EGYPT'S NEW DANGERS
▶ Foreigners shake up local belly- dancing scene
At a Cairo wedding hall, Russian belly dancer Anastasia Biserova shimmied to the dance floor in a bright, high- slit skirt and an elaborately sequined bra.
She swirled her diaphanous pink shawl and glided through the hall as a band pumped out music, while the crowd broke into rapturous applause – all captured in a video posted online.
“There is no country around the world that appreciates belly- dancing like Egypt,” she later told AFP. Biserova came to Cairo more than four years ago, building a solid name for herself.
“Here, there is a growing trend to invite foreign belly dancers to weddings, nightclubs and other events.”
Long regarded as the birthplace of belly- dancing, the North African country has recently seen its community of homegrown dancers shrink, largely due to the profession’s increasing notoriety as conservatism rises – and to a broadening crackdown on freedoms. The profession took a further hit as COVID- 19 forced the temporary suspension of large weddings and the shuttering of nightclubs.
Conflicted views
Belly dancer Maria Lurdiana Alves Tejas said it took some time to come to terms with Egyptians’ conflicted view of her profession.
The Brazilian, known as Lurdiana, said she had performed to enthusiastic crowds at weddings and nightclubs, and even taught gym classes.
“But there are some who do not see me as a professional – or [ think] that I did not have a proper education and am only doing this to show my body for money,” she said.
“It was very difficult ult and sad because I spent years learning.”
Researchers say Egypgyptian society largely sees ees the dance as entertainment, ent, to be watched but not pursued sued as a profession.
“This view was bolstered olstered by popular culture, and movies which depicted belly dancers as coquettes, prostitutes utes or home- wreckers,” said d Shaza Yehia, author of a 2019 19 book on belly- dancing’s history. story.
Arabic terms for dancers – raqasat and awalem m – now often bear offensive and racy connotations.
Recently, authorities ies have targeted those who have posted belly- dancing videos online. Often loosely worded charges against them m have included violating “family amily values” or “public decency.” cency.”
‘ Stirred imaginations’ ns’ According to Yehia a and other researchers, bellyellydancing in Egypt is believed to have flourished during uring the 19th century.
“Performers at the e time were called ‘ awalem,’ or the knowledgeable, in reference ference to their ample knowledge ge in the arts of singing and dancing,” ancing,” Yehia said.
Its modern- day manifestation was in part shaped ped by Westerners during colonial olonial times, she added.
Some even argue that the term “belly dance,” e,” or danse du ventre, was originally coined by the French. h.
“Foreign writers and painters portrayed their heir own fantasies about Eastern ern belly dancers,” Yehia said.
“These views stirred red imaginations in the West, which later sought to turn them hem into reality.”
International moves ves were incorporated into the e Oriental dance, and costumes s altered to appeal to popular tastes.
Now, conservatives es and traditionalists view the costumes as too revealing, often n accusing them of being “vulgar” ulgar” and “overtly sexual.”
Dances incorporating ting classical Arabic music have also become a rarity, instead favoring popular electro music, known as mahraganat – a genre with fast beats and improvised vocals that purists view as overstepping moral boundaries. Despite the apparent contradictions, foreign belly dancers in Egypt say coming to the country was the right choice.