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As long as I can remember, the origins of the bedlah <\/em>(the two piece costume of Middle Eastern dancers) has been widely controversial and debated among the artists of Raqs Sharqi <\/em>(belly dance).<\/em>\u00a0 The dance itself, along with the costume, has gone through many centuries of changes and name identifications in accord with period fashion as well as contact with outside influences. <\/p>\n The traditional name for the dance from the people of Egypt has been “Raqs Sharqi” (literally, Dance of the East).\u00a0 Often, naming or labels occur due to outside influences such as the French coining the term “Danse Orientale” and “Dance Du Ventre” or as the slang term that was coined in the USA, which was “Belly Dance”.\u00a0 Apparently that last appellation began to be applied after the public had witnessed the dancer known as Little Egypt<\/strong> at the 1893 World’s Fair<\/a> who had been seen as “shaking her belly” in her two piece outfit. Even though some history buffs have suggested that Little Egypt was an Algerian, from the pictures and film of her that I have seen, I would surmise that her costume was comparable to something she might wear in her everyday life in her country. Other names include “Middle Eastern Dance”–a broader term that could include both Oriental and folk styles of the dance.\u00a0 These terms have been used throughout the centuries to define a specific style or fashion along with its dance that was born of undocumented foundations in various countries that, when grouped together, are now referred to as “The Middle East.”\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n
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