, 1874-04-12
TILE DANCING.GIRLS OF EGYPT.
L Lively Description by Charles G..
Leland.

|
| pious, the Oldest and the coolest, cannot foregt
this bit of temptation SO they get themselvc
| earnestly assured by their dragoman, or, bette
| still. BY some gentleman Of acknowledged higl
] cLaracter,-l possible from Boston,-tlat there
I is really nothing in her performance which woult
call blush, etc. 1t is better still it Mr. Higl
| Character grayely ASSURES them that in fact he
| found it very stupid and the Ghawazi very ugly
All Of this is most thankfully accepted, for. adj
mittingit in full, the dancers still improper
| which has charm beyond beauty OF grace; and
however good z man may be, he is seldom willing
! to admit he did not sec 1t, and knows nothing
| directly shout it. Hardened worldlings who fre-
| quent the regular ballet are not 80 deeply dis
gusted with tho Ghazien, 1or do they find her &c
altogether stupid or so invariably ugly.
llos. Of the uancing Of the GhaWazi is inditfcr-
ont enough 1t H. -however, remarkable TINT
what skill they do exhibit, even under these cir
cuustances, is seldom appreciated: for the
1ulleat OF them generally affect muscular feats,
snch as one never sees in tho West, got which
are not directly perceptib1e. They all seem to
have the power Of moving any part OF the body
freely Just as certain persons can move their
ears; and it is wonderful how they will continue
to aG1tate every muscle in the most violent
and rapid manner for hours, quiverlng from
head to foot rs If electrified, without being in
the least fatigued, and, what is Incredible with
out perspirng.
1 only once saw Ghayazi dancing, which WAS,
in the opinion Of nat!ve gentlemen. and Of
country. and had full opportunities Of Judging,
of really superior and artistic character. This
was q Girgch. There were two girls one quite
pretty aud Young, the other 1eas attractive, bus
rather the better dancer.
These dancing girls were dressed in long
skirts, ono over the other, rcach:n9 to the ankle,
the upper garment being Of q whitish yellow or
reddish color. Tho body and arms were clad in
very dark. tightly-dtting che1nise. with white
stripes, half an inch broad. about two inches
apart, looking tiger-ike: Over this was worn 4
very tight jacket OF red satin, very short in the
waist, with tigh. short sleeves. On their
heads wero curiously shaped caps, and
tLeir hair hung in long braids. Around
tho waist was silver girdle with high
bosses; and dependent from it in looms WAS q
very curious and massive ornament or chain.
made Of eight ten triangular silver boxes and
many large silver beads. 4 profusion OF gold
necklaces, coins, and other ornaments hung from
the neck ard head. Other Ghawazi ut different
towns wore dresses very different from this At
one p}ace their garments were Of black from
head to foot, with siyer strlpes while the braids
OF hair weIe very prettily made. terminating IN
many silver balls. At Stout I saw one whose
only oruan ents wero an incredible quantity of
gold coins OF all sizes.
The first dancing Of all GI1awazi is simply NOV
ing shout to the music and unonlnting the body.
Then waves Ut motion are made to run from
head to foot, and over these waves pnaB With
incredible rapidity the ripples and thrills, as you
have seen great billow in q breeze look Ike
smaller sea rbbod with a thousand wavelets-
All is donc in perfect time with the music.
Then the air changes and there is q variation in
the dance. The girl atopH-she becomes i'm
movable below tho body and moves only the
body above, rocking and swaying, expressive Of
suffering from intense passion. At times. md
in time with the music, conFulslon thrills
the waist, arms, and head, and sometimes
the muscles. She becomes quiet; but il you OBJ
serve closely the movement passion and e1er-
mot int Hy1f34 HE$0
tnue to movo as il vitality remained in them
alone; perhaps only ono throbs violently
There is another change. and the dancer sinks
slowly almost to her knees, as It overpowered
with passion, while the arms sweep III singular
but graceful gestures. Perhaps sho "wayes"
alowly in walking Dance moving the lower part
of, her body forward more and more with q Wig
orous quiyering, and once in ten seconds start
ing with o convu]sion which gradually becomes
moro frequent until she apparently yields and
expires.
The girl at Girgeh performed 4 very pretty
dance, which was quite poem. Placing cup,
symbolic Of temptation. On the ground, she
danced around it in style which w.4 perfectly
great grace and exquisite nrt- Tho cup ap-
peared to exercise terrible fascination, and she
seemed afraid to drain it. The fear was per
fectly acted. Five times without mid from her
arms she almost lay on the ground, with hor
thirsty lips just danring with the edge, and thon
rising swept in dance and thrilled aud ahivered.
and turned and fank again. The sixth time size
hed completed CIRCLE and no longer able to re-
slst, she approached the cup with throbs and
pauses, and then without using her hand lifted
it from the ground with her lips a1ono, draining
it as she rose and the tragedy OF temptation being
over, merrily danced about the room in quick
etep, with her head thrown back holding the cup
all the time in her mouth.
Then the elder girl pIaced = cup on her head,
and danced for a long time q g.eat variety OF
tTitHNnt 1af IN fha
done in turn by the younger. I did not SEQ,
however, my fellow travellers did on another
occasion, dancing girls who while dancing made
cups run from tie head down the side OF tho
face, along the armB and back. as q skilled Her
cules in q circus makes cannon balls t~avel
around him. This is, however, rather juggling
t. han dancing. Sometimes etch is used IN
these performances. Sometimes tho two girls
dance duo; and hare seeu this 1nado quite Gu
improper, though not 60 aickly sentimental, as in
any opera-house in Europe, when the ballerina
falls back into the male objects arms, eycing
him with leering emile, while she lfts one leg
to the gallery.
There are 'Awalim and 'Awalirn, and Ghnwazi
and Ghawazl. Some ere mere peasant glrls who
work by day and dance by night; and others are
low caste, and dance coarse1y, with male Jester
taking occasional part in the performance as
saw at Luxor. an told that tho best are to be
seen in Cairo. in the grand harems on great
festival occaaiona. Their etyle OF dancing il the
same that prevails, with variation, nu over tho
East, and the great difference between it and
that of the West is simply that the one consists
principally OF expressive movements and pgnto-
mime OF the body, while the latter ~ chiefly
difference in their dancing aud ours that there
ID in the music and the Oriental ia p;lysicaIly
quite as difficult as the other.
When I Tas on the Nile, gave the Ghavazi
the name ''WaverB," as expressive OF their
movements. Long may they Wavei