Who are the famous and infamous belly dancers from Turkey? When I began my research to answer this question, I believed it would be easy to find information about Turkish belly dance. I quickly learned that this is not true! The Internet provided few leads. Fortunately, I discovered some books, which provided a better source of knowledge.
One book in particular was very helpful in identifying the belly dance stars of Turkey. It is a book entitled “Oriental Belly Dance” by Mr. Kemal Ozdemir. Beautifully illustrated, Ozdemir’s book describes the history of Turkish dance and focuses on cabaret belly dance since the Turkish Republic in 1923. At that time, women were liberated in many aspects of life, and belly dancers enjoyed a freedom they never before had. Dancers found more opportunity to perform in a way that allowed them to aggressively display their feminine beauty and emphasize sexual appeal.
Turkish belly dancing has existed for at least the last 500 years. It has developed a unique style, which allows the dancer to fully use her dance space, moving beyond the stage and into the audience. The Turkish dancer spends great energy, stepping with a liveliness that exhilarates the onlooker. She also requires extreme flexibility in order to incorporate practically gymnastic stances. Ozdemir suggests that this extreme expenditure of energy is why Turkish belly dance routines are shorter than Egyptian style routines. He also states that the demands on agility is the reason why Turkish dancers are famous at an early age, while Egyptian dancers don’t hit the age of artistic maturity until their sixties. One thing that he insists upon is that the purpose of the belly dance performance is to be sexual, not just sensual, and to wear costuming that emphasizes each individual dancer’s already perfect figure.
One can argue that sexuality overshadows artistry. It is difficult for more audiences (both Western and Middle Eastern) to appreciate the art form if they are too distracted by sexiness. I wonder if Ozdemir’s perspective of belly dance came entirely from his position as a male in the audience!
Eagerly, I sought out a Turkish woman’s point of view and came upon an out-of-print book entitled “The Belly Dancer in You” written by retired Turkish dancer Ozel Turkbas. Ozel encourages the dancer to maintain her self-respect and treats the dance as something beautiful and spiritual.
Ozel claims that Turkish dancers were responsible for introducing the belly moves to belly dance. She admits that the dance has been exploited by those who “could show—for a good price—women dancing in a manner forbidden to the God-fearing.” This exploitation occurs everywhere, including Turkey. Striptease and belly dance are often intermingled. Sometimes the only way to become famous is for the dancer to pose nude in some publication or to be involved in some sort of public scandal.
Certainly, the emphasis on sexuality is not to be denied when one wears a Turkish style costume. They are usually designed around a beaded bra and panty set. The bra is beautiful but skimpy and risqué. Sometimes the bra is exchanged for decorative “pasties” or simple metallic powder. The contemporary dance belt is worn high, like a French-cut bikini and with it the skirt covers the buttocks yet exposes a complete length of thigh. Overzealous dancers may even remove their skirts while performing. Short veils or capes are often used, and a performer would not be considered a good dancer if she did not play zils (finger cymbals). Turkish dancers need not cover their navels, as do the dancers in Egypt.
As I said before, artistry can be easily overshadowed by sexuality. So putting sexuality aside, was there ever a belly dancers in Turkey that was respected, revered and viewed as an artist? YES!
During the first years of the Turkish Republic, one dancer became quite famous. This was Emine Adalet Pee. She was born in 1909 and started dancing at age 14. She married a German and eventually went to Germany to further her dance career. She danced before royalty and statesmen, performing on stages in America, Egypt and England.
Nergis Mogol followed. Born in 1923, Nergis was three years old when she first appeared on stage. She became famous throughout Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon and Kuwait. Nergis was considered responsible for tutoring the next generation of famous dancers. In the 1950’s, the famous dancers included Nimet Alp, Melike Cermai and Saliha Tekneci.
Ayse Nana shook Istanbul in the end of the 50’s by adding striptease to her dance. Sema Yildiz and Inci Birol were legendary throughout the Middle East and were the stars of the 60’s and 70’s. Sema retired in 1991 with many accolades. Other dancers who hit Turkish fame during this time were Ozcan Tekgul, Leyla Sayar, Birsen Ayda and Zennube. They starred in movies and had songs dedicated to them.
Necla Ates became famous in the U.S. She played in movies and on Broadway and was called the master of the “fire dance”. Ozel Turkbas was featured in 14 Turkish films before she moved to the U.S. In the 70’s, while belly dance was a huge fad, Ozel produced books and music, teaching Americans how to belly dance.
In the 80’s, two of the most beloved artists were Nesrin Topkapi and Princess Banu. Nesrin was the first dancer to perform a show on Turkish TV at a time when belly dancing was banned. She started to teach and was popular with German students who visited Turkey. In the 90’s, Nesrin established a school of oriental dance in Germany. Princess Banu has performed all over the globe and is recognized as the best interpreter of the Egyptian school of dancing. She is a classy dancer with great hips.
Of the popular talent today, there are soloists Sibel Baris and Burcin Orhon. I have seen Sibel Baris dance on DVD, and while her movements are nice, her style is extremely seductive. Burcin Orhon is one of the biggest stars of contemporary belly dance. She is the daughter of a famous Turkish composer. In her youth, Burcin studied ballet and tried out for the national ballet troupe of Turkey. She did not pass the try-outs and sought other means to dance professionally. When she tried oriental dance, she found success. Her ballet training is very prevalent in her dance, trading hip shimmies for highly extended kicks and very wide plie’s.
A trio of dancers known as Mezdeke has also made it big. They are known to never perform without their face veils and are internationally recognized for their CDs, which contain a pop mix of Arabic (not just Turkish) music.
The latest rage in Istanbul is male belly dancing. One of the most well known is Evrim Sultan, who performs almost every night, has been featured on television and has won several awards. Male belly dancing does have roots in the era of the Ottoman Empire, when women were not allowed to perform publicly. Move over ladies, the nightclubs on the Bosphorus are striking a blow for sexual equality for men in belly dance!
Turkish belly dancers today struggle against the morals of a Moslem country. As artists they dare to see how far they can take sensuality into sexuality. Only the most lovely, most agile, most gifted dancers can successfully follow their lead. This article has only introduced some of the top Turkish talent of the past 75 years. The number of skilled artisans is respectfully high. Has the magic of Turkish style belly dance bewitched you yet?
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©2002 Jasmin Jahal