Bellydance is one of the oldest dance forms originating in the Middle East. Various dance styles have evolved from it, depending on the country and the region with the Egyptian style being the most common. This dance has been named as Raks Sharqi (Oriental dance), Raks Baladi (Dance of the people) or in its more traditional form, as the Folkoric dances from the Middle East and Egypt. It was in the 19th century that the Western world was introduced to and became enthralled by this Middle Eastern dance form. In 1864, the French termed this dance as “Danse Du Ventre” (Dance of the stomach) after a famous painting of a woman dancing in front of a seated audience in a Middle Eastern setting. Overtime, “Danse Du Ventre” was used by the French to describe all dance forms of Middle Eastern origin involving torso articulations. However, it was only in 1889 when the English translation “Bellydance” made its first appearance in reference to Egyptian dancers who performed in Paris. The history of this dance is at best speculative due to limited evidence of its origins. There have many theories about how the dance began; from being a form of Goddess worship to being a practice by women for smoother labour.
Today, Bellydance is known as an exotic dance form and a full body workout with unlimited muscle strengthening benefits due to the complex movements
of the torso.
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