Are Belly Dancing Outfits Interesting?

Question

I have to write a paper on Costumes of Belly Dancers and I have never seen a belly dancer so how would I know? Anyways, ANYTHING on belly dancers wil help becuase im writing random things I make up. But the essay is pretty much supposed to be on belly dancing in general. Help I'm stuck!!!

Answer 1

theyre very exotic and beautiful.

http://www.marzino.com

Answer 2

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belly_dance belly dancing

costumes:

http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/galer...

Answer 3

Absolutely!  I love my bellydance costumes.  There are many styles of bellydance with just as many costumes to go with the various styles.  

These are some of the best sources for information on belly dance that I've come upon.  

http://www.shira.net/

http://www.shira.net/costuming.htm

http://www.middleeasterndance.net/

http://www.middleeasterndance.net/Costum...

http://www.bhuz.com/

http://zaghareet.freeservers.com/

http://www.bdancer.com/med-guide/

Hope this helps get you started.

Answer 4

The outfits certainly are interesting.  Just do a search on belly dancing history and you should find lots of info.

Answer 5

Several things you should keep in mind is that bellyd dance has existed over many generations in many different countries.  It has absorbed ths cultures of those countries and now we have many differfent styles of the dance.  These styles are reflected in (among other things) the flavor of the movements and the costumes.  

Two obvious examples are Turkish and Arabic/Egyptian dance.  Turkish dancers tend to wear flashier and more revealing costumes that also look like they're barely on (one sneeze, and it's all over).  Turkish dancers also wear their skirts higher on the hip.  

In Egypt, the home of arabic dancing, there are many more different styles - full body dresses, robes and the so-called "Bedlah", the name used for the classic two-piece costume made famous in cabarets and countless Egyptian films.  If Turkish costumes are light, Arabic costumes could be incredibly heavy - loaded down with chains, coins and jewels.  The bedlah - the most recognizable type (worn by girls who are supposed to look like they're dancing in countless American TV shows or movies) consists of a skirt, a hip-scarf and some kind of bra/bikini top.  According to conventional wisdom, the Bedlah wasn't invented until modern days, and only to satisfy the expectation of westerners as to what belly dancers wore.

You might also want to look up "Tribal" style, which has a look all of its own.  Rachel Brice is the most famous Tribal style dancer that I know of.  These dancers tend to favor "Choli" style tops rather than the bikini top, wearing their hair in these elaborate styles or in colorful head scarves, and wearing make-up in a way that recognizably there's.

You should not neglect the dancer who may coose to go with no costume at all, but instead wear a simple sport bra or cut-off top and a simple skirt and hip-scarf.  Bellydancing is both an art and a form of communication - as an artform, a dancer can be evaluated based on her presentation, which would include her choice of costume.  But it's also a way of reaching out to those who watch the dancer, a one-sided conversation that should rise above the distractions of overly-flashy costumes.