Dance Props

Some dance props which are seen in a bellydance performance are historically linked to bellydance and some are not. Four which are authentic are the cane, the candelabra or shamadan, pots, and the dancer’s own hair!

Cane Dances, raks assaya, are authentic Egyptian dances from Southern Egypt. They are a female dancer’s interpretation, sometimes a mocking one, of a men’s martial-art style staff dance called the Tathib.

The shamadan dance, also Egyptian, features a female dancer with a large, lighted candelabra balanced on her head. The shamadan dancer is often seen heading an Egyptian wedding procession, called a zeffa.

Pots as a dance prop, can be attributed to the islands off the south eastern Tunisian coast where dancers balance clay water pots on their heads while dancing.

I wasn’t kidding when I listed the dancer’s own hair in the opening paragraph! Saudi and Gulf Coast countries have their own style of dance called khaleegy. In it, the dancers swing and toss their hair in time to the music.

Many bellydancers today will utilize other props such as veils, chiffon wings, swords, trays balanced on their heads, candles, poi balls, and even hula hoops in their performances! While these make for an interesting performance, and require skill in using them, they are not considered historically linked to bellydance.

In my performances, and you’ll almost always see me using finger cymbals, cane or a veil. Veilwork is more often used by Western bellydancers. That doesn’t mean you won’t see Middle Eastern dancers using a veil in their performances, however it is usually used as an entrance prop and then quickly discarded. Dances that are choreographed for veil, double veil, or the now-popular Wings of Isis are more modern additions to the dance that started outside of the Middle East.