Before They Were Belly Dancers: European Accounts of Female Entertainers in Egypt, 1760-1870

Contents

• Table of Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Preface
• Section One: Background
• 1. On Writing This Book
• 2. Selected Egyptian History—the Study Period
• 3. Writers and Painters in Egypt from 1760 to 1870
• Section Two: Setting the Stage
• 4. A Name for the Dance and a Name for the Dancer
• 5. The Low Reputation of Female Entertainers
• 6. The Geography of Going to the Show
• Section Three: Going to the Show—Professionals at Work
• 7. The Corporation of Female Singers—the Chanteuses
• 8. Identifying the Raqqâsin, Corporation 200
• 9. Identifying the Ghawâzî, Corporation 192
• 10. Male Performers—Dancers and Musicians
• Section Four: The Lives of Female Entertainers
• 11. Relationships with Various Groups in Egyptian Society
• 12. Professional Relationships with the Audience
• 13. Training
• 14. Economic Position of Female Entertainers
• Section Five: Biographies
• 15. Thirty-One Female Dancers and One Male
• Section Six: Gossip, Hearsay, Rumors and Myths
• 16. The Missing ‘Awâlim
• 17. The Massacre of “The Four Hundred”
• 18. Banning the Dance in Muhammad Ali’s Egypt
• 19. Myths of Origins of Female Dancers and Singers
• Section Seven: Building the Aesthetic of Performance
• 20. A Costume Benchmark Set by Edward Lane
• 21. The Musicianship of Dancers
• 22. The Aesthetic of Dance Movements
• Section Eight: Choreography and Performance
• 23. Six Choreographic Elements Basic to the Dance
• 24. Extending the Definition of Choreography
• 25. Three Identifiable Dances
• 26. Accessory Dances
• Epilogue
• Appendix One: Biographical Facts About Selected 18th–and Early 19th-Century Travel Writers and Artists
• Appendix Two: Travelers’ Terms for Female Entertainers: Selected Passages by Date of Travel
• Chapter Notes
• Bibliography
• Index