Why "Bellydance"?

"Danse du ventre". These were the words used by the Napoleonic troops when they saw some local women dancing in serpentine moves. When Napoleon occupied part of the Egyptian region during the XIX century the soldiers where astonished in front of such unique dance style compared to the West dance traditions. These words have been used later in 1893 when, during the "Chicago World Fair" some dancers caught the eyes of the audience in the "Street of Cairo" pavilion. One of them was Fahreda Mazar (in the pciture), later called also "Little Egypt", a syrian girl that became an attraction with her "exotic" dance.

There was a lot of criticism around this dance style (related to both moves and dress code that was considered "indecent" for that period).

However Fahreda brought about an increasing public demand for this form of "exotic" entertainment in America and set a precedent for other dance styles like burlesque!