Belly Dance

Belly Dance

Belly dance is a Western name for an Arabic style of dance developed in the Middle East. In Europe, it is sometimes called oriental dance. Similarly, In Turkish it is referred to as oryantal dansi ("Dance of the East"). Some American devotees refer to it simply as "Middle Eastern Dance". In the Arabic language it is known as raqs sharqi ("eastern dance") or sometimes raqs baladi ("national" or "folk" dance). The term "raqs sharqi" may have originated in Egypt. The term belly-dance is a creation of Orientalism, and is first attested in English in 1899, translating French danse du ventre. The term "belly dancing" (believed by some to be a mis-transliteration of the term for the dance style Beledi or Baladi) is generally credited to Sol Bloom, entertainment director of the 1893 World's Fair, the World Columbian Exposition in Chicago.

What benefit does the belly dance give to its practitioners? Well, in terms of heatlh, it is similar to the Yoga from India and tai chi from China. But mostly it was advertised by the famous singer Shakira, from Columbia. Although she inherit it for she is a mix from Syrian and Columbia. The dance performed by the many dancers calling themselves "Little Egypt" was nicknamed the "Hootchy-Kootchy" or "Hoochee-Coochee", or the shimmy and shake. She used the belly dance in most of her performance and it is a trademark for her. The belly dance is also known as the "Middle Eastern Dance."

But I found it is interesting and far more fun than the aerobics dance. We can use the dance as an exercise. Even, it is wide spread in every country and in Asia even in our country. Dancing classes for belly dance is to be believe existed especially around Kuala Lumpur and Klang. Even the teacher who teaches belly dance is originated from Syria. The influence on this dance is expanding throughout the country. If have chance, I would surely learn the belly dance as for fun and satisfaction.

The Ovid's Metamorphoses on Pygmalion

It was told that the existance of a sculpture made to live by the goddess Aphrodite that was named Galatea where Pygmalion fell in love with an ivory statue he had crafted with his own hands, and in answer to his prayers, the goddess unite them in marriage. The story was told in Ovid's Metamorphoses. But in contrast to the play written by George Bernard Shaw in Pygmalion where he actually instill the elements of creating new persona of a flower girl, Eliza Doolittle by Henry Higgins, a scientist of phonetics to become a woman as poised and well-spoken as a duchess. The concept of transforming a statue/ a girl into something so-called better was similar. But in the play, ironically Eliza finally follows her own path by not marrying Higgins. In Greek mythology, Galatea finally became the wife of Pygmalion. This was the major different in both story and play. Perhaps, the story within Pygmalion carries its own uniqueness and just a little adaptation being done from the Greek's version.