The Ghawazi dance

Dance

Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....

rs of Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

  were a group of female traveling dancers of the Nawari people, a subgroup of the Dom people

Dom people

The Dom of the Middle East are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group. Some authors relate them to the Domba people of India.- Culture :...

, sometimes referred to as "Gypsies".

The ghawazi style gave rise to the Egyptian raqs sharqi

Raqs sharqi

Raqs sharqi is the classical Egyptian style of belly dance that developed during the first half of the 20th century.Based on the traditional ghawazi  and other folk styles and formed by western influences such as marching bands, the Russian ballet, Latin dance, etc., this hybrid style was...

 by the first half of the 20th century, and in turn to the Western forms of belly dance

Belly dance

Belly dance or Bellydance is a "Western"-coined name for a traditional "Middle Eastern" dance, especially raqs sharqi . It is sometimes also called Middle Eastern dance or Arabic dance in the West, or by the Greco-Turkish term çiftetelli...

.

While the performative raqs sharqi in urban Egypt was heavily influenced by Western styles such as classical ballet or Latin American dance, the term ghawazi in Egypt refers to the dancers in rural Egypt who have preserved the traditional 18th to 19th century style.

Name

The Arabic ghawāzī (singular ghāziya) means "conqueror", as the ghaziya is said to "conquer" the hearts of her audience.
They were also known as awālim (singular alma, transliterated almeh in French as almée).
Both terms are 19th-century euphemism

Euphemism

A euphemism is the substitution of a mild, inoffensive, relatively uncontroversial phrase for another more frank expression that might offend or otherwise suggest something unpleasant to the audience...

s for "erotic dancer"; almeh literally means "learned woman" and came to be used as a replacement for ghaziya after the ghawazi were legally banned in 1834.
An almeh in origin was a courtesan

Courtesan

A courtesan was originally a female courtier, which means a person who attends the court of a monarch or other powerful person.In feudal society, the court was the centre of government as well as the residence of the monarch, and social and political life were often completely mixed together...

 in Arab tradition, a woman educated to sing and recite classical poetry and to discourse.
After the ghawazi were banned, they were forced to pretend that they were in fact awalim. The term almeh was introduced in French Orientalism

Orientalism

Orientalism is a term used for the imitation or depiction of aspects of Eastern cultures in the West by writers, designers and artists, as well as having other meanings...

 as almée and used synonymously with "belly dancer".

History

In 1834s, the ghawazi were banished from Cairo

Cairo

Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...

 to Upper Egypt

Upper Egypt

Upper Egypt is the strip of land, on both sides of the Nile valley, that extends from the cataract boundaries of modern-day Aswan north to the area between El-Ayait and Zawyet Dahshur . The northern section of Upper Egypt, between El-Ayait and Sohag is sometimes known as Middle Egypt...

 by Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali of Egypt

Muhammad Ali Pasha al-Mas'ud ibn Agha was a commander in the Ottoman army, who became Wāli, and self-declared Khedive of Egypt and Sudan...

. Typically, the Ghawazi are represented as Gypsies

Dom people

The Dom of the Middle East are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group. Some authors relate them to the Domba people of India.- Culture :...

, with a particular attention to their music and dance styles, featuring mizmar

Mizmar

In Arabic music, a mizmar is any single or double reed wind instrument. In Egypt, the term mizmar usually refers to the conical shawm that is called zurna in Turkey....

s and heavy bass lines.

Beginning in the first half of the 19th century, descriptions and depictions of ghawazi dancers became famous in European Orientalism

Orientalism

Orientalism is a term used for the imitation or depiction of aspects of Eastern cultures in the West by writers, designers and artists, as well as having other meanings...

, and the style was described as danse de ventre or belly-dance from the 1860s.

The Ghawazi performed unveiled in the streets. Rapid hip movement and use of brass hand castanets characterized their dance. Musicians of their tribe usually accompanied them in their dance.
They usually wore kohl

Kohl

Kohl is a German word meaning cabbage.Kohl may stand for*Kohl , a traditional Middle Eastern cosmetic*Kohl's, a company that operates department stores located in the United States*KOHL, a radio station in Fremont, California...

 around their eyes and henna

Henna

Henna is a flowering plant used since antiquity to dye skin, hair, fingernails, leather and wool. The name is also used for dye preparations derived from the plant, and for the art of temporary tattooing based on those dyes...

 on their fingers, palms, toes and feet. According to Lane (1836) these women were "the most abandoned of the courtesans of Egypt". He describes them as being very beautiful and richly dressed.

The Ghawazi performed in the court of a house, or in the street, before the door, on certain occasions of festivity in the harem

Harem

Harem refers to the sphere of women in what is usually a polygynous household and their enclosed quarters which are forbidden to men...

. They were never admitted into a respectable harem, but were frequently hired to entertain a party of men in the house of some rake. Both women and men enjoyed their entertainment. However, many people among the higher classes and more religious disapprove of them.

Many people liked the dancing of the Ghawazi, but felt it was improper because of its being danced by women who should not expose themselves in this manner. Because of this, there was a small number of young male performers called Khawals. The Khawals were Egyptian Muslims who impersonated the women of the Ghawazi and their dance. They were known to impersonate every aspect of the women including their dance and use of castanets.

Contemporary practitioners

Representing diverse historical backgrounds, most of the Ghawazi of the Qena

Qena

Qena is a city in Upper Egypt, and the capital of the Qena Governorate. Situated on the east bank of the Nile, it was known as Kaine during the Greco-Roman period and as Cainepolis in antiquity.- Overview :...

 region belong to ethnic minorities such as the Nawar

Nawar

Nawwar or Nawar may refer to:* The arabic family name, Also its a male name.* Name of a famous family in Egypt, subsidizing from Nawwar Pasha in Rashid who had a famous story of gifting the egyptian Khedivie with gold equals to the weight of his daughter to marry his son.Currently most of the...

 (or Nawara), Halab, and Bahlawen.

Particularly well known are the Banat Maazin family, Nawar gypsys that settled in Luxor

Luxor

Luxor is a city in Upper Egypt and the capital of Luxor Governorate. The population numbers 487,896 , with an area of approximately . As the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of Thebes, Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open air museum", as the ruins of the temple...

 and were filmed in the 70's and 80's. Many consider the Maazin family to be the only practicing family left of the original line of Ghawazi dancers.

Influence on western belly-dance

The style of dance and costuming of the Ghawazi has been especially influential in crafting the look of American Tribal Style Belly Dance

American Tribal Style Belly Dance

American Tribal Style Belly Dance or Tribal Style Belly Dance is a modern style of bellydance created by FatChanceBellyDance director, Carolena Nericcio. American Tribal Style Belly Dance is clearly defined and documented with the primary characteristic being that of group improvisation...

. Traditional Ghawazi dress consists of an Ottoman coat with slits, known as a Yelek

Jelick

Jelick is the bodice or vest of a Turkish woman's dress. Jelick is typically a sleeveless and collarless garment and usually has small pockets on the sides. Traditional jelicks are generally embroidered and made out of silk cloth as well as velvet and leather....

 or entari. The abdomen is covered by these coats. Turkish harem pants

Harem pants

Harem pants or harem trousers, also known as parachute pants, are women's baggy long pants tapered at the ankle, with side flaps on the hip that button at the waist area....

 are worn under these coats. The coats are typically ankle-length, though some modern Ghawazee troupes wear a shorter version over a full, knee-length skirt. Ghawazee dancers often adorn their heads with elaborate headresses, with dancers often accompanying themselves by playing zils, or small cymbals that are used by dancers in many forms of Oriental dance.