Happy Saturday Everyone! Finally we have some nice Spring weather, and the spring allergies that come along with it...oh well, its not so bad. Nothing I can't shimmy off my shoulders.

I hope the Spring is treating you well so far. As promised I have Part 2 of my History of Belly Dance Series so without further ado here we go:

The Devolution of Women's Dance

From the ancient world we shimmy on over to the Mediterranean; as ancient societies stared moving ahead, there was a shift in spiritual beliefs from matrileny to partrieny.  Goddess worship now became God worship with the spread of Christianity and Islam.  This monumental shift took more than a few centuries to take hold; women saw their place in society dwindling and restricted to very concrete roles.

First evidence of this shift was found in Crete.  The ruling class performed dances at official events that were more political. Acquistion of land meant acquisition of wealth; war was one way and marriage was on a smaller scale, another way.  These events were based on reason, and from this point came the separation and restriction of women's roles.

This development continued into ancient Greece where the focal shift became militaristic and in ancient Rome where public dance became a showcase of the dancer's speed and flexibility to show off a man's warrior-like abilities.

Public or ritualistic dance was no longer important in this society. Dancing was seen as purely entertainment and performed by foreign dancers from Spain and Syria. Later Roman women began to see an opportunity during the fall of the Roman Empire to gain some of their independence back by going into public life. One way was becoming a professional dancer and very often this included prostitution.

After the fall of the Roman Empire there was a clear understanding of women's roles in the Middle Ages.  At this point women, whether upper or lower class, were seen as property. Dancing was done by professionals and public forms of Goddess worship were (no pun intended) stomped out. Beginning from ancient Greece and well past this point in time professional dance was the ruling class's entertainment. Any ritualistic dance was done by the lower class and regarded as trivial.

Class separation played an integral role in dance during the Middle Ages.  In the time of knights, nobles, and chivalry, women were very much confined.  Public dance was done in a very couth and controlled manner by the upper class right down to the very clothing they wore.

The lower class had a little more freedom with one another and less formal in their behavior.  Their clothing allowed more movement for dancing (due to all the hard labor, loose clothing was very helpful).  Gypsies, who lived marginally, continued with their dancing traditions and acclimated to their surroundings, however they did not live by the rules and restrictions of the lands they settled in.

To summarize, the societal focus from Goddess to God worship was due to conquests, class separation and upsurge of male dominated religions of Christianity and Islam.  These religions altered the way people saw each other and defined roles and functions of the sexes. Even though roles were restricted, the desire to express oneself through dance could not be quelled. After a couple of centuries of regression eventually a period of women's progression was forthcoming.


Part 3 will come soon continuing from here and discussing more on the progression of women's dance. Hope you enjoyed and happy shimmies!

~Nahla <3