Crystal LaFreniere

Belly Dance in the late 1800s

Belly Dance (Tuesday 2pm)

I chose to do my paper on the belly dance in the early 1800s. Starting with Little Egypt I found that there were three famous dancers who used the stage name Little Egypt; Fahreda Mazar Spyropoulos, Ashea Wabe, and Fatina Djemille. All three of these dancers are said to have been present at the 1893 Cichago Worlds fair, but Spyropoulos is the one who stole the show. All of these dancers worked in the area of Coney Island called The Streets of Cairo as side show performers. In 1986 Djemille danced for Thomas Edisons company in a film called Coochie Coochie Dance This film introduced millions of people all over the United States to belly dance. It also caused a scandal, according to the social rules of the day it was indecent for a lady to show her midriff and preform such exaggerated hip motions. Many people found belly dancing to be suggestive and indecent. It was reported that when seeing Little Egypt at the 1893 Worlds Fair the writer Mark Twain nearly had a heart attack from the suggestive hip movements. These kind of reports caused a sensation among the conservative public. Belly dance quickly became a side show in which many performers and promoters would create elaborate back stories of dancers being harem girls or Arabian princesses. This was done intentionally by promotes to tantalize the Victorian audience. Eventually, burlesque and strip tease broke away from belly dance creating their own art forms. After the more sensational aspects of early performers transferred over to the other styles that evolved, people began viewing belly dance in a less sexual, more artistic light.

Works Cited Web site: http://www.anahitabellydance.com/page_history.php Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LObvE8C5dGI