Changing a harem reputation
By Elsanne
October 17, 2008 San Miguel de Allende

Dance
Belly dance show
Sat, Oct 25, 8pm
El Sindicato
Recreo 4 
50 pesos

Odalisques? Hardly. Goddesses? More like it. Belly dance has a new look, a new attitude, a new purpose. Originally exercises and movements designed to aid women in childbirth, the moves were passed down from mother to daughter and were danced only among women.

The French “discovered” the dance during explorations of the Middle East and brought it to the courts of France as a cabaret-style show for the nobles’ entertainment. The “harem” reputation of belly dance as men’s entertainment began there.

An Egyptian dancer nicknamed Little Egypt introduced belly dance to the US during the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. She was wearing more clothes than most belly dancers today, but she scandalized the Victorians of the time.

Sol Bloom, impresario of the Midway Plaisance and Street Cairo in Chicago, coined the term “belly dance” in 1893. He did it deliberately to tantalize the minds of the Victorians who would pay any price to see something salacious. Then they could go home and pretend to be shocked—in a time when people thought the words “arm” and “leg” were too risqué (they called them “limbs”). Bloom calculated correctly and earned enough to finance his later Congressional campaign, which he won. The name stuck.

Belly dance found a new market in the twenties when Cairo nightclubs began catering to foreigners. Egyptians dressed performers in showgirl outfits and Egyptian dance (known today as Egyptian cabaret) soon was setting a new standard throughout the Middle East for treating Oriental dance as a performing art rather than a social dance.

Although social dance is part of Middle East culture, Oriental dance as a performing art did not develop in Turkey, Iran and North Africa. Many Middle Easterners thus refer to the public performance of Oriental dance as Arabic dance.

Here in the Americas, the most popular style performed is still traditionally Egyptian cabaret. However, a new style has emerged—American tribal-style belly dance, an ethnic fusion influenced by Middle Eastern dance. It has nothing to do with representing a particular dance style, but it combines movement vocabularies and regional costuming to form one cohesive presentation.

The American part of the label acknowledges that the dancers are continents away from the culture that created the dance form and are taking artistic license with it, yet they still acknowledge and respect the roots. American tribal style seems authentic because it resembles the look of gypsy tribes in North Africa, the Middle East, southern Europe and India. Arabs often comment that the style reminds them of belly dance, because the ethnic textiles remind them of home.

The performers in Saturday’s show come from all over Mexico and are continuing their education in tribal style as a form they intend to teach in their respective cities. The training is being given by Elsanne, who teaches and performs belly dance regularly in San Miguel. Call 044 (415) 109-4982 for tickets or information about classes at El Sindicato.

Danzón and literature: Great cultural combo
By Leonardo Rosen

Dance
Danzón
Sun, Oct 19, 1–3pm & 7–9pm
Sun, Oct 26, 1–3pm & 7–9pm
Jardín
Free

Danzón took some time off during the absolutely wonderful Fiestas Patrias y Regionales. Now we’re back with more dance music by the high-energy Orquesta Marimba “Tono 13,” only this time we’ll be sharing the Jardín with the week-long Feria del Libro de San Miguel de Allende. We of the club de danzón Mercerina are proud and honored to be working in cooperation with such a major cultural and educational event as the Book Fair. This is a combination worthy of San Miguel de Allende, Patrimonio de la Humanidad.

With a four-hour break between dance sessions, there is plenty of time to browse and buy at the Feria del Libro. Our microphones and our music are at the service of the Book Fair to help make the public’s participation at both events as pleasurable as possible.

For information about danzón events, call 152-2200 (Dirección de Educación y Cultura) or 154-5840 (Leonardo Rosen).