Lebanese Belly Dancing

By Assam on May 31, 2008

Lebanese Belly Dancing is Extinct

Lebanese Belly Dancing, like belly dancing in Egypt and other Arabic countries have had productions of song, dance and acting. There have been Lebanese Belly Dancing shows and it is often referred to as the Oriental Dance.

This dance can be held in the same category for the Lebanese as ballet and opera to the Americans and Europeans. The music is so soulful and passionate that it can bring tears to your eyes. Much of the music is based on famous artists, especially hailing from Egypt.

Looking at Tthe Future

With the political situation in Lebanon, the future of Lebanese Belly Dancing is uncertain. Even though the dancers earlier brought in a lot of revenue into the country, the art of belly dancing was not favored by the Islamic religion. The young people of Lebanon believe that Belly Dancing is old fashioned and hence it is not used as a form of entertainment in other Arabic countries too.

Form

Lebanese Belly Dancing, like any other form of Belly dancing consists of swaying the hips breaking into dynamic expressions. The patterns used in the dance are curves, thrusts, lifts, locks, drops and shaking body movements. The belly area is the point of concentration and the footsteps are not important. The arms and hands move in a serpent-like manner.

Costumes

Lebanese Belly Dancing celebrates women, their life and creativity, their beauty and especially the beauty of their body. The costume of the dancer changes from place to place, but the skirt, bra and the hip-belt are the main parts of the costume. The dancer often plays finger cymbals and sometimes there is a music accompaniment.

Women Power

All the designs of Lebanese Belly Dancing emphasize and enhance the grace, power and independent control of the feminine form. It can be a fertility dance as well. Sometimes men participate in the dance too, but it is mainly done by women. The dance originally comes from the folklore tradition of the Middle East and still portrays the culture of the Middle Eastern countries.

The Egyptian and the Turkish Belly Dance is by far more popular in Europe and America, and the style has been modernized to suit new trends. But the culture is still borrowed from tradition and in many small villages and small towns of Lebanon, it is danced when there is a celebration.

Belly dance is gaining popularity worldwide, but the future of dance is extremely uncertain in Middle Eastern Countries. But there is still hope that Oriental Dance will flourish once again in its hometown like Lebanon.

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