If you decide to attend the Blue Lotus Tribe and the Best of Bloomington Belly Dancers performance at 8 p.m. Friday at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, you cannot go in expecting Shakira. Belly dance had its beginnings centuries ago in the Middle East long before “Hips don’t lie.” Below are some terms related to the ancient social dance.
Raks Sharki:\n In Arabic, this translates to “dance of the east” and refers to cabaret-style belly dance as it is performed in nightclubs in Egypt, Lebanon and other Arabic countries.
Awwady:\n In Arabic music, this refers to the free-form improvised instrumental solo that has no underlying rhythm. This is often used for the opening few phrases of music played for a belly dancer, and it is then followed by the fast or medium tempo entrance music.
Bedleh:\nIn Arabic, this literally means “suit.” It refers to the cabaret-style beaded bra, belt, skirt and body stocking costume that a belly dancer wears for a performance.
Dumbek:\nThis is the hourglass-shaped Arabic drum. Traditionally, dumbeks were made of ceramic, with the head made of either goatskin or fishskin. In modern times, many dumbeks have synthetic heads and the drum body may be made of metal.
Hafla:\nThis term refers to a party. A private hafla thrown by a belly dancer usually involves Middle Eastern music, dancers taking turns performing for each other and some open-floor dancing for everyone to get up and enjoy the music.
Maqsoum:\nThis is an Arabic musical rhythm. In the United States, the maqsoum rhythm is also frequently called “beledi.” It is in 4/4 time, which means there are four beats to a measure and each quarter note gets one count. When played on a dumbek, it sounds like DOOM DOOM teka tek, DOOM teka tek.
Sagat:\nThis is the Arabic name for finger cymbals and means “small metal trays.”
