A Comparison of Oriental Dance and Western Dance Forms such as Ballet

by Sedonia Sipes, ©2007

In the western world, oriental dance (aka belly dance) is often implicitely or explicitely compared to western dance genres and judged by criteria and aesthetics of western dances and culture. This is unfortunate, and often such comparisons are unfavorable.

To give one timely example, a world-famous oriental dancer from Tunisia named Leila Haddad recently performed in New York, and dance critic Claudia La Rocco of the New York Times had this to say about her performance:

"Cultural differences be damned, a come-hither, over-the-shoulder smile accompanied by a jutting, undulating pelvis means roughly the same thing in most places.

Ms. Haddad offered too much of both. That’s a shame, because her fiercely controlled arms and beautifully rendered, curled-toe footfalls hinted at a deeper artistry, one that might have matched the marvelous male singers and musicians who shared the stage. "

(The entire review can be read here, and outtakes of Ms. Haddad's performance can be seen here)

Obviously, Ms. La Rocco judged Ms. Haddad's oriental dance performance by applying western criteria, to the insult and detriment of the dance and the artist. In particular, Ms. La Rocco focused on two characteristics important in western dance (footwork and armwork), while showing blatant ignorance of two fundamental characteristics of oriental dance: 1) the intimate emotional connection the dancer establishes with her audience (in contrast to the "glass wall" between the audience and, for example, a ballet dancer), and 2) the torso-centric nature of the dance, which does not, as Ms. La Rocco presumes, "mean roughly the same thing in most places." (Such movement also does not mean "roughly the same thing" in sub-Saharan African dances, Polynesian dances, etc. but I think we've established Ms. La Rocco's ignorance of non-western dance, so I digress...)

I have written this article to summarize some of the fundamental differences between oriental dance and the western dance forms that are most familiar to our culture.

Differences in Posture

• The upper body is more open in oriental dance in contrast to more closed in ballet; however, thoracic extension is important in both.
• In contrast, the lower body (feet, knees, legs) is generally closed and close together in oriental dance.
  The pelvis is neutral, and the abs/pelvic floor/back lightly engaged but not clenched or tight in oriental dance. Posture for ballet dancers is similar in some respects, but is often held much too tight and rigid for oriental dance.
• There is no lateral turnout of hips (ever) in oriental dance; in contrast lateral turnout is fundamental to ballet posture and movement.
• In oriental dance (and in the body language of its cultures of origin), movement and energy flows from and originates between navel and solar plexus. This concept is not found in western body language. In western dance forms, energy tends to be more externalized.
  

Differences in movement base (just a few examples):

• Oriental dance movements are complex, layered, subtle movements of the torso vs. technically complex footwork and difficult jumps, leaps, and leg lifts seen in mainstream western dance forms.
• Oriental dance movements are typically grounded to Earth and contained within the sphere of the body. In contrast, the illusion of flight, freedom from gravity, and striving to break free from the Earth are characteristic of ballet, and these concepts carry over in varying degrees to other western dance forms that use ballet as their foundation.
• Oriental dance has relatively simple footwork (focus is on torso); whereas western dance forms often feature complex and fancy footwork that is never found in oriental dance (but see Mahmoud Reda’s theatricized Egyptian folkloric dance which draws heavily on western ballroom dance and which includes some fancy footwork).
• Both oriental dance and jazz dance utilize body undulations, but these are executed quite differently – far more internalized in oriental dance, far more externalized in jazz.
• Oriental dance requires strength and flexibility of different muscle groups than western dance. The flexibility to do splits, to achieve extreme lateral turnout of the hips, and the strength to extend/lift the legs are required in ballet, but these abilities are not necessary in oriental dance. In contrast oriental dancers must be able to execute slides and circles of the hips and ribcage, and undulations of the spine; these movements require flexibility, coordination and strength in small core muscles that is not necessarily used to the same degree in western dance forms.
• In many western dance forms, core muscles are important in supporting the body during execution of more externalized movements (thus the development of Pilates as cross-training for ballet). In oriental dance, internalized and subtle core movements are the dance movements.
• Oriental dance, in its most traditional forms, does not use or cover a lot of space. In some parts of the dance, for example the drum solo, the dancer may stay in one place the duration of the section.

Life of the Dancer

• Oriental dance can be a life-long activity. Oriental dancers don’t have to retire at an early age, or change from performing to just teaching. Oriental dancers just keep getting better and better with age, training, and practice.
• Professional oriental dancers may still be actively performing in their 50’s and 60’s (just a few wonderful examples in the U.S. Cassandra, Morocco, Artemis, Shareen el Safy, Sahra Kent; in Egypt Fifi Abdu, Lucy).
• Depending upon natural ability, training, and dedication, some oriental dancers that begin their study late in life (20’s - 30’s) can still achieve professional level dancing. This is generally not possible in ballet.
• In general, oriental dance movements are ergonomic and body-friendly (but not necessarily “easy”). In contrast, many aspects of ballet are potentially injurious and hard on the body over time, thus sometimes causing dancers to retire from performing at early ages.
• Oriental dancing can be learned by people of all body types and ages and by both men and women. Professional oriental dancers need to be physically fit, but do not need to conform to a narrow and (for many) unrealistic body type. After all, oriental dancers generally don’t get really, really good until middle age, and by then most dancers are a little heavier than they were in their youth even if they are still fit. This is generally acceptable in the world of oriental dance. (Miles Copeland’s group of under-30, size-2 Bellydance Superstars not withstanding).
• Oriental dance is a positive influence on young girls because it counteracts the never-ending pressure from the media to achieve thinness that is unhealthy our out-of-reach to many people.
• Oriental dance is a wonderful art form for dancers who find they simply can’t conform to or were not born with the body type required for professional ballet.
  

Relationship to Music

• The music of oriental dance comes from a different culture. Different instruments, different percussive rhythms, different music phrasing and patterns, and the inclusion of quarter tones all make Middle Eastern music very different from western music. Oriental dance is an abstract interpretation of Middle Eastern music.
• Because the dancer is choreographing or improvising her own dances and not just performing someone else’s choreography, she must understand the music.
• Because the music drives the dance, and because the dancer must create the dance, the student of oriental dancer must also be a student of Middle Eastern music (and therefore the teacher must be able to teach about middle eastern music).
• The dancer must also learn be a musician in that she must learn to play finger cymbals while dancing.
  

Importance of Cultural Context

• In western dance culture, ballet is considered fundamental or basic to other classical western dance forms such as modern, jazz, and tap. However, ballet cannot be viewed as fundamental in any way to non-western ethnic dance forms such as oriental dance.
• Oriental dance is directly derived from secular, folkloric, social dances from certain places in North Africa/Middle East, including Egypt, Lebanon, and Turkey. (However, not all Middle Eastern and North African dances are related to “belly dance”). In contrast, ballet and modern dance are true academic, classical dance forms that cannot be seen as direct derivatives of folk dances. At most, oriental dance can be said to be folk dance with some theatrical/classical refinements added for stage presentation; it maintains strong essential connection with the social/folk origin.
• Ballet is a narrative dance form – it tells a story. Oriental dance does not tell a story.
• In oriental dance there is an essential and strong emotional component from the dancer and a connection to the audience that is generally not seen in most western dance forms. In modern dance, for example, the dancer may interpret emotions, but not at/with the audience. There is a glass wall between the dancer and the audience. In oriental dance, there is emotional energy that reaches out from dancer and is shared with audience. This stems from its derivation from social dance.
• Oriental dance has a cultural essence that is not western in origin. For the non-native dancer, the ultimate challenge is not the technical aspect of the dance but achieving the cultural essence. Cultural nuances of body language must be learned, and cultural meaning of the dance must be explored, and the cultural aesthetic of the dance must be developed by immersing oneself in listening to the music and watching the dance.
• Western dance forms have their own cultural context that is, of course, western in origin. But for the western dancer, much of this is native and does not have to be explicitly learned as part of the dance training, at least not to the same degree as learning a dance outside one’s native culture.
• Learning the dance takes place within a set cultural framework in order to properly label the dance “belly dance”, “oriental dance”, “raqs sharqi”, etc. If the teacher doesn’t know these parameters, the student either learns incorrectly, or is left with the impression that “anything goes; just shake your hips and it’s belly dance”.
• Oriental dance is essentially a solo improvisational dance. Within its true cultural context, it is not a dancer or group of dancers performing someone else’s rigid choreography. The dancer creates the dance (but always within cultural parameters) rather than being a vessel of someone else’s creativity. Thus, the dancer must have a well-developed dance aesthetic, e.g. an understanding of what oriental dance is supposed to look at. The dance aesthetic comes from watching/studying performances over a period of time, and learning how the dance reflects the music.
• Choreography means something different in M.E. dance - often is just a rough outline of the dance, not rigid or detailed. Or for students, learning the teacher’s choreography is merely a tool to develop dance aesthetic, the student’s choreographic and improvisational skills, rather than and end unto itself. Westernized versions of oriental dance may include choreographed solo or group presentation.
  

Perception of Dance by the General Public

• Oriental dancing has been erroneously allied with stripping, burlesque, and exotic dancing. Oriental dancing, like many dance forms, is sensual and even sexy, but the important difference here is that the oriental dancer is sharing, not offering, these aspects of his/her self, including his/her sensual/sexual qualities, and there is no explicit goal of seducing anyone. The dance originated as a folk dance in which life, happiness, joy, angst, sex, love, grief and other human qualities are expressed. The dance did not originate as harem girls trying to seduce the Sultan.
• Oriental dancing is often perceived as a trivial or simple dance form (anyone can shake their butt, right?) Unfortunately, one source of this misconception stems from the lack of quality standards in our dance: Odds are high that if Joe Public sees a “belly dance” it will be bad or mediocre belly dance, because so many inadequately-trained dancers decide to be performers and teachers.
• Ballet movements often look difficult (and rightfully so) to the general public. In contrast, many oriental dance movements are earthy and have a natural quality that makes them look effortless on a skilled dancer when in fact they may be quite difficult to execute correctly. (Of course, the same is true for certain movements in ballet, but the overall impression of these dances by the audience is quite different).
• Dancers of western classical dance forms often are guilty of an ethnocentric attitude regarding oriental dance and other ethnic dances – the attitude that “My dance is a difficult and complex art form, yours is something less.” Stemming from this is the pervasive idea that a background in western dance can somehow take the place of training in specific ethnic dance forms. I see this attitude not only with regard to oriental dance, but also other African dances, Flamenco, Bharatnatyam, Persian dance, etc. It is erroneous and unfortunate. To reach a professional level of oriental dance requires many years of training and education in oriental dance. Cross-training may enhance but does not take the place of this.