Music videos that include dancers who are called "belly dancers" often upset professional dancers who do not consider these "jiggle-shows"[citation needed] proper
dance, considering their often poor technique and overtly sexual moves. Many bellydancers find it offensive that people take such a beautiful art form and twist it to fit the style of modern pop
culture. Professional belly dancers often prefer to call these pieces "belly dance inspired".[citation needed]
Belly dancing has recently been made widely popular by Latin superstar Shakira, whose dancing combines belly dance, Latino, and modern dance styles. Her part-Lebanese ethnic background highly
influences her belly dance style and is closer to original belly dance.
R&B singer Aaliyah used the belly dance as her signature move, which she called the belly roll, and it was featured in many of her music videos. Other singers who have performed belly dance in
their music videos include Beyoncé, Ciara, Rihanna, Nelly Furtado, Britney Spears, and Christina Aguilera. Only Shakira has had professional belly dance training.
Some mistakenly believe that Turkish oriental dancing is known as Çiftetelli due to the fact that this style of music has been incorporated into oriental dancing by
Greeks and Roma, illustrated by the fact that the Greek belly dance is called Tsifteteli. However, Turkish Çiftetelli is more correctly a form of wedding folk music, the part that makes up the
lively part of the dance at the wedding and is not connected with oriental dancing.
Turkish belly dance today may have been influenced by Roma people as much as by the Egyptian and Syrian/Lebanese forms, having developed from the Ottoman rakkas to the oriental dance known
worldwide today. As Turkish law does not impose restrictions on Turkish dancers' movements and costuming as in Egypt, where dancers are prevented from performing floor work and certain pelvic
movements, Turkish dancers are often more outwardly expressive than their Egyptian sisters. Many professional dancers and musicians in Turkey continue to be of Romani heritage as well. (However, it
should be noted that people of Turkish Romani heritage also have a distinct dance style which is uniquely different from the Turkish Oriental style.) Turkish dancers are known for their energetic,
athletic (even gymnastic) style, and particularly, until the past few years, their adept use of finger cymbals, also known as zils. Connoisseurs of Turkish dance often say that a dancer who cannot
play the zils is not an accomplished dancer. Another distinguishing element of the Turkish style is the use of the Karsilama rhythm in a 9/8 time signature, counted as 12-34-56-789. Turkish belly
dance costumes can be very revealing, with the belt sometimes worn high up on the waist and split skirts which expose the entire leg, although dancers today are costuming themselves more like
Egyptian dancers and wearing more modest "mermaid"-style skirts. The Turkish style is emphasized further by the dancer wearing high heels and often platform shoes. Famous Turkish belly dancers
include Tulay Karaca,Nesrin Topkapi and Birgul Berai.
When immigrants from Turkey, Iran, and the Arab states began to immigrate to New York in the 1930s and 1940s, dancers started to perform a mixture of these styles in the nightclubs and restaurants.
Often called "Classic Cabaret" or "American Cabaret" belly dance, these dancers are the grandmothers and great-grandmothers of some of today's most accomplished performers, such as Anahid Sofian
and Artemis Mourat
Raqs Sharqi belly dancing consists of movements that are initiated by the feet and executed throughout the body. The focus of the dance is the pelvic and hip area. It is,
fundamentally, a solo improvisational dance with its own unique dance vocabulary that is fluidly integrated with the music’s rhythm.
Raqs Sharqi dancers internalize and express the emotions evoked by the music. Appropriately, the music is integral to the dance. The most admired Raqs Sharqi dancers are those who can best project
their emotions through dance, even if their dance is made up of simple movements. The dancer’s goal is to visually communicate to the audience the emotion and rhythm of the music. This is
especially apparent during the drum solo portion of a performance.
Many see Raqs Sharqi as a woman's dance, celebrating the sensuality and power of being a mature woman. A common school of thought believes that young dancers have limited life experience to use as
a catalyst for dance.[citation needed] Sohair Zaki, Fifi Abdou, Lucy, Nagwa Fouad, and Dina are all popular Egyptian dancers above the age of forty.
Despite the fame of female dancers, men often perform Raqs Sharqi as well.
Egyptian-style belly dance is based on the work of belly dance legends Samia Gamal, Tahiya Karioka, Naima Akef, and other dancers who rose to fame during the golden years of the Egyptian film
industry. Later dancers who based their styles partially on the dances of these artists are Sohair Zaki, Fifi Abdou, and Nagwa Fouad. All rose to fame between 1960 and 1980, are still popular
today, and have nearly risen to the same level of stardom and influence on the style.
Though the basic movements of Raqs Sharqi have remained the same, the dance form continues to evolve. Nelly Mazloum and Mahmoud Reda are noted for incorporating elements of ballet into Raqs Sharqi
and their influence can be seen in modern Egyptian dancers who stand on relevé as they turn or travel through their dance space in a circle or figure eight.
In Egypt, three main forms of the traditional dance are associated with belly dance: Baladi/Beledi, Sha'abi and Sharqi.
Egyptian belly dance was among the first styles to be witnessed by Westerners. During Napoleon's invasion of Egypt (the campaign which yielded the Rosetta stone, leading to the translation of
Egyptian hieroglyphics), Napoleon's troops encountered the Ghawazee tribe. The Ghawazee made their living as professional entertainers and musicians. The women often engaged in prostitution on the
side, and often had a street dedicated to their trade in the towns where they resided, though some were quasi-nomadic. At first the French were repelled by their heavy jewelry and hair, and found
their dancing "barbaric", but were soon lured by the hypnotic nature of their movements[citation needed].
The most important non-Egyptian forms of belly dance are the Syrian/Lebanese and the Turkish.
