Shall We Dance? International Belly Dance Festival Enthralls Mumbaikars

The city is witnessing the eighth edition of the International Belly Dance Festival — a comeback after six years. Today marks the closing gala of the event which started on September 26. The festival celebrates belly dancing as an art form and aims to educate people about this classical dance form from Egypt. It underscores that it is not just something to be associated with Bollywood and item songs.

Payal Gupta, 36, show organiser, aims to ensure the city understands the artistry behind belly dancing through the festival.

“My intention here is to separate Bollywood from belly dancing. Here (in Mumbai) the perception that people have about belly dancing is majorly coming from Bollywood. From the movies and item songs. This festival aims to change people’s mindset about belly dancing because it is an ancient classical dance form from Egypt. There it is something which is practiced for years with technique and not just done for a movie and then people forget about it,” says Gupta.

Gupta started her journey as a belly dancer over 18 years ago and she aims to make people aware of this classical dance form from the Middle East. “So the artistry that comes with this dance form is what people don’t know about. That’s one of the changes I would like to bring here. This is the exposure I want to give through this festival,” she adds. 

Dancers at International Belly Dance Festival

Through the festival, belly dancers in India get an opportunity to mingle with the community, learn through workshops, and be a part of the competition, which is otherwise rare to find in India to date.

Belly dance, also known as raqs sharqi in Arabic, is a centuries-old dance form with roots in the Middle East, North Africa, and Mediterranean regions. It is often characterised by intricate hip and torso movements. Belly dancing is now a recognised art form in India today and has gained traction over time. A large number of people are getting attracted to it.

Dancers at International Belly Dance Festival Dancers at International Belly Dance Festival

However, not many know about the artistry behind the art form. They just believe what they see on screen. The beauty of it is still hidden and festivals like these aim to bring that out.

Priyanka Roy, 30, Mumbai, one of the performers at the festival says, “2018 edition I was sitting in the audience and I was like I can’t wait to be performing one day. I was learning with Payal at that time. Cut to today I am a performer there. So it is a very humbling feeling. I have done a solo at the opening gala. I am performing with my team at the closing gala.”

Roy who is a trained Kathak dancer never thought that one day she would select belly dancing as her niche. “And then life happened. I entered a class of belly dancing and trained with a couple of people. And now I am fully into this dance form. You can draw parallels to most of the dance forms even when it is Indian.”

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She also shared that belly dancing connected her to herself on difficult days. “I have practised in full pregnancy as well. A week before giving birth to my child, I was belly dancing so it made me feel like I don’t need to have a perfect body to do belly dancing.”

Gupta also shared that she even performed live during her pregnancy. Talking about Roy’s performance, she performed solo at the opening gala and will be performing with her group to grace the closing gala of the event.

Smriti, another performer at the closing gala, hails from Hyderabad and works in a marketing firm. She shares, “I started belly dancing a decade back. We have two shows at the closing gala this time and we are excited about it. We are performing in a group of 15 people plus and it is going to be wonderful.”

Belly dance continues to evolve, with many dancers integrating elements of modern dance, hip-hop, flamenco, and other styles. Fusion belly dance has become popular worldwide.

Contrary to the common belief that belly dancing is only for women, the festival saw quite a few men perform on stage and attend the workshops.

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In recent decades, belly dance has experienced a resurgence, with dancers from across the globe adding their spin. Performing at the festival is a charm for these belly dancers as they believe that only in such festivals are people who appreciate and understand the art behind the dance form. “We are putting in hours, costumes, training and then you just perform live. I just wish that effort would be visible on the stage,” Roy informs.

Through an array of master classes, workshops, thrilling competitions, and enchanting gala shows, not only the present but also the future of belly dance is nurtured in the festival. Over 100 Belly dancers, students, professionals, artists and enthusiasts have participated and performed collectively at the festival with three international performers as well.