Thank you for your comments regarding what I have called the Male Belly Dance and to which you kindly refer.
I do appreciate any information that can add to my own knowledge of the subject and I hope my response here may lead to our further exchange of views as time goes on. There are many aspects of Oriental dance that I am intrigued by and I approach the topic with an open mind and a desire to be unambiguously accurate in whatever i commit to writing. I assume that you have have origins with the Middle East that I do not, so I’m pleased to gain your insights.

Without wishing to appear overly defensive, after re- reading my article I do believe that, that the statements made are generally correct, in accordance with my stated purpose which is ” . . . to provide general information on aspects of the Belly dance, also known as Oriental dance, Raqs baladi, Raqs sharqi”, and I did mention that in the Middle East there is a long history of appreciation and enjoyment of male belly dance. The focus of that particular short article was, of course, the male side of dancing, and in the other posts I tried to cover the more popular notions of mainly female exponents of the dances, but mentioning the family participation as well.

Short articles such as those appearing on this blogsite do not allow a very thorough look at this important and joyful cultural activity — surely we all love to dance and react to the rhythms of drumming and instrumental music. There is so much more I would like to have said, but then again, it is always nice to leave something for next time, don’t you agree?

Perhaps you will follow with other insights that might be of interest on which we could exchange views.

Regards, Jim Robinson.

I’m new to the blogging sphere, perhaps you could acknowledge receipt of my reply with a simple message back saying “message Received” — just so I know I’ve done it right.

Some men did dress as women, but there were several reasons for that: Some of those men were what we would call transexuals today. They didn’t only dress as women when performing, they Lived as women off stage in their real lives. Dancing was the only type of work they could find to support themselves. Some men dressed as women for comedic effect, just as male entertainers and actors still do in our society today. Back then, dancers wore many hats and were part of entertainment troupes. They did everything from acting, singing, comedy and dancing. So if there was a musical skit that required a female role, they did it.

The outfit most commonly worn was not female dress, but a costume consisting of a shirt, vest and a wide skirt over trousers. Women back then wore what we call harem pants. It was a costume made for dramatic effect. The male dancers called kochecs are still found in Turkey, and the traditional dancers in Tunisia are still around, both wear variations of the same type of costume. The reality of the situation is far more complex that what was reported in the past, or what is passed on today based on misinformation and half truths of the past.