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It wasn’t that long ago that video was a new medium, the Internet and globalization unheard of, and for Belly dancers and lovers of Oriental dance, there was just not that much actual Egyptian performance (meaning Egyptian dance by Egyptians) one could view, without actually going to the Middle East proper. I think I am correct in saying that Morocco<\/a><\/span> of New York City\u00a0 was one of the first pioneers actively to pursue travel to the Middle East and North Africa in the 1960s, for purposes of learning the dances from the authentic practitioners and collecting archival footage and data on them.\u00a0 <\/p>\n In the clubs on 8th ave in the 1960s, the hub of New York City Dance Oriental at the time, there existed a motley mix of Greeks and Armenians, descendants of refugees from the old Ottoman empire, plus a smattering of Turks, Rom, Arabs, and Israelis.\u00a0 With no Belly dance schools available, NYC’s American Belly dancers of this era would have had to figure out the dance on their own; by watching the ethnic ladies in the audience dance, as well as the Belly dancer "imports" from the ghettos of the old Ottoman cities, where Oriental dance was\u00a0 performed for survival–and not so much with artistry in mind.<\/p>\n Fantasy Oriental dances were also available in the film spectaculars of Hollywood, which would have provided additional fuel for creative energies. Orientalist passions were manifested on film in cinematic wonders such as Cleopatra<\/em>, Samson and Delilah<\/em>, etc. that included renditions of Orientalist dances by American dancer\/actresses.\u00a0 As well, there were even earlier glimmers of Orientalist fantasy upon the American psyche.\u00a0 In the early 20th century, the great impresario, Sol Hurok<\/strong>, introduced the first Orientalist ballets and operas of Europe and Russia into the Americas.\u00a0 Sergei Diaghilev<\/strong>‘s "Ballet Russe" and the "Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo", along with great creative geniuses such as\u00a0 Michael Fokine<\/strong>, Salvador Dali<\/strong>, and Leonid Bakst,<\/strong> mounted elaborate Orientalist ballets with lavish costumes and sets, and incorporating snaking arms, undulating moves and veils into sensual dances.\u00a0 These were called \u201cCharacter Ballets\u201d, as the technique included both ballet and the movements and character of the cultural dances they were depicting.\u00a0 Even the pioneers of the Modern Dance movement, such as Ruth St. Dennis, Isadora Duncan, <\/strong>and Louie Fuller <\/strong>dabbled in the richness of Orientalist dances, costuming, and themes.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n
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