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A Dance For The Whole Family - Page 2

© Shira

The Twentieth Century

Times change, and people change with them. The twentieth century brought several changes that reshaped the role of the dance in Middle Eastern society:

• Colonialists from Europe brought their Westernizing influence to the Middle East, which in some countries broke down the traditional barriers to men and women socializing in mixed company.
• Nightclubs arose as a place where people could go for entertainment.
• Composers like Mohammed Abdel Wahab created a new style of music heavily influenced by the Western orchestral sound.
• Cairo and Beirut emerged as important cultural centers in the Arabic world.
• The early days of the Egyptian film industry turned Samia Gamal, Tahia Carioca, and other dancers into international stars, and the Hollywood-inspired sequinned bra/belt costume made its first appearance.
• An entire "entertainment industry" swept the world to take advantage of rapidly-advancing recording, film, radio, and television technology.

Today

Today, although there are still some exceptions, in most Middle Eastern countries men and women are no longer segregated. They no longer hold separate parties for men and women at wedding receptions and other special occasions. It's still likely that women will dance with other women, and men will dance with other men, but this now generally occurs with everyone in the same large room.

More conservative Muslim women still hesitate to dance in settings where men other than their husbands can see them, even at these social occasions. Such women may go to the mixed-company events, but do not take a turn at dancing.

Professional dancers still perform at nightclubs, and are often hired to perform at weddings and other special occasions.

Undoubtedly, there have probably been many individuals over the years who have used the dance in private as a tool for seduction. But that is not how Middle Eastern people think of Oriental dance, and that is not the role they see it having in their society. For them, the dance remains firmly in the realm of something that people of all ages do for fun when they get together with friends and family.

This article is part of the Suite101 "Middle Eastern Dance" topic area. For the other Suite101 articles, discussion forums, and opinion polls related to Middle Eastern dance, music, and culture, see the Welcome page on Suite101. For other articles written by Shira about these topics, please see Shira's own popular web site at www.shira.net.

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