6/12/2009 by Richard Thomas

Photo: Top, dance instructor Brea Morgiane on the cruise ship Freedom of the Seas; below, teaching a class at Elite Dance Productions in Hermantown (second from left.)

The popular notion of belly dancing is that it started with harem wives performing for their sultans, and that women use it to seduce men. Actually it’s more of a common folk dance, performed by men, women and even children for a variety of occasions, or to simply express any emotion.

To say belly dancing is primarily about sex “is like equating lust with love,” said Brea Morgiane, a dance instructor in Duluth. “It’s a dance about life. If the song’s about sex, so is the dance. If the song’s about your brother dying, that’s what you dance.”

The origins are informal, as it was mainly performed among family and friends. Therefore its history is unclear— a variety of moves picked up from sources around the Middle East. Many countries have their own unique styles.

“The history of ballet has been studied to death. Belly dancing not so much because people think it’s a sex thing. We’re fighting to be respected as a legitimate dance form,” Morgiane said.

The Duluth, MN native with a bachelor’s degree in history and minor in anthropology said she learned much about the Middle East by studying dance for 11 years. It is an increasingly vast and complex subject, she said. “The more I know, the less I know. It takes a long time to learn. In fact you never stop learning,” she said.

The dance has been performed in America as long as there have been immigrants. But it was widely popularized at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, where it picked up the name “belly dance,” a term some consider vulgar. The proper name is “Raqs Sharqi,” which translates as “oriental dance.” (Until the late 19th century “Oriental” generally referred to the Middle East.)

Gyrating women in skimpy exotic clothes became a staple in carnivals, burlesque shows and vaudeville. Meanwhile tourists traveling to the Middle East expected to see “the original,” even though men often performed the original at weddings and other community events. In response to tourist demand, clubs began staging all-female dance shows.

Belly dancing’s popularity has waxed and waned over the years. It has branched out into numerous styles, including Egyptian, Lebanese, Tribal, Turkish, and American Cabaret. But overall there’s been a gradual movement away from the campy pop image to its earthier roots as a folk art.

Morgiane teaches Vintage Oriental-style (an old-school American Cabaret) at Elite Dance Productions, a studio in Hermantown. Her students are of all ages.

She has taught dancing in Nova Scotia, Scotland, and Key West. She ran a dance costume shop in Hawaii while living there. In April she spent a week teaching belly dance on “Freedom of the Seas,” one of the world’s largest cruise ships, and will teach again on another cruise ship in September.

She is a member of the Minneapolis-based Guild of Oriental Dance, one of many such guilds that promote the art, provide dancers with opportunities, and set standards by which they charge for classes and performances.

“Every part of your body is involved,” she said. “You’ll use muscles you didn’t know you had.”

The dance is strict in requiring the dancer to know the beats. “Arabic music builds on rhythms, not melodies,” she said.

While specific moves can be taught, much of the dance is improvised rather than choreographed when performed.

“You’re more like a musician or an actor. You can emote joy and sorrow,” she said. “The dancer expresses the music. You’re part of the orchestra.”

• Belly dancers want respect for the art -6/12/2009
• HickoryTech agrees to buy CP Telecom -5/12/2009
• Four-year engineering program to be offered on Iron Range -4/9/2009
• Grand Itasca CEO resigns -3/25/2009
• New CEO repackages Ironworld for 2009 season -2/25/2009