Egypt ends the 10th round of the festival of oriental dancing, conducted despite criticism from religious leaders and parliamentarians. For the title of the best performer of this art form, who will receive a dress as a prize from the famous Egyptian dancer Dina, 1200 girls from the Middle East, Europe and the American continent take part in the festival.
Oriental dances have long gone beyond the geographical boundaries implied in the name, and have gained wide popularity in the West. The international belly dance competition, which takes place in Cairo every year, is attended by the most skilled dancers from around the world, and often the success of foreign belly dancers overshadows the fame of local stars.
In 2003, Egyptian authorities even passed a law prohibiting foreigners from performing belly dancing.
After all, dancers in the East are a national treasure, like popular actors and pop stars. They have fan clubs, they shoot videos, give solo concerts and go on tour, and also organize annual championships. But the ban on foreign belly dancers in Egypt lasted only a few years – there was no one to dance in numerous Egyptian hotels.
Cairo is a recognized center for belldens. All dancers seek to gain experience there. But to make a career, despite the lifting of the ban on discriminating foreign women, it is still difficult there – a lot of competition.
Therefore, from the northern latitudes, dancers strive to get to Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Egypt and the USA. In Turkey and Tunisia, Russian dancers say that working is not very profitable – there are very low rates.
Researchers have established a relationship between many dance movements and the movements of a woman in childbirth, which indicates its basic function of supporting childbearing. Indeed, in the East, where girls were married very early, belly dancing was taught first. The specificity of the dance is the constant dynamics of relaxation and tension of certain muscles, which helps a woman synchronize her movements and labor contractions, greatly ease pain during childbirth, increase pelvic floor plasticity and joint mobility.
Oriental dance has ancient roots. It existed in the pre-Islamic and pre-Christian era, and even before Judaism. Its origins can be traced on the frescoes of the ancient temples of Mesopotamia (Western Asia), on which the images of dancing people are preserved. Similar frescoes, whose age dates back about 1000 years before the birth of Christ, have ancient Egyptian temples. It is believed that they describe an ancient ritual dance that was performed at ceremonial festivities dedicated to the birth of children and the harvest.
Gypsy tribes had a great influence on belly dancing. Gypsies traveled to India, the Middle East and Europe, temporarily settling in Spain. It is not difficult to trace the similarity between folk Indian and Middle Eastern dances. Islamic countries where harem relations have traditionally existed have shifted the emphasis in dance from maternal worship to seduction. Belly dancing for numerous women in the harem served as a way to win the attention of the owner. Thus, the belly dance was formed over many centuries, each of the eastern countries and nations brought something of its own to it.
In the 1880s, belly dancing became widespread in Europe. Dancers of that time, as a rule, performed in long dresses, a scarf emphasized the hips. The change in the dance image began much later, with Hollywood. For the first time in Hollywood films, dancers appeared with an open stomach, an embroidered bodice and a belt at the waist. Egyptian dancers later partially copied this image, lowering the belt from the waist to the hips below the navel. All this made it possible to make out dance movements much better.
To succeed in this type of dance, you do not need to have any special data. You do not need special physical training, it does not matter how you build and how old you are. There are many advantages in doing this type of dance: in addition to general physical activity, the development of flexibility and plasticity, strengthening of the back muscles, it gives a chance to get rid of cellulite and acquire aspen waist. In addition, dance has a positive effect on the female body.
It may seem that the belly dance is intended exclusively for women, but men can also perform it. In March 2008, Khaled Mahmoud, a famous artist from Egypt, visited Russia. According to him, a man can also hit the opposite sex with his skill.
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