therefore, don’t expect your average Joe blow or Eddy Egyptian to be some sort of expert on Oriental Dance, nor should you be surprised that they don’t care. How many Americans do you think know the history of the Rocketts or would rather watch a musical rather than the football game?
People who want to really learn about these people and cultures need to widen their perspective beyond dance. Travel, read, speak to people from those areas and get a variety of perspectives on the way they see life. As far as the dance is concerned, realize that that is all it is. It’s just a dance. Nightclub impresarios made it a bit more sophisticated in the early 20th century to make it more theatrically interesting in a way that was compatible with Western styled musical reviews. After all, the whole concept of going to see dance was a western innovation. If you want to get the spirit of the dance, watch native people when they dance for fun. If you can’t get there, next best thing is watch as many clips as you can find on youtube. Then watch the professionals to understand where the theatrical elements come in. Look for stage presence, musical interpretation, quality of movement. Try to learn some of the colloquial languages so you can understand the songs more. For example, Egyptian Arabic. But most of all realize that you are on a journey. Enjoy it! Realize that you are a life long learner and there will always be adjustments in your perspective on things and your approach as you acquire more information and experiences.
Dev - Tarik this is a age old argument oriental dance belly dance or Raqs Sarqi , what is the term you prefer to use with the general public to describe the dance.
Tarik - I have to look at the situation realistically, because at this point, its not a simple situation. The fact of the matter is that now, in 2010, we’ve had a very long history of cultural distortion where the dance is concerned. I previously touched on how the dance has been taken out of its cultural context, I believe that one of the first steps away from the culture of origin in the West came with the name “Belly Dance”. Why do I say this? Because first of all, Its not a BELLY dance and second of all, in the countries where this dance comes from, no one calls it by that name. This was a term coined at a time when it was okay to openly express xenophobic and racist attitudes towards non- European peoples and cultures and get away with it. It was a name that both trivialized a people and their culture and slandered it. Why don’t we call Ballet “toe dance”, or “Leg Dance”? I think we all know how people would react if we did, certainly people in the Ballet world. I don’t think they would appreciate the term because they would recognize it as being demeaning. Their dance already has a name, so why impose on it another? I feel the same way about our dance. This is an expression of the culture of another people and the DO have a name for it. They call it Raks Sharki, Raks Baladi, or simply Raks. Now many people have translated Raks Sharki into English, which is Oriental Dance, but to me, I don’t even see why that was necessary. Why do we feel the need to always Westernize this dance in some way? Why can’t we simply call it what the people themselves call it? Do we need to have an English translation for Baratanatyam or Katak? No. Do we feel the need to come up with new names for these Indian dances? No. So why do it with Raks Sharki?
Never the less, the fact is that the whole world has come to know the dance by this name, so springing Raks Sharki on the general public would be to sail right over their heads. I feel that as artists, it is our duty to show respect to the people and culture that the dance comes from. At the same time, I feel we also have an obligation to educate the public as to what the dance is about, where it comes from and what its proper name is.
I believe very strongly that it is up to us to move ourselves beyond the legacy of the colonial past. To elevate ourselves and our society above the level of racist bigotry that the term “Belly Dance” truly represents. However, I don’t believe that the way to do this is to get up on a soap box and start wagging our finger at people and being confrontational. We can achieve our goal by phasing that term out. The way I do it is to simply use the correct term for the dance when I’m teaching or having a conversation with someone. If they are confused, it gives me an opportunity to enlighten them. On my business cards I use the term “Middle Eastern Dance”. When I perform, I have an announcement in Arabic and English in which I call myself an Oriental Dancer. When advertising my classes I use both names as follows: Oriental Dance,(Belly Dance), or Raks Sharki,(Belly Dance). The reason I do this is so that people looking for a “Belly Dance” class will know that is what I teach, but at the same time, they are learning that the dance has a name. I never use the name Belly Dance, but if others do, I don’t bite their heads off. I just continue using the correct term. After a while, it sinks in, they get it. If someone asks are you a belly dancer, I jovially reply “that’s not the term I like to be addressed as, but yes, I suppose I am.” Usually, they ask me, what is the correct name, and then I can tell them the correct term in English is Oriental Dancer.
Some people claim that the term Sharki/Oriental is denotes Eastern origins and so it doesn’t belong to the Middle East/Egypt and therefore, “Belly Dance” is okay. My reply is that Sharki does not imply an Eastern origin. It indicates the way the people see themselves and their dance. They are Sharki / Eastern, as opposed to us who are Gharibi / Western. So for anyone who is concerned with learning the authentic Egyptian style, or Lebanese etc, as part of that we should know and use the correct name of the dance. If people study Flamenco, they not only learn the correct name of the dances, but the learn bits of the culture and the language as well. Same holds true for Indian dances as well as Hawaiian Hula or any of the West African dance styles that are now also popular in dance circles. I don’t see why we should be different.
Dev - Thank you very much Tarik for your time and thoughtfulness with your answers, I am sure our readers will enjoy the interview with you. I wish you all the best with your workshops and concert in Queensland Australia and look forward to meeting you personally in Feb 2010.
Special thanks to Naomi Takahashi from NYC for providing the photographs.
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