Belly Dance Trends and Styles in the U.S.A.

For many years in the U.S. belly dancers were of the nightclub variety. They were known as cabaret style belly dancers. If your mother or grandmother learned to belly dance in the 70's, 80's and early 90's, this is most likely the style they learned. Think of the costume Barbara Eden wore in I Dream of Genie and you have the quintessential look of cabaret belly dancing.

Then in the middle of the 70's, the Renaissance Faire was born. And the gypsy camp area was a big hit and they attracted belly dancers and fans of belly dancing in droves. And since cabaret costumes were what everyone had, that is what the dancers wore.

But it wasn't very long into those early fair days that dancers started asking themselves what they were doing wearing push-up bras, which obviously weren't around in the Renaissance. And they started looking for a better, more authentic look. And there are some documentable tribal looks. But most of those are heavy, ugly and unwieldy. Definitely not something you'd want to dance in with those hot Southern California summer days.

The first time I saw something resembling a more authentic look was on a magic and dance group going by the name Aftermath. I believe their Renaissance Faire name was Neri Senti. They had a great gypsy style look. I credit them with starting the Tribal belly-dancing look.

Several years later, a San Francisco based troupe called Fat Chance Belly Dance put together a similar look. What they did was take a combination of looks that American's would see as Middle Eastern and they linked them all together into a mish mash that somehow worked. And it became known as tribal. They took cholis from India, trousers from Turkey, turbans, cowry shells and Kuchi jewelry from Afghanistan and other countries and came up with a great look. They painted their palms with henna and got earthy tattoos.

Just remember it is an invented style, and is not historically accurate in any way whatsoever. But it is a lot more appropriate for Renaissance Faires and other family festivals.

For a while the cabaret dancers and the tribal dancers were in different camps. But in time some tribal dancers came to miss the sparkle and sizzle of cabaret and some cabaret dancers needed a more covered up look for wedding receptions and conservative restaurants and the Tribaret look was born. Then you get the best of both looks in a sense, or the worst of both worlds depending on who you talk to.

Some dancers wanted to embrace their darker sides. So another spin off happened, and that is called Raks Gothique. It's a fusion of tribal and Goth fashions and looks very spooky and sexy. The colors are usually red, black and deep purple and the look works well for snake dancers, fire artists and themed events.

These are the most popular looks but by no stretch of the imagination the only styles of belly dance costuming. No matter what your shape, style or taste there is a costume out there that will suit your dancing needs.