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We sit cross-legged on pillows at low tables which line the studio walls. Kahraman Dance Studios has been transformed into an Arabian supper-club. A dancer is announced. Over the speakers, violins swell through an introductory phrase, and the drumming begins. Maleeha enters, wrapped in three-and-a-half yards of silken shawl. She advances regally to the center of the dance floor. She spins in time to the drums, unwrapping the veil to reveal an Arabian-style evening gown of pink sateen. As she undulates and ripples to the music, I am reminded of stories of belly-dancers who can flip quarters with their ab muscles. High-pitched trills are called out by the audience, in Arabian-style appreciation. The music is infectious, the beat spontaneously moves us to clap. Some women keep time with zills or finger cymbals. She sweeps backward, red hair almost touching the floor, and a woman next to me shakes her tambourine, shouting, "Go girlfriend." Maleeha's well-toned body gives new meaning to the word 'voluptuous.' She has an uncanny ability to anticipate the music: moving with slow, elegant hip circles to the crooning violins, swinging into a shimmy as the drums pick up. My face aches from smiling after she is done--her joy is so obvious.
You might think Maleeha is a belly dancer. Think again. She's a formidable exponent of Near Eastern Dance, and to her, the names make all the difference. Maleeha has had a successful dance career for over two decades. She was first introduced to the culture while in Orange County, California. She'd gone out to eat with some friends at a Middle Eastern restaurant that featured live music and dancing. When the musician came out with an oud (lute) and a dombek (drum) and began to play, "I thought my happiness was complete," she says. Then the dancer made her entrance. "She was so beautiful. Accessible, yet remote, and so feminine, I had to have it for myself." Maleeha began classes a week later.
A Worldwide Phenomenon
There is a worldwide dance phenomenon manifesting right here in Iowa. Some people call it "Belly Dancing." A more accurate term is "Near Eastern Dance." The dance form is taught in such far ranging places as Japan, Australia, Bulgaria, France, England, Canada, Italy, Brazil, and Scotland. A strong center of Near Eastern Dance and culture is located in Iowa City. Kahraman Dance Studios, founded by Director Marie Wilkes (otherwise known as Maleeha), has become increasingly active throughout the nation and the state. She and the company stage educational performances for schools, communities, and night spots. The Ensemble specializes in the traditional dances of the Near or Middle East, including Danse Orientale from Turkey, cane dancing from Egypt, and Lebanese Debke (a line dance). "It is not only a cultural dance form," Wilkes says, "but a world phenomenon. Women identify with it. It is universal, and like all good art, speaks to the soul."
Wilkes has been studying Near Eastern Dance for 23 years. "Belly dancing" is the term most people are familiar with. It's not a term used in the Middle East, says Wilkes, and was coined by Saul Bloom at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago. In Victorian America, where use of the word "leg" was forbidden, "belly dancing" was a calculatedly titillating term to draw crowds. The first dancers were fully clothed but uncorsetted Algerian women. Nothing was visible, says Wilkes, but their flesh would quiver, which was considered extremely licentious. Wilkes feels it was significant that Near Eastern dance was introduced at the same time Isadora Duncan was dancing corset-less--as if it was all part of a movement to express and appreciate the natural beauty of the female form.
An Ancient Dance Form
Wilkes is a woman with a mission. She wants Near Eastern Dance to be as acceptable as any other dance form. She feels there is no reason it should not be considered as reputable as Flamenco. "All dance forms," she says, "are about the soul, the spirit. The mystical writings of Sufism are about the lover and the beloved. Near Eastern Dance renders that yearning and joy very well. Watching a really fine dancer," she continues, "is transcendental. Watching her dance takes you to this very still place. Art's supposed to do that."
Real "belly dancing" is a far cry from the stereotypical image of a scantily clad exotic dancer gyrating suggestively for a bachelor party. Near Eastern Dance is, quite possibly, the oldest dance form in existence. The styles and costumes are as varied as the Near East itself. "Belly dance is the glitz version," says Wilkes, "and may not even be authentic."
Where Curves are Assets
An entirely different concept of beauty is embraced through Near Eastern Dance. Having curves is actually an asset in a dance form which celebrates fertility. "Women, rather than men, embodied fertility in primitive culture," Wilkes says. "Only very recently, with overpopulation, has the androgynous female figure come to symbolize wealth and beauty rather than the opulent female figure." Near Eastern Dance gives women the opportunity to celebrate themselves.
"One of the first dancers I ever saw," says Sallie Morgan, one of Wilkes' students, "was a mother, so of course she had a belly. Her costume exposed and accentuated her body. My first reaction was that she should be hiding her body, but she was so vibrant. She had a body. There it was, and look what she could do with it! She was beautiful."
In this health-conscious age, women are seeking ways to embrace and appreciate themselves. Near Eastern Dance is attractive because it venerates all body types. "Women of all sizes and ages are taught to appreciate their uniqueness," says Wilkes. The way a movement ripples through any physiology, be it voluptuous or svelte, is beautiful, and Near Eastern Dance teaches women to recognize this. "This is the one dance form above all others," says student Caree Connet, "which emphasizes the way a female body can move, the way only a female body can move."
A dancer is considered great when she moves people with her presence, when there are stories found in her movements, when her dance is one of passionate expression. "Beauty in Near Eastern Dance has to do with passion and the expression of life," Wilkes says. Because the dance steps are natural extensions of feminine movement, Near Eastern Dance does not wear the body down. Consequently, Near Eastern dancers get better with age. "One of the most beautiful dancers I've seen had a face like leather," says Wilkes. The grandmotherly matriarch is always the best dancer at Arab family gatherings. And, according to Wilkes, professional dancers don't hit their prime until their 30s or 40s. This is a refreshing attitude about age at a time when professional female gymnasts are considered past their prime at 17.
A Community Art Form
Wilkes believes women are also attracted to Near Eastern Dance for its sense of community. The cultural context of the dance form, according to Wilkes, is family gatherings, community events, segregated marriage parties, and dancing for pure fun. In taking classes, women make friends across the generational gaps. Sixty-year-olds share shimmy tips with teenagers.
Perhaps the queenly nature of the dance exerts the strongest pull. Whether practicing the courtly, delicate Danse Orientale from Turkey, or shimmying to Nubian drums, the innate dignity of Near Eastern Dance is always obvious. "When I first started," says Connet, "I felt so feminine. And I was self-conscious to begin with because I thought I was fat." Near Eastern Dance brings each woman closer to expressing her true self. This self-expression, and the realization of one's own beauty, do not stop when class is over. "I even noticed a difference in the way I walked afterwards," continues Connet. "I was moving more gracefully. I was relaxed, yet I felt great dignity."
Megan Robinson has been studying Near Eastern Dance with Marie Wilkes for over three years. Along with better posture and increased self-confidence, she has gained a wider appreciation for what is beautiful.
