What Are Some Myths About Belly Dance?
There are many myths and misconceptions about the women’s dances of the Middle East. Here are the ones I hear most often:
Belly-Dance is some sort of sex dance performed by “harem girls” for some sort of “sheik” or “sultan.”
Belly Dance is a woman’s dance. At one time it was done by “harem girls” but not for the sultan. Harems were full of women of all ages, who sang, danced and played musical instruments to ward off boredom and pass the time.
My favorite response to this myth is from Morocco, a popular dancer from New York. When I asked her what she said when she was asked about this one, she replied, “Honey, I can think of a lot easier ways to attract a man; I do this dance for me.”
Indeed, we belly dance for ourselves and if you ever go to a belly dance event you’ll see the audience is about 80% or more women.
Belly dancers dance with their bellies.
While pregnant with my son and on a visit to the obstetrician, I mentioned a show I had just sponsored where my headliner (Halima) ended up in the emergency room after the show with a torn ligament in her calf. His response was, “How do you hurt your leg doing belly dancing?”
That was one of many such questions. In reality, stomach rolls and undulations involve only a tiny…