Belly Dancing
A Middle Eastern dance form catches on in the Midwest

By Bridget O’Shea

	Photo by Brian J. Morowczynski

The lights dim; the hypnotizing strains of Turkish music swell. Two young women in bright veils dance into the room, their torsos swaying and the beads on their costumes clattering.

They dance around A La Turka, the Chicago restaurant where they perform every Friday and Saturday night, beckoning the diners to join them. Some do, putting down their Turkish tea or forks of stuffed eggplant and imitating the movements of the dancers. Others just watch.

“We try to make it a cultural experience to dine in our restaurant,” says Rosaria Eskeranli, the owner of A La Turka. The dancers add to this experience, as do the traditional, low Turkish tables where diners sit on pillows while they enjoy the food and the show.

“It’s just a lot of fun,” says Samarah, (pictured on opposite page), a professional belly dancer who works at many Chicago night clubs and restaurants. “I enjoy performing, dancing and getting people up to dance. The party can really get started with a belly dancer.”

What was old is new again
One of the oldest forms of dance, belly dancing is characterized by sharp, angular movements that emanate from a dancer’s midsection. The costumes add to the appeal. Dancers wear extravagantly beaded scarves and hip wraps that often are decorated with beads, sequins or coins. Long, breezy skirts or pants are usually deep colors, such as scarlet, violet, turquoise or sea green. Elegant headdresses, wrist and ankle bangles and heavy eye make-up complete the exotic effect.

Unlike other dance performances, belly dancing is highly interactive. “I like being able to interact with people and make them happy,” says Samarah. “I do a show that’s family-oriented. Everyone can come.”

Belly dancing has gained popularity in recent years for participants as well as spectators. Some people are turning to it now as a way to exercise and reduce stress. They say the movements help massage away tensions.

“We’re working on muscles you don’t really think about using,” says Jeanie Di Bartolomeo, a belly dancing instructor at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago. Di Bartolomeo says she has taught all kinds of people during her three years in the business, from housewives with time on their hands to lawyers who don’t have a moment to spare.

Jasmin Jahal, a belly dancing instructor and manager at the Jasmin Jahal School of Dance, says belly dancing is much harder to learn than many people realize. The rhythms of the traditional Arabic music are complex, and dancers must adapt their movements to the specific music that is being played, from light flutes and violins to strong, earthy drum beats.

“We try to emulate the main instrument that’s being played,” Di Bartolomeo says.

Jahal says her students often are surprised to discover how involved belly dancing is, and how hard it can be to learn.

	Photo by Brian J. Morowczynski Samarah catches the attention of diners at A La Turka restaurant in Chicago.

Di Bartolomeo agrees, “It’s a dance discipline, just like any other. We want to take it to the level it deserves to be.”

Jahal believes that her students need to learn the history and culture of belly dancing in order to understand it as a truly artistic form of dance.

“It’s a lot deeper than the general American public realizes,” she says. “When it’s done right, it’s really beautiful.”

Not simply a seductive art
Belly dancing dates back to as far as 4,000 B.C. According to Jahal, it is depicted on ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.

“It started as a women’s dance to celebrate being feminine,” Di Bartolomeo adds. She says women often belly danced when their men were away because it was a way for them to shed their burkas and relax.

Belly dancing had other functions, too. It was practiced as a way to prepare for childbirth — as yoga is today — and was sometimes a part of the rituals involved in sending men off to war.

“It wasn’t supposed to be a dance of seduction,” Jahal says.

In later years, the image and function of belly dancers became a less-than-glamorous one as belly dancing became one of the seductive arts used by prostitutes.

“It’s not really looked upon [today] as a wonderful thing in the Middle East to be a belly dancer,” says Di Bartolomeo. She says most of the women who belly dance today in Middle Eastern countries like Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Morocco do it as a way to make ends meet.

“Sadly, it’s people who are on the lower end of the financial scale,” she says.

Still, there are some Middle Eastern dancers who are celebrated as great artists. They perform at extravagant nightclubs and even at weddings, where they are believed to bring good luck to the bride and groom.

Belly dancing enjoyed a wave of popularity in America in the 1970s, but in the 1980s, it was eclipsed by the interest in aerobics and other exercise programs offered in health clubs. Now belly dancing is becoming popular again as a physical art that combines exercise with elegant dance movements.

“I try to teach it as an art form — a complement to the female form,” says Jahal. She adds that a woman who belly dances does not need to be tall and thin. In fact, curves are desirable.

Belly dancing can give a woman a sense of empowerment, she says. “It’s a dance form that lets a woman be a woman.”  

Show Times, Folks
Shows are free unless otherwise noted.

A La Turka
3134 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago
Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m.
(773) 935-6101