If you had to choose one - only one - belly dance prop to dance with for the rest of your life, what would it be?
My psychic superpowers tell me a significant number of you would pick a veil. And out of those, the vast majority would go with the rectangular or half-circle piece of artfully coloured silk (although some are insane enough to prefer fan veils or Isis wings). From now on, when I say “veil” I’m referring specifically to a large piece of fabric not attached to a frame or a handle of any sort. I almost envy your affection for this moody, temperamental and unruly prop!
Don’t get me wrong, I admire good veil choreography as much as anyone, but I’m much happier being the viewer rather than the performer when it comes to veils.
Have I used veils as an entrance prop for my solos? Yes. Will I do it in the future? Also yes. However…
Dorothy, buckle that seat belt - we’re off for a speedy ride today!
A few months ago I had the opportunity to watch a lecture presented by Dawn Devine aka Davina called "Veils Unveiled: From Art Dance to Belly Dance". During the talk and well curated slide show, Dawn successfully argues that this hugely popular prop is our Greco-Roman heritage showing up in all its glory. She traces the history of our fascination with flowy fabrics from artifacts dating back to the Late Bronze era through Ancient Greek and then Roman civilizations all the way to today. I highly recommend attending this lecture if such opportunity ever comes your way.
Well, I have instructed you where to get more information on an interesting and uncontroversial topic. It looks like my job here is done!
If you really thought your favourite Auntie can be this succinct and concise, you are about to be disappointed. I can’t just walk away without spicing up your day with my personal opinion!
Have you ever been told the story on how veils in raqs sharqi were introduced by Samia Gamal’s poor arm positioning? Let me refresh your memory.
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, Samia Gamal had such a crippling inability to hold her arms out while dancing that she looked like she was cosplaying a T-Rex. An unknown Russian ballet master, under whose watchful eye Gamal was studying at the time, felt the need to fix the problematic arms. The master threw a piece of silk fabric that just happened to be lying around over Samia’s arms and made her hold it up during the training. All who witnessed the beautiful flow of the fabric as Samia Gamal danced were mesmerized and thus the veil became a staple in belly dance performances. And they all lived happily ever after. The end.
I have heard numerous retellings of this story from different teachers over the years. This is one of those myths that just won’t die off because people find the story charming and cute in some strange way. Also, we like certainty. Well, nothing is certain in raqs sharqi. Mind blowing, right?
Please allow me to state a few propositions, and then wrap up with a conclusion I have come to after evaluating the probabilities.
What we know:
Samia Gamal started her dance career at one of Badhia Masabni’s clubs.
Bahdia Masabni hired professional teachers, including ballet instructors, to train her performers.
Bahdia Masabni used western performing arts as inspiration for her shows quite freely. Big flowy veils were hugely popular in the West during the Art Nouveau period and continued to be so while Bahdia was establishing her entertainment business(es).
Dance space became big. Very big. The most effective way to fill up a large stage is to swoosh lightweight fabric around to visually take up space with no need for more humans.
Samia Gamal has a distinct AND BEAUTIFUL arm movement style in all the films where she dances, be that movies made in Egypt or abroad no matter how early in her career. The T-Rex arms? Really?
Samia Gamal seems to have incorporated more veil work into her dance after her trip to the US. Perhaps the American belly dancers had already built the veils into the image of “oriental fantasy” they presented to the local audience, so Samia followed suit.
My conclusion:
Veils were incorporated into what became known as raqs sharqi as the dance industry of Egypt was transitioning from the mostly improvised awalem dance style to choreographed entertainment hall dances. If there is one person that must be credited with popularizing veils as part of Egyptian raqs sharqi, it should be Bahdia Masabni under the influence of the western arts. Less charming and cute, but a much more believable sequence of events.
One point I’d like to make before I wrap up this rant. The veils that we all love so much had minimal chance of being part of traditional belly dance before the concept of entertainment venues became a thing for one simple reason: zills!
It is exceptionally hard to find a performance by a traditional entertainer not playing finger cymbals. The shiny metal disks are such an integral part of the dance that you can see all sorts of dancers play them. They are a critical part of any Upper Egypt ghawazi performance - the Mazin sisters are unimaginable without the distinct accompaniment of the tiny musical instruments on their fingertips! There is no place for a large and uncooperative piece of cloth within a traditional performance.
I’m not saying it’s impossible to dance with a veil and play finger cymbals at the same time (I will also neither confirm nor deny ever attempting to do so), but what would you rather do?
What’s your most favorite prop? What’s your least favorite prop? Why?
Get in touch: askauntiehelen@gmail.com
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