Styles of Belly Dance
Saidi Dance
Saidi is currently a very popular folkloric dance, performed by men and women at festive events, such as weddings. Saidi music uses the mizmar, nay, rebaba, and tabla. A long galabaya (dress) is worn by both men and women.
More information.
Here are some examples of Saidi:
Mahmoud Reda dancers performing “Raks Baladna – Saidi”
Yasmina of Cairo
Orit
Leila
Mohamed Shahin
For more info about Mellilah, please visit www.mellilah.com
Khaliji Dance History
Khaliji Dance by Mellilah
Belly dancers use the term “khaliji” to refer to the style of dance and music from the Persian Gulf or Arabian Gulf region, the “Khalig,” including Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. The dance is largely improvisational, performed by pairs or groups of women for their own entertainment at special celebrations, such as weddings. The dance is most commonly performed to a hypnotic 2/4 rhythm with two heavy beats and a pause, called the saudi, khaliji, or adany rhythm (from Yemen). It should be noted that there is not one khaliji rhythm but hundreds, as this dance represents many countries of the Gulf area. The khaliji rhythm most commonly used by belly dancers is similar to the ayoub rhythm except it has a more lighthearted feel with accents on the upbeat. Additionally, it is different from the fellahi rhythm in that it is characterized by two heavy distinctive dums surrounded by lots of fast teks.
In Saudi Arabia and Qatar the dance is called Raqs Khaliji (Dance of the Gulf); in Kuwait it is called Samri (Saumri); and in the UAE it is called Raks Al Nasha’ar (pronounced “rocks all nuh SHAH ar”), which may be referencing the woman tossing their hair to the rhythm. As the word Khaliji is not an English word, you will find various spellings of the word, including khaliji. khaligi, khaleegi, khaleeji, and khaleegy, (pronounced “kuh LEE jee”).
The dancers wear bright, oversized overdresses called the thobe or thobe nasha’ar, worn without a hip belt. The dress is used as a prop, too, held up in front like an apron to catch the wind while the dancer dances to a R-L-R, L-R-L floor pattern. Also, the sleeves are often used flirtatiously as a veil or held up like a hood to frame head slides. 
As noted above, the dance features a R-L-R, L-R-L stepping pattern with a gliding, limping feel, one foot on the ball, the other foot flat; but without the bouncing found in Nubian style dance, which has a similar stepping pattern. The flat foot falls on the heavy beat, with the other foot on the ball, slightly behind the leading flat foot, moving in the direction of the flat foot. Of course the style will probably change depending on the area in which it is from.
Although further research is probably needed, I have read from a couple of sources that the women are very proud of their long hair and so the khaliji dance often includes the tossing of loose, long hair from side-to-side, like the “shaking of water out of the ear.” In performance, when the music reaches a climax, the hair tosses are usually performed in a kneeling position and can build up to the point that the dancer’s hair creates figure eights.
Besides footwork and hair tosses, chest and shoulder movements are highlights of this dance, as well as lots of spinning, head slides, soft hand movements and shoulder and hand shimmies. The index finger is sometimes placed on the nose, with palm of hand towards the nose and again this may depend on the region where it is being performed.
One anthropologist who married into a Kuwaiti family, Melinda Smith, believes that the movements and gestures of the dance may have originally represented the Arab pearl divers in their everyday activities. The floating, rolling motions of the dress imitated the action of the waves. The dancers touched their finger to the side of their nose to mock the pearl divers decompressing, and their hair was tossed to mirror the seaweed floating on moving water. This may especially be true of the tribes that originally lived along the Eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. In contrast, the Central area (Saudi Arabia) would most likely have had different traditional movements.
My article is based on my research online, and I am not an expert on this subject. It’s very difficult to get a complete and clear picture of this dance form, as the dance will most likely vary from country to country and even within the different regions of the same country. Hopefully, this article will shed just a little light on the subject and encourage others to delve deeper.
Khaliji Video Example – Laila Abd al-Aziz i 1980’s
Another clip of Laila singing with dancers
These videos were found thanks to Kay Hardy Campbell! To read more about each clip, please visit Kay’s site.
For more info about the author, visit www.mellilah.com
Baladi Dance (Raqs Beledi)
Right now I’m currently in love with the baladi style of belly dance. I’ve talked to many people and seem to get a lot of different perspectives. For my own benefit, I’m going to attempt to put it all together. Please feel free to comment if you disagree or think I’m missing a major point. I will most likely revise this as I learn more.
Raqs Baladi
The Arabic term baladi (beledi) means “of the people.” It represents the everyday life of the people, their culture. The term itself is quite confusing as there are several contexts in which this word is used, including:
1. To represent a particular rhythm found in almost all oriental music, recognized by the structure of accents, the “dums” played on the tabla. However, it should be noted that it’s purely an American practice to associate the term baladi with this specific rhythm, the masmoudi sagheer. In other words, if you went to Egypt and asked the band to play a baladi rhythm, they probably wouldn’t know what you were talking about. Variations of the baladi rhythm include maksoum and saidi.
2. To represent a central part of the oriental dance routine known as the taqsim baladi (baladi awad or baladi tet). This is also called a baladi progression.
3. To loosely label what is currently popular (of the people)
4. To represent a common style of dance found in Egypt today. It’s the style of dance people use at haflas, weddings, at home and in dance clubs. The Egyptian people use this style when dancing to all sorts of music, including Al Jeer (pop) and Western music.
5. Raqs baladi (baladi dance) is used to represent a folkloric style of Egyptian dance, which is very grounded and earthy. Raqs baladi includes saidi, fellahin and bambootia dance. Baladi dancers wear an ankle length, baladi dress with a hip scarf. 
Baladi is the most ancient form of Egyptian solo dance. Raqs sharki or oriental dance, more commonly known as belly dance, is a by-product of this original style of Eyptian dance.
Video footage taksim baladi:
Sohair Zaki
Fifi Abdo
Fifi Abdo
Orit Maftsir
Orit Maftsir
Yasmina of Cairo and Mohamed Kazafy A beledi song, not a taksim beledi or beledi progression
For more info about the author, visit www.mellilah.com
Dances of Tunisia
Dances of Tunisia: Written by Mellilah
The traditional dance of Tunisia is characterized by sharp, horizontal twisting movements of the hips with flowing upper bodies, danced almost entirely on demi-point (on the toes) with arms held in a “w” shape. This dance is seen at weddings and parties, and in the southern islands of Kerkennah and Djerba, the dance is often performed with a clay water pot balanced on the head.
These dancers wear a blouse, a “khamisa,” underneath a large rectangular wrap, a “melia,” fastened at the shoulder with two large pins, with a belt of woollen yard around their waists. Additionally, married women wear a “khul-khal,” a famous Tunisian ankle bracelet, to ward off snakes with its rattle-like noise. (Unmarried virgins are believed to have inherent protection from snake bites.)
The Tunisians have another dance called the Stambali, a true trance dance, which is performed in sanctuaries and in people’s homes as a therapeutic remedy. This dance accompanies the sacrifice of an animal and is performed in regard to Sidi Saad, their patron saint.
As I am not an expert on this subject, I recommend further research on this subject.
For more info about the author, visit www.mellilah.com
Styles of Belly Dance
Styles of Belly Dance (Middle Eastern Dance)
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“Belly dance” is a common term used to represent past and present styles of folkloric, cabaret, and contemporary dance, originating in the Middle East. The term is used so broadly that a more specific title is warranted in order to properly represent the dance. Of course there is subjectivity in placing belly dance into categories, as there are often commonalities rather than hard rules, but I believe that in attempting to organize the information we can better understand it.
Folkloric Dance (Raqs Baladi): Folkloric dances are the various regional dances of the people, performed by the general public at celebrations or by professional entertainers. Folkloric dances differ from country to country, as well as within a country. On the stages of past and present times, folkloric dances of the Middle East were, and are, performed in their original authentic forms as well as in a theatrical form for the stage. The theatrical forms of “Egyptian” folkloric dances were influenced by and introduced to the Egyptian theatre by Mahmoud Reda, who studied the authentic regional dances of the people throughout Egypt in the 1950s and then modified the dances and costuming for the theatre. Some examples of folkloric dances you may see performed include Saidi, Khaliji, Malaya Luff, Raqs Baladi, Ghawazee, Nubian, Hagala, Tunisian, and Turkish Rom.
Cabaret (Raqs Sharki): What we think of as “cabaret” or “raqs sharki,” often performed on a stage with fancy bedlahs, sequins and beads, evolved over time and was originally developed through combining the many styles of “raqs baladi” (the home style dance of the people from various regions), as well as influences from many cultures and/or dance styles, like ballet, the influences of Mohmoud Reda’s theatrical productions, and even Hollywood. Badia Masabni is credited as the original pioneer of the cabaret style. In the mid-twentieth century, she was the first to perform on a European-like nightclub in Cairo, fusing existing dance styles for the stage. Since then, cabaret has spread like wild fire all over the world and with advances in technology (internet, travel, etc…), the stylization of cabaret has branched off and evolved even further, making it even more difficult to define.
Contemporary: As the dance has reached almost every corner of the world, belly dancers have experimented with the art form by incorporating western influences to a greater degree and adding their own unique artistic “twist,” while keeping some aspects of folkloric and cabaret styles. “Belly Dance Theatre” may be another good name for this type of creative expression. An example of a contemporary style is Tribal Belly Dance, which became popular in the US and can now be seen performed in other nations, too. Improvisational, Tribal Fusion, and American Tribal are well known sub-categories of the tribal belly dance style.
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Cabaret Styles in Greater Detail (Video Examples Included):
EGYPTIAN ORIENTAL
Egyptian Oriental, also known as Egyptian Cabaret or Egyptian Style Belly Dance is the dance style that is most true to the past and present dancers of Egypt, mainly Cairo. The style tends to be fluid without much isolation and is rich in emotion and music interpretation. The style can be further subdivided into three categories, Classical, Modern and Post Modern. As present Egyptian dancers begin teaching abroad and foreigners have begun performing in Cairo, you begin to see native Egyptian dancers using current Western stylizations. Therefore, the present day trends of Cairo are more difficult to pinpoint.
Samia Gamal Classical
Mona al Said Modern Eygptian
Sahra Saeeda Modern Egyptian
Randa Kamel Post Modern Egyptian
Leila Post Modern Egyptian
Sohaila Includes dialogue about the style.
AMERICAN RESTAURANT / AMERICAN CABARET
This is the most common form of belly dance seen in the US. Although the cabaret style began as fusion and dancers continue to fuse, in the US and other non-Arabic countries, dancers will more commonly and freely add jazz and dance elements from other dance styles. Additionally, drum solos seem to have more importance in the American style than in the Egyptian style, with the added theatrics of pops, locks, lots of layering and even kicks. Chest rotations, isolated chest lifts and drops, and more isolation of body parts is typical of American Cabaret. Dancers in America, as well as abroad, often label it as Egyptian Cabaret or Egyptian Style, but there is a significant, yet subtle, difference that is difficult to recognize and quite subjective. No one can better notice these subtleties than a native Middle Easterner who is familiar with the dance and music.
Video Example Bellydance Superstars
Video Example
RUSSIAN CABARET STYLE
In Russia, dancers tend to be classically trained in ballet, which leads to a uniquely Russian style.
Russian style
LEBANESE CABARET STYLE
I haven’t studied this style to be able to speak about it but here’s a clip of Amani, famous Lebanese dancer. I do know that Lebanese dancers are known for wearing heels.
Amani Jabril
There are other Cabaret Styles that are not noted here.
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Contemporary Styles in Greater Detail:
U.S. TRIBAL Belly Dance
This style can also be broken into three sub-categories, Improvisational, Tribal Fusion, and American Tribal
Unmata- Improvisational Tribal Style
Unmata- Improvisational Tribal Style
Fat Chance- American Tribal
Rachel Brice- Tribal Fusion
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Of course you will find many more styles belly dance, which I have not referenced here.
More Information:
For an historical video reference, visit Mellilah’s Favorite Dancers, which shows a progression of Egyptian dancers through time.
Hossam Ramzy Historical information on the stars of belly dance
How to Analyze Dance Styles by Meissoun A great article!
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For more info about the author, visit www.mellilah.com
