Industrialisation, urbanisation, and the technique of belly dance in the West

Abstract

This study looks at various scholars’ and artists’ works in the oriental dance field, who wrote about orientalism and westernisation of the dance. The Egyptian folk form of Raqs Baladi is the style in focus compared to its theatrical sister-dance Raqs Sharqi. The aim of this dissertation is to draw out the importance of the authentic Baladi feeling, opposing theatricality. The history in Egypt and its development through colonialism since the eighteenth century is presented as contextual background. A theoretical section covering the rapid progression of the harem fantasy through industrialisation and urbanisation in today’s west follows, giving artists’ arguments about the essentiality of the Baladi feeling. The final ethnographical chapter draws out personal continuous experience with various samples related to the theoretical section. Through presentation of my first-hand theoretical and practical experience, this research shows that urbanisation, rather than technique, has affected the importance of Baladi feeling.