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Belly Dancing and
Women’s Spirituality: Historical Development
By Barbara Brandt. 1992.
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PRE-PATRIARCHAL |
TEMPLE DANCING |
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6000 years ago and earlier |
Performed by priestesses to honor and express the Divine
Feminine, depict childbirth, evoke women's sexuality, pleasure and represent
the Goddess creating the world. Snake-like, water-like, birth-related
movements. sacred hieroglyphics of the body, closed or open-legged
stance. Frame drum (beleg-di), sistrums, finger cymbals, sacred
noisemakers. |
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PATRIARCHAL |
THE SPLIT - "BAD WOMEN" "GOOD WOMEN" |
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6000 to present |
Public/Professional Dancer - "bad women".
Dancing girls, ghawazee, cabaret. Often outcasts, foreigners, gypsies,
special tribes of liberated woman or prostitutes. Awalem at weddings
teaches bride. Showy, practiced, movements traveling and in place.
Nightclub, cabaret music and routines.
Village/In Home Dancer -
"good women". A social dance done by women together in privacy.
Done at parties, weddings, haflis, as childbirth support, as village
celebration. Spontaneous, demure movements, done in place.
Modern "pop", party music, or folkloric village music. |
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MODERN |
GODDESS DANCING |
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Rebirth of the Goddess
Male/Female liberation
Now and future... |
Appears in many cultures, ancient and modern, all around the
world. Now being reclaimed as part of emerging women's spirituality
and holistic male/female movements. Middle Eastern-derived form of
Goddess Dancing emphasizes: development of inner energies;
sensual/sexual healing; grace; heavy rhythmic movements; lyrical movements;
powerful self-awareness; It is a mental/physical practice which
integrates mind/body/spirit/earth. A creative form which each woman
can develop for personal expression. A social dance or communal
celebration. A sacred dance for ritual performance. |
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