Before they were belly dancers : European accounts of female entertainers in Egypt, 1760-1870 / Kathleen W. Fraser.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Fraser, Kathleen Wittick, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Women entertainers--Egypt--Biography.

Women entertainers.

Egypt.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (309 p.)

Place of Publication:

Jefferson, North Carolina : McFarland & Company, Inc., publishers, [2015]

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Focusing on Egypt during the period 1760 to 1870, this book fills in some of the historical blanks for a dance form often known today in the Middle East as raqs sharki or raqs baladi, and in Western countries as ""belly dance."" Eyewitness accounts written by European travelers, the major primary source for modern scholars, provide most of the research material. The author shapes these numerous accounts into a coherent whole, providing a picture of Egyptian female entertainers of the period as professionals in the arts, rather than as a group of unnamed ""ethnic"" dancers and singers. Analysis

Contents:

Cover; Table of Contents; List of Illustrations; Preface; Section One: Background; 1. On Writing This Book; 2. Selected Egyptian History-the Study Period; 3. Writers and Painters in Egypt from 1760 to 1870; Section Two: Setting the Stage; 4. A Name for the Dance and a Name for the Dancer; 5. The Low Reputation of Female Entertainers; 6. The Geography of Going to the Show; Section Three: Going to the Show-Professionals at Work; 7. The Corporation of Female Singers-the Chanteuses; 8. Identifying the Raqqâsin, Corporation 200; 9. Identifying the Ghawâzî, Corporation 192

10. Male Performers-Dancers and MusiciansSection Four: The Lives ofFemale Entertainers; 11. Relationships with Various Groups in Egyptian Society; 12. Professional Relationships with the Audience; 13. Training; 14. Economic Position of Female Entertainers; Section Five: Biographies; 15. Thirty-One Female Dancers and One Male; Section Six: Gossip, Hearsay, Rumors and Myths; 16. The Missing 'Awâlim; 17. The Massacre of "The Four Hundred"; 18. Banning the Dance in Muhammad Ali's Egypt; 19. Myths of Origins of Female Dancers and Singers; Section Seven: Building the Aesthetic of Performance

20. A Costume Benchmark Set by Edward Lane21. The Musicianship of Dancers; 22. The Aesthetic of Dance Movements; Section Eight: Choreography and Performance; 23. Six Choreographic Elements Basic to the Dance; 24. Extending the Definition of Choreography; 25. Three Identifiable Dances; 26. Accessory Dances; Epilogue; Appendix One: Biographical Facts About Selected 18th- and Early 19th-Century Travel Writers and Artists; Appendix Two: Travelers' Terms for Female Entertainers: Selected Passages by Date of Travel; Chapter Notes; Bibliography; Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed December 1, 2014).

ISBN:

1-4766-1916-6