All About Arabic Belly Dancing

The origins of Arabic belly dancing are debated about, but mostly this dance form is observed to have originated from numerous traditions of dance in the Middle East and the north of Africa. Today, Arabic belly dancing is enthusiastically practiced by people in America and Europe. The Golden Era for Arabic belly dancing is considered to have taken place in the Egypt of the mid twentieth century. Arabic belly dancing is known as raks sharki in its indigenous language - Arabic.

The country cousin of Arabic belly dancing is known as baladi in Arabic. The term "belly dancing" is a misnomer, because Arabic belly dancing involves the movement of the entire body. The French know Arabic belly dancing as danse Orientale. Arabic belly dancing is an art performed on the stage, with a live orchestra playing while the Arabic belly dancing routine is being performed.

Each belly dancing routine has a definite structure, which can vary from routine to routine. Arabic belly dancing routines comprise of a sequence of relatively shorter sections of music, with different rhythms and melodies, but all forming part of a larger whole. Even though the structures of Arabic belly dancing routines may vary, there is a consistency observed in terms of particular rhythms used for different parts of the routine and also the alteration from one part of the Arabic belly dancing routine to another.

Arabic belly dancing is a popular art form in the US. ATS, or American Tribal Style Belly Dance, is a recent movement sparked off in the US, inspired by Arabic belly dancing. ATS was created by Carolena Nericcio, and consists of various forms of Arabic belly dancing influences, from ancient dance techniques to folk inspired Arabic belly dancing; ATS was created in the earlier part of the nineties.

Arabic belly dancing traditions are evoked though the music and costumes used in ATS - the influences form a fusion form of Arabic belly dancing which typically takes place in a group as far as ATS is concerned. The ATS version of Arabic belly dancing has a structure which consists of a number of Arabic belly dancing steps that can be improvised upon.

Arabic belly dancing in the west is still evolving, because of its fundamentally versatile nature, which can embrace other, modern influences and blend them in, in a beautiful and sensuous version of the belly dancing art form.

This form of Arabic belly dancing is called belly dance fusion or tribal fusion, and absorbs influences as diverse as rock music, hip hop music, fashion, television, films, and underground subcultures among umpteen other fresh influences. Indeed, Arabic belly dancing in its western, fusion form has even accepted Gothic culture and through dance, expresses this subculture through the medium of Arabic belly dancing. This type of dancing includes many different styles of Arabic belly dancing and reflects the entire Gothic philosophy and lifestyle.

By its very nature, Arabic belly dancing is an ever evolving and eternal art. It has also proven to have displayed many health benefits for people who practice it. No wonder Arabic belly dancing is so popular all around the world.