Glossary

General Terms

Alemah - (Arabic) "Learned woman".

Amar. Moon ( Amarain means two moons).

Ana. I, or I am

Assuit. (Pronounced "uh SOOT".) A fabric from Egypt in which tiny bits of metal are attached into net fabric (tulle) to create a design. The Egyptian name means "tulle with metal". The name "assuit" comes from the town where this fabric originated.

Bedleh. (Pronounced "BED luh".) In Arabic, bedleh means "suit". It is the cabaret-style beaded bra and belt style costume that belly dancers wear for most styles of performance.

Beledi Dress. This is a long, floor-length dress, usually made out of natural fibers, with traditional decorations. It is used in folkloric dances.

Choli. (Pronounced "CHOH lee".) This is the short, tight fitted blouse worn under a sari. The choli is a very important costume piece for Tribal Dancers.

Ein. Eye “Habibbi Nour El Ein”, a very popular song meaning ‘Beloved, you are the light in my eye’

Albi. My heart.

Gameela. Pretty or beautiful.

Ghawazee. (Pronounced "guh WAH zee".) This term refers to the tribe of Gypsies that settled in Egypt. They were forced from Cairo in the 1830's, and settled in southern Egypt.

Habibi. (Pronounced "hah BEE bee".) This word means "lover" or "beloved" in Arabic, and appears in many Arabic songs.

Hafla. (Pronounced "HAHF lah".) This basically refers to a party. A private hafla thrown by a belly dancer usually involves Middle Eastern music (sometimes live musicians jamming, sometimes just taped music), dancers taking turns performing for each other, and some open-floor dancing for everyone to get up and enjoy the music. A more public hafla may be effectively a full belly dance festival, with vendors selling their wares and a more formalized stage show.

Harem. From the Arabic "haram" meaning unlawful, protected or forbidden, it was a separate part of the house for the women, where they were isolated/ protected from strangers & only family men could enter.

Henna. A reddish dye made from the leaves of the Henna shrub. Used to dye the skin and hair.

Inshaa Allaah. (pronounced inSHAla) God willing

Kohl - (Egyptian) "Antimony", an inorganic solution which blackens the eye area, use of which is a very ancient practice. Never use Kohl which doesn't come from a well known modern (western) cosmetics company. Anything else might contain lead or something worse!

Leil, or Leilia. Night

Lower Egypt.Refers to the northern part of Egypt, which encompasses the Nile river's delta. The altitude is very close to sea level.

Nar. Fire

Ouled Nail. (Pronounced "WELL ed nah EEL".) Tribe that lived in Algeria.

Rakkas. This Arabic word means, "the male dancer".

Rakkasah. This Arabic word means, "the female dancer". This is also the name of a very famous, very popular annual belly dance festival that is held in Richmond, California (near Oakland).

Saidi. (Pronounced "sah EE dee".) This refers to anything that has to do with the Said region of Egypt. The Said region is also known as "Upper Egypt", and is located in the southern part of the country. Raqs al assaya (the cane dance) originated in the Said.

Shebecka. (Pronounced "shuh BECK kuh".) This is the Egyptian name for the body stocking that is worn with bedleh.

Shamadan. (Arabic/Egyptian) A specially constructed candelabrum which is worn on the head while dancing. Souq. (Pronounced "sook", in which the "oo" sound is like that in the word "root".) It is sometimes spelled Souk, Suq, or Suk. In Arab countries, this is a market place, with row upon row of stalls of vendors selling their wares.

Sultan . (Turkish) An emperor of the Ottoman Empire.

Sufi. (Pronounced "SOO fee".) A sect within Islam focused on philosophy and mysticism. One Sufi form of expression that most Westerners have heard of is the "whirling dervish". The whirling is a form of movement meditation.

Tamra Henna. Means Henna Flower. One of the most popular bellydance songs ever written.

Taverna. (Greek or Turkish) Restaurant that sells alcoholic drinks, tavern.

Thobe. (Pronounced "tobe".) You may also see this spelled Taub. This is the Arabic word for dress. Different styles of thobes are typical of different parts of Arabia.

Um Kulthum. (Pronounced "oom kahl THOOM".) Um Kulthum was a much-beloved vocalist whose songs were very, very popular in Arabic countries. Other spellings for her name include Om Kalsoum, Um Kalthoum, and other variations. She was born around 1904 (the exact date isn't certain), and first became famous around 1928. The 1940's and 1950's became known as the "golden age" of Um Kulthum. She continued recording through the 1960's, and died in 1975.

Upper Egypt. Refers to the southern part of Egypt, also known as the Said.

"Y'Allah". (Arabic) "Oh, God", origin of the Spanish "Ole".

"Ya Lilli Ya Aini". (Arabic) "You are my eyes."

"Ya Noori". (Arabic) "You are my light."

Zaghareet. (Pronounced "zah guh REET".) The zaghareet is a high-pitched ululation done with the tongue. It is a sound of celebration associated with weddings, parties, and other joyful occasions. Within the context of belly dancing, it is a favorite tool for expressing approval for whatever the dancer is doing at the time, and sometimes dancers themselves will zaghareet to express how much fun they're having at the moment.



Middle Eastern Musical Instruments

Dumbek. (Pronounced "DOOM bek".) This is the hourglass-shaped Arabic drum. May also be spelled Dumbec, Doumbek, Doumbec, or Darbuka. Traditionally, dumbeks were made of ceramic, with the head made of either goatskin or fish skin. In modern times, many dumbeks have synthetic heads, and the drum body may be made of metal.

Kanoun. (Pronounced "kuh NOON".) Sometimes spelled Kanun or Qanun. This is a musical instrument, common in Turkey and Arabic countries, which somewhat resembles an autoharp. Its wooden frame is designed to lie flat on a surface such as a table or the performer's lap, and the strings across it are plucked to produce the melody.

Mizmar. (Pronounced "MIZZ mar".) This musical instrument, which resembles a Zurna, produces a loud, blaring sound. It is a member of the oboe family of musical instruments.

Ney. (Pronounced "nay".) This is a traditional instrument used in Turkish and Arabic folk music that resembles a flute both in appearance and sound. Sometimes spelled Nay.

Oud. (Pronounced "ood" where the "oo" sound is like that in "moon".) Sometimes spelled Ud. This is a musical instrument commonly used in Arabic, Turkish, and Armenian music which was the forerunner of the European lute. It has 11 strings and no frets. The melody is produced through plucking the strings.

Riqq. (Pronounced "reek".) This is the Arabic word for tambourine. It is sometimes spelled Riq or Reque.

Sagat. (Pronouced "suh GOT".) This is the Arabic name for finger cymbals, and means "small metal trays". Sometimes spelled Zagat.

Saz. (Pronounced "sahz".) This is a gourd-shaped Turkish stringed instrument, resembling a lute only with a smaller base. It has frets whose positions can be adjusted, enabling the musician to get varying quarter tones. Different maqams require the frets to be set in different positions.

Zills. (Pronounced "ZILLS".) Sometimes spelled Zils. This is the common name for finger cymbals.



Middle Eastern Musical Terms

Al Jeel. (Pronounced "ahl JEEL".) This refers to a style of music popular in Egypt today, which is representative of the students and more mobile youth of Egyptian cities. It's a reaction to Western influence, to new technology, and the universal need of young people to get up and dance.

Awwady. (Pronounced "uh WAHD dee".) In Arabic music, this refers to the free-form improvised instrumental solo that has no underlying rhythm. This is often used for the opening few phrases of music played for a belly dancer, and it is then followed by the fast- or medium-tempo entrance music.

Beledi. (Pronounced "BELL uh dee".) Alternate spellings include Baladi, Beledy, and Balady. In Arabic, people who have relocated from their rural homes to the city would use this word to refer to "my country", "my village", or "my home town. In belly dance circles, the word beledi has several different meanings. Some people, especially in the United States, use this word as another name for the maqsoum rhythm, which is a folkloric rhythm, and asking a musician to play a "beledi" means you're asking for a song based on that rhythm.

Chiftitelli. (Pronounced "shift uh TELL lee".) An alternate spelling is chiftetelli. The word has taken on several meanings. In one of its meanings, it refers to a certain Turkish drum rhythm which is in 8/4 time. There are two primary ways the chiftitelli rhythm may be played--as a fast, spirited, upbeat song, or as a slow, hypnotic, sensuous melody. When belly dancers refer to chiftitelli, they are usually thinking of the slow chiftitelli, which they may use for floor work, balancing, or standing undulations.

Khaleegy. (Pronounced "kuh LEE jee".) Sometimes spelled Khaleeji or Khaliji. In Arabic, this word means "gulf", and belly dancers use it to refer to the style of music and dance from the Persian Gulf/Arabian peninsula area--Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and Oman. It uses a particular rhythm that American musicians and dancers often call "Saudi".

Maqsoum. (Pronounced "mock SOOM".) Also sometimes spelled Maksoom or Maksoum. This is an Arabic musical rhythm, and can also be called Masmoudi Saghir which means "little masmoudi". (There is a different rhythm which is known as "big masmoudi".) In the United States, the maqsoum rhythm is also frequently called "beledi". It is in 4/4 time, which means there are 4 beats to a measure and a quarter note gets one count. When played on a dumbek, it sounds like DOOM DOOM teka tek, DOOM teka tek. The above musical notation describes the maqsoum rhythm, with the DOOM sound falling on the accented notes.

Me-Attaa. (Pronounced "may AHT tah".) In traditional Arabic music, this refers to the question-and-answer that goes back and forth between a melody instrument and a drummer. This generally appears at the beginning of a song, immediately after a very brief opening taxim played by the melodic instrument, and serves as the prelude just before launching fully into the rhythm of the song to come. The word means "broken up bits of music and rhythm.

Shaabi. (Pronounced "SHAH bee".) This refers to a type of modern-day Egyptian music. Shaabi music is the music of the back streets of Cairo, modernized and not necessarily poor, but traditional. It includes woeful cries of mawwal, a vocal improvisation saddening melancholy hearts with themes never straying too far from the pain, torture, suffering, and betrayal that is life.

Taqsim. (Pronounced "tock SEEM".) You may also see it spelled Taksim, Taxsim, Taxim, or Takasim. It is an Arabic word which means "division", and refers to the section of music where a specific instrument is playing a solo. The Arabic taqsim is improvised—in a restricted sense—according to traditional patterns, and is almost never played in the same way twice. Musically speaking, any solo instrument improvising in the Arabic taqsim structure is playing a taqsim, including the drum taqsim that dancers usually call the drum solo.



Middle Eastern Dance Styles

Danse du Ventre. (French) "Dance of the stomach"; used at first to describe one dance of the Ouled Nail of Bou Saada in Algeria, where they manipulated only the abdominal muscles. Later used as a dismissive catch-all for any dance from North Africa or the Near/ Middle East with hip or muscle isolation.

Debke. (Pronounced "DEB kee".) This is a folk dance native to Lebanon. It involves intricate footwork, and often some squats, and is done to folkloric music. The upper body is held in a proud, upright posture with minimal movement.

Raks. (Pronounced "rocks".) This is the Arabic word for "the act of dancing", and is sometimes spelled ‘Raqs’. It usually appears combined with another word that defines what type of dance--for example, Raks Leyla means "Leyla's dance". ("Leyla" is a common Arabic woman's name.)

Raks Al Assaya. (Pronounced "rocks all uh SI yuh", with the "SI" syllable rhyming with "pie".) Sometimes spelled Raqs Al Assaya. This is the Arabic term for the cane dance. This dance originated in southern Egypt, in the region known as the Said or Upper Egypt. Traditionally, in the Said, men carried long sticks with them which they used as weapons, and eventually they evolved a dance (see the entry for Tahtiyb) in which they feigned fighting with these sticks. Women then began dancing with canes as a way of playfully imitating this men's dance, and eventually raks al assaya developed into a distinct women's dance.

Raks Al Shamadan. (Pronounced "rocks all SHAH muh dahn".) This is an Egyptian dance traditionally performed at weddings in which the dancer has a large, ornate candelabrum on her head. "Shamadan" is the Egyptian word for "candelabrum". A nice example of this dance is performed by Alia on the Arabian Melodies video produced by Sphinx Records.

Raks Sharki. (Pronounced "rocks SHARK-ee".) Also sometimes spelled Raqs Sharqi. In Arabic, this means "dance of the East", and refers to cabaret-style belly dance as it is performed in nightclubs in Egypt, Lebanon, and other Arabic countries.

Raksah. (Pronounced "ROCKS ah".) This is the Arabic word referring to a single specific dance.

Raksat. (Pronounced "ROCKS aht.) This means many dances--the plural of Raksah.

Schikhatt. (Pronounced "SHE kaht".) Other valid spellings include Chikhat, Shakhatt, or Shikhatt. The Schikhatt is a particular style of dance which originated in Morocco. Originally, it was an erotic dance with exaggerated hip, stomach, and breast movements used to educate a bride during the pre-wedding festivities on how she will be expected to move in the marriage bed. More recently, the Schikhatt has become a social dance that women do with their families or female friends.

Tahtiyb. (Pronounced "tah TEEB".) It is sometimes spelled Tahtib or Tahteeb. This is a men's dance, done in Upper Egypt (the region in southern Egypt known as the Said). It is a martial arts dance, in which the men enact fighting with the long sticks as a weapon. Raqs al assaya (the cane dance) done by Egyptian women arose as a playful imitation of this men's dance.

Zar. Originally an exorcism ritual from the Sudan, but also popular among the poor of Egypt, involving trance dance possession.

Zeffa. (Pronounced "ZEFF uh".) This term is often used to refer to an Arabic wedding procession. The newly married couple is led into the reception hall in a formal procession to acknowledge their new status. A zeffa frequently is led by a belly dancer. The term can also be used to refer to the musical rhythm that is characteristically used in the music played for these processions.