Abdominal Dance

Abdominal dancing is a type of dance based on swinging, stylised movement of the rectus abdominis, and is generally performed by women. Modern forms include belly dancing, hootchie-kootchie, and the danse du ventre, but early forms include the pelvic roll, so named because the movement also includes the pelvic region. In Asia, the dance is said to be symbolic of the "mystery and pain of motherhood", and the western idea of it being merely a sexy dance is a corruption of its true purpose.Unknown. (1972). "Abdominal dance", in Leach, M. (ed) Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology and Legend. 3rd ed. p.3
The dance was originally a fertility dance. The miming of a sexual act and the emphasis of the child-bearing part of the body were supposed to invoke a sympathetic magic to increase fertility and make offspring healthier.
== References ==
Category:Funk & Wagnalls Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology and Legend
Category:Rituals
Category:Dances