To dance is to open your soul to the world, is to get connected to everything around you, most important it is how you will learn about different cultures and how you will end up learning more about yourself.
Belly dance, Raks Sharqi, Oriental Dance Belly dance has many names and today has many, many styles. It’s hard to say how it started, or where. Some people say it started with the first Gypsy, who moved out of India thousands of years ago and traveled through Middle East, North Africa, arriving at today’s Europe, leaving on each country a taste of their own rich musical background. Some say that was used by Ancient Egyptians on rituals to celebrate the women’s power of generating life. Also before the Christian era in Europe there were many ritual dances to celebrate the harvest in which women used to dance moving their belly which also symbolized the power of birth.
Today, there are many different styles of Belly dance, like Turkish Belly dance, Egyptian Belly dance , North American Cabaret, Fusion, Gypsy, the recent North American creation Tribal and off course we also have our Belly dance Brazilian style which always tries to incorporate our national dance and music into the art of Belly dance.
Egyptian Classical Dance (Viviane's favorite style), is considered by many to be the origin of the contemporary Oriental Dance. It is believed that Folk dances around the Middle East gave birth to the Contemporary Belly dance, and it is today the most popular style between dancers in the East and West.
Belly dance is characterized by the strong hip movements and body undulations, but mostly by the capacity of the dancer to interpret the music. While dancing the dancer should be able to pass to the audience her interpretation of the song, and that, is the most beautiful side of the dance.
Samba: A Brazilian African creation, that emerged as a nation anthem. Samba is a music style and a dance style. It is the meaning of the Brazilian culture, happy, strong, creative…
Belly dance and Samba are very similar in many ways. Like in Egyptian classical music, samba is typically performed by large percussion ensembles, and the entire drum make your feet move fast and your hips faster yet. Brazil it is a complex country with diverse cultures mixing together, and many dance styles some of those are often used during the Carnival: Samba, Axé, Forró, Frevo…
