EGYPTIAN

FOLKLORIC STYLE Dance History

Research Project
BELLY DANCE
EVOLUTION AND HISTORY
• Ancient Egyptian temples often show women • The women found not only independence in their
dancing to appeal to the gods and pray for gifts of ability to make a living, but also power and
love and fertility influence in their expanding circles that included
• It was an important rite of passage into some of the country’s most important figures, from
womanhood and a powerful expression of celebrities to politicians
divine femininity
• During the 18th and 19th century, the dance
evolved into a form of entertainment performed
by women called the Awalim and the Ghawazee
• Awalim were well-educated and often came
from good families and social backgrounds,
trained at a young age to sing, recite poetry and
dance at important events in cities throughout
the country
• Ghawazee on the other hand were often lower
class women who were uneducated and relied
on dancing as a source of income
EVOLUTION AND HISTORY
(CONTINUED)
• In 1926, Badia Massabni, “The Godmother of Belly Dance”, opened her own night club, Salet Badia,
ushering in a new era of dance and performing arts in Egypt; this was the birth of the Egyptian
cabaret and the start of Egypt’s “Golden Era” of entertainment.
• Massabni was reinterpreting the traditional folk dance and began to introduce Western music and
dance styles like ballet. She also introduced the two-piece dance costume we still see in use today.
• During the 60s, the cabarets, along with their belly dancers, were being left behind in favour of more
traditional folk dancing as a result of intense socialist and nationalist ideologies.
• The belly dancers were quick to pick up on the trend, adjusting their styles and costumes to fit the
changing tastes.
• Dance has empowered more than one generation of Egyptian women, freeing them from the chains
imposed by traditional gender roles and offering power and independence that would otherwise have
been inaccessible to them
• Allowed women who came from poor and illiterate households to mingle with the uppermost
rungs of society, and to play an active role in the lives of those around them
• Today, there are 3 main forms associated with Egyptian belly dance: Beledi/Baladi, Sha'abi, and
Sharqi as well as a couple others
BELEDI/ •Western instruments such as saxophone
BALADI and acc ordian are used
•Dancers wear an ankle length, baladi

STYLE
•Most common style of dance in Egypt today
dress with a hip scarf.

• Used to dance to all kinds of music including

Western Pop
•Came about when farmers moved to the city and
began dancing in small spaces
• Term beledi means “of the people;” represents
the everyday life of the people and their culture
•Brings women together and can also be
flirtatious and celebratory as well as emotional
•Performed to earthy music based on the easy-to-
dance-to Beledi rhythm
• At weddings even people who never dance
stand up and dance the baladi style
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVX4EqfftIQ
SHA’ABI STYLE
•Has ancient roots in the folkloric traditions of rural
Egypt, but developed in the urban working-class
neighborhoods of the country
•Bonds the community together and happens during
celebrations, such as weddings
•Music uses traditional instruments as well as modern
electronic synthesizers and its tone is quite playful
and funky
•Music of the working class in Egypt; lyrics of Sha’abi
songs are usually about politics, personal life or love
•Movements are earthier than in Sharqi style, without
so many spins nor big traveling steps; steps are mostly
on flat feet rather than on tiptoes
Traditional Belly Dance of Egypt –
‫ عرض رائع لفرقة سوهاج للرقص الشعبى‬YouTube
-
 •Badiaa Masabni wanted to appeal to an international and
upper-class audience, so her choreographies started

SHARQI STYLE incorporating a larger use of the stage, a lot of footwork and
influences from Western dances such as ballet and ballroom
dances.
•Started off in the courts and has remained the most “refined” of •Style the West is most familiar with and the Hollywood-
the Egyptian dances
inspired bra and belt costume is worn
 Music is more emotional and spiritual so it appeals to women
•Traditional acoustic instruments and modern and electric
who want to show depths of feeling
ones, such as keyboards, are used to make the music
 More balletic than earthy so most Egyptian women would be
more likely to watch it than do it
 Unlike Sha'abi and Baladi styles where it is easy to dance in a
crowded small space, it is suited to the stage
•Sharqi style incorporated the use of turns, traveling steps, and a
more lifted feeling than the traditional local dances
 Includes some ballet and ballroom dance influences, such as in
footwork (for example the use of arabesque) and in stance and
arm positions adapted to an oriental style
•Developed in 1920s Cairo nightclubs such as Badiaa Masabni’s
Opera Casino

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d05f_YDzaAg
CABARET STYLE
• Developed by Badia Masabni
• Contemporary Egyptian nightclub style of belly
dancing fashioned after European Cabarets
• Is very controlled, elegant, refined and often includes
some ballet
 Muscular control is emphasized and movements are
small and internalized
• Costumes are customarily very glitzy and elaborately
beaded
 Various styles have been popular over the years
SAIDI (CANE DANCE) STYLE
•Based on a complex and competitive work of dance performed by
men with sticks
•Women use the stick in imitation of the male stick dance which is
very martial, and make it more flirtatious, feminine, and graceful
•Musical accompaniment is just singing, clapping or maybe a
drum and stops when the audience are fed up with the dancer
•A Beledi dress with a belt or scarf around the hips and a veil on
the head is worn
•Saidi music is typically played by traditional instruments such as
the Rababa (the grandfather of today’s violin), the Mizmar (a
horn which emits long, whiney tones), and various percussion
instruments such as the dumbek and the tabla beledi
FELLAHIN STYLE
depicts the everyday work of the farmers,
such as gathering food in a basket and
collecting water in jugs
costuming for women is a loose, long dress
that is ruffled at the bottom and very wide,
along with a veil worn on the head
 Sometimes a long scarf is worn around the neck,
which the dancer may tie around her hips during the
dance to make her hip movements more visible

Danced to a particular drum rhythm

associated with Egyptian music that some
people call the Fellahi rhythm
 the dancer plays the role of a mischievous young

MELAYA LEFF
woman who flirtatiously plays a "conceal and reveal"
game
The melaya is draped upon the body, and during
the dance it slips off and is re-wrapped time and
again
Originally from the port city of Alexandria; dance Beledi music is used
between fishermen and women who are looking to profit
by sharing their liberties
Men’s costuming is that of the typical fisherman,
including a black trouser, a sweater, a multi-colored
waistcoat and a white fisherman’s hat
Women wrap themselves in a black shawl made of
nylon or silk (melaya) and trimmed with gold or silver
pailettes from head to toe
 Under the melaya, the dancer wears a form-fitting
dress that is short, ruffled and bright in color, footwear
consisting of open-toed slippers with high heels called
ship-ship, and on her head she ties a small scarf
decorated with pompons or flowers. Also worn is a
crocheted face-veil known as a burr’oh.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VObNZtlKF_4
BADIAA MASABNI
Her ideas influence how dancers carried their arms but equally how to use
more space on the stage
 Dancers were required to use the entire stage which was bigger than that what they were
used to

She Introduced the veil and two-pieced bra and belt costume to appeal to
Hollywood and more distanced audiences
She Adapted the intimate and improvised Egyptian folk dance into a
choreographed show
Her target audiences were upper classes and westerners, for whom she
created a belly dance style that incorporated western elements, such as floor
patterns that were unknown until then in Middle Eastern dance.
She Introduced Western footwear such as high heels, and Westernised
approaches to make-up and styling 
 Footwear altered standard barefoot posture and weight placement that was typical in Baladi
style dance
SHAFIQA AL QEBTYA
first to do the candelabra/shamadam dance
 Went into a backbend position and placed a small table
carrying 4 juice glasses on her abdomen, then balanced
a shamadam with lighted candles on her forehead and
sagat (finger cymbals) in her hands
 The glasses of juice would not fall and the shamadam
would maintain its balance without slipping

danced in a club called El Dorado and later

opened her own club, ’Alf Leyla’
Played an important role in the fight for
independence from Britain and the rise of
the new nationalist opposition
TAHIYA CARIOCA
Known as “The Marilyn Monroe of the
Arab World”
began her belly dance career at Badia
Masabni's Casino Opera where she rose to
become one of its biggest stars
given the surname "Carioca" due to her
fascination with Brazilian rhythms and dance,
which she incorporated into her performances
 Learned the popular Samba dance from Brasil; at the
time called the Karioka
SAMIA GAMAL
contributed significantly to the formation of what oriental
dance is today, raising it to a professional level and
improving its social image
proclaimed by Egypt's King Farouk as the "The National
Dancer of Egypt"
incorporated techniques from ballet and Latin dance into her
solo performances
was the first to perform with high-heeled shoes on stage
mixed eastern and western music, and used lights and
colourful costumes in her shows.
WORKS CITED PAGE
(SOURCES)
Website Articles:
1. Allayl, Nazeem. “Egyptian Folkloric Style Belly Dancing.” Overview of Belly Dance: Egyptian Folkloric Style Belly Dancing, Nazeem Allayl Belly
Dance Studios, 8 Sept. 2019, https://atlantabellydance.com/Overview/EgyptianFolkloric.html.
2. Fahmy, Kenzy. “A Brief History of Egyptian Belly Dance and the Women Who Found Power in Performance.” CSA Reviving Community, CSA
Reviving Community, 10 Feb. 2022, https://csa-living.org/oasis-blog/a-brief-history-of-egyptian-belly-dance-and-the-women-who-found-power-in-
performance.
3. Gonzalez, Yame. “A Timeline of Egypt's Biggest Belly Dance Stars: Sharqidance.” SharqiDance Belly Dance Classes, Sharqi Dance, 20 Aug. 2020,
https://www.sharqidance.com/blog/belly-dance-history-a-timeline-of-egypts-biggest-stars.
4. Iacono, Valeria Lo. “Egyptian Baladi and Shaabi Dance Styles. Traditional Dance in Egypt.” Worldbellydance.com, 24 Jan. 2022,
https://www.worldbellydance.com/baladi-and-shaabi/.
5. Jamal, Mellilah. “Beledi Dance - Belly Dancer Seattle.” Mellilah, Belly Dancer Seattle | Mellilah, 1 May 2020,
https://www.mellilah.com/blog/beledi/.
Videos:
1. Ashrafezzat1000, director. Traditional Belly Dance of Egypt –‫ب‬h‫لشع‬hh‫لرقصا‬hh‫وهاج ل‬hh‫رقة س‬h‫ف‬h ‫ ل‬h‫ئع‬h‫رضرا‬h‫ع‬. YouTube, YouTube, 26 Jan. 2020,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcwOGVkC5e4. Accessed 20 May 2022.
2. Evapet, director. Eglal Belly Dancer- Modern Egyptian Raqs Sharqi (Oriental Song Nagwa). YouTube, YouTube, 3 Jan. 2012,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d05f_YDzaAg. Accessed 20 May 2022.
3. Jamilah7, director. JAMILAH - MELAYA LEFF - 2018 - Belly Dance. YouTube, YouTube, 20 Mar. 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=VObNZtlKF_4. Accessed 20 May 2022.
4. Shereenraks, director. YouTube, YouTube, 23 May 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVX4EqfftIQ. Accessed 20 May 2022.