MYTHS.
1. Aren't Belly Dancers the same as strippers/whores?
No.
2. Do all Belly dancers wear a jewel in their navel?
The idea of wearing a jewel in the navel originated in Hollywood. Real dancers in the Middle East don't put jewels in their navels. Not to say you're not allowed to or anything. Point is not all belly dancers do.
3. Belly dancing was widely used in the harems by women to get the Sultan's attention so he would choose them over the other women.
Oral tradition handed down through generations of women states that Oriental dance originated as a means of helping women prepare their abdominal muscles for labor. Even today, the use of these movements as a birth ritual persists in some communities within the Middle East and North Africa, in which women gather around a friend or family member who has gone into labor, and they perform the undulating movements as she prepares to give birth.
4.Belly dancing was traditionally used as a dance of seduction.
In the Middle East, women dance for other women, and this has long been the tradition of their culture. Of course, it's likely that there were individuals who used this beautiful dance form to entice their husbands behind closed doors. However, that is not the tradition of the dance, and that is not how its place in society is viewed by the people who have actually grown up in Middle Eastern families. Women don't teach their daughters a "dance of seduction".
5. Only women bellydance.
Nope! Men belly dance too.
6.You have to be skinny/nicely shaped to dance.
Big girls dance too.
7. You HAVE to take yoga classes in order to belly dance.
No, but it does help a great deal in flexibility. especially with back bends.
8. You have to have long hair/be from the middle east to be a REAL certified dancer.
Like I said, ANYONE can dance and ANYONE can become a bellydancer or be considered one.
1. Aren't Belly Dancers the same as strippers/whores?
No.
2. Do all Belly dancers wear a jewel in their navel?
The idea of wearing a jewel in the navel originated in Hollywood. Real dancers in the Middle East don't put jewels in their navels. Not to say you're not allowed to or anything. Point is not all belly dancers do.
3. Belly dancing was widely used in the harems by women to get the Sultan's attention so he would choose them over the other women.
Oral tradition handed down through generations of women states that Oriental dance originated as a means of helping women prepare their abdominal muscles for labor. Even today, the use of these movements as a birth ritual persists in some communities within the Middle East and North Africa, in which women gather around a friend or family member who has gone into labor, and they perform the undulating movements as she prepares to give birth.
4.Belly dancing was traditionally used as a dance of seduction.
In the Middle East, women dance for other women, and this has long been the tradition of their culture. Of course, it's likely that there were individuals who used this beautiful dance form to entice their husbands behind closed doors. However, that is not the tradition of the dance, and that is not how its place in society is viewed by the people who have actually grown up in Middle Eastern families. Women don't teach their daughters a "dance of seduction".
5. Only women bellydance.
Nope! Men belly dance too.
6.You have to be skinny/nicely shaped to dance.
Big girls dance too.
7. You HAVE to take yoga classes in order to belly dance.
No, but it does help a great deal in flexibility. especially with back bends.
8. You have to have long hair/be from the middle east to be a REAL certified dancer.
Like I said, ANYONE can dance and ANYONE can become a bellydancer or be considered one.
