View source for Ghawazi

{{Short description|Female dancers for money}}
{{Life in Egypt}}
[[File:شفيقة_القبطية.jpg|thumb|250px|right|[[Shafiqa al-Qibtiyya|Shafiqah]] [[Copts|The Copt]], the most famous, most influential, and the richest-ever Ghazia of Old Egypt.<ref name="annahar">{{citation|url=https://www.annahar.com/arabic/say7at/12092022042605457|title=شفيقة القبطية... أبرع راقصات عصرها|access-date=16 July 2023}}</ref>]]
[[File:Egypte, Groupe de Danseuses Ghawazee.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Egypt]]ian group of Ghawazi dancers(c. 1880)]] '''Ghawazi''' (also ''ghawazee'') ({{langx|arz|الغوازي}}) are female dancers who danced in return for money in public settings, and the streets. There were male dancers as well, including men who performed movements associated with women and who were pejoratively called [[khawal]]. <ref>[https://cairoscene.com/artsandculture/the-origins-of-the-word-khawal]</ref>
Traditional Ghawazi dancers have become less common as time passes. There are main movements and positioning of two of the most popular Ghawazi groups that are found in modern Egypt; the ''Banat Mazin'' ({{langx|arz|بنات مازن}}) of [[Luxor]] and the ''Sumbati Ghawazee'' ({{langx|arz|غوازي السنباطي}}) of the [[Nile Delta]]. The ''Banat Mazin'' are famous for their traditional Upper Egyptian vintage-style costume, so you can see how the movements would be affected by the costuming. The Sagat (finger cymbals), are optional but recommended in the Upper Egyptian/Saidi style.<ref>{{Citation|url=http://journeythroughegypt.com/tag/ghawazee/|title=RAQ-ON DANCE 2017 BELLY DANCE AND FOLKLORIC RETREAT WITH INTERNATIONAL DANCERS LEILA FARID, TAMALYN DALLAL, AND SAHRA SAEEDA}}</ref>
==Name==
The Arabic {{lang|ar|غوازي}} ''ghawāzī'' (singular {{lang|ar|غازية}} ''ghāziya'') means "[[Ghazi (warrior)|conqueror]]", as the ''ghaziya'' is said to "conquer" the hearts of her audience. They were also known as ''awālim'' (singular ''alma'', transliterated almeh in French as ''almée''), but in Egypt, Awalim are the traditional Egyptian dancers and singers of the city, not rural areas, who used to perform in respectable events such as the weddings and festivities of notable people.<ref>{{Citation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VP6ARP2m-D0C&q=almeh+egypt&pg=PA43|title=Debating Orientalism|date=13 June 2013|quote=The Awalim were first introduced as singers not dancers-cum prostitutes, according to Edward William Lane's book, "Manner and Costumes of modern Egyptians " and its description of the profession of the Almah, the Almah didn't display herself at all but sang from behind the screen or from another room at weddings and other respectable festivities|publisher=Anna Bernard, David Attwell|isbn=9781137341112}}</ref>
Both terms are 19th-century [[euphemism]]s for "[[erotic dance]]r";<ref>{{cite book|author=Amelia E. Barr|date=1881|title=Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, Volume 27|chapter=Characteristic Dances of the World|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0UMwAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA334|publisher=J. B. Lippincott and Company|pages=334–335}}</ref> ''almeh'' literally means "learned woman" and came to be used as a replacement for ''ghaziya'' after the ''ghawazi'' were legally banned in 1834.
An [[almeh]] originally was a [[courtesan]] in [[Egyptian culture]], a woman educated to sing and recite classical poetry and to discourse. After the ''ghawazi'' were banned, they were forced to pretend that they were in fact ''awalim''. The term ''almeh'' was introduced in French [[Orientalism]] as ''almée'' and used synonymously with "belly dancer".<ref>{{cite book|author=Stavros Stavrou Karayanni|date=2006|title=Dancing Fear and Desire: Race, Sexuality, and Imperial Politics in Middle Eastern Dance|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=InjIw3lWQTUC&pg=PA29|publisher=Wilfrid Laurier University Press|pages=28–29|isbn=0-88920-454-3}}</ref>
==History==
In 1834, the ghawazi were banished from [[Cairo]] to [[Upper Egypt]] by [[Muhammad Ali of Egypt|Muhammad Ali]]. Initially, the Ghawazi were a very small group who were banished because of their low-class dancing. By the time of their banishment the term had become a general term for any dancers as it included all the traditional and folk dances of Rural and Upper Egyptians, mainly featuring [[Mizmar (instrument)|mizmar]]s and heavy bass lines and other traditional [[Egyptian music]] in the background.<ref>[http://williamhpeck.org/the_dancer_of_esna William H. Peck, ''The Dancer of Esna'' (2003)]</ref>
Beginning in the first half of the 19th century, descriptions and depictions of ghawazi dancers became famous in European Orientalism, and the style was described as ''danse de ventre'' or belly-dance from the 1860s.
The first Ghawazis performed unveiled in the streets. Rapid hip movement and use of brass finger cymbals/hand [[castanets]] characterized their dance. Musicians of their tribe usually accompanied them in their dance. They usually wore [[Kohl (cosmetics)|kohl]] around their eyes and [[henna]] on their fingers, palms, toes and feet.
The Ghawazi performed in the court of a house, or in the street, before the door, on certain occasions of festivity in the [[harem]]. They were never admitted into a respectable harem, but were frequently hired to entertain a party of men in the house of some rake. Both women and men enjoyed their entertainment. However, many people who were more religious, or of the higher classes, disapproved of them.
Many people liked the dancing of the Ghawazi, but felt it was improper because of its being danced by women who should not expose themselves in this manner. Because of this, there was a small number of young male performers called [[Khawal]]s. The Khawals were Egyptian male traditional dancers who impersonated the women of the Ghawazi and their dance. They were known to impersonate every aspect of the women including their dance and use of castanets.
==Contemporary practitioners==
Representing diverse historical backgrounds, most of the Ghawazi of the [[Qena]] region belong to ethnic minorities such as the Nawar (or Nawara), Halab and Bahlawen.
Particularly well known are the Banat Maazin family, Nawar people who settled in [[Luxor]] and were filmed in the 70s and 80s. Many consider the Maazin family to be the only practicing family left of the original line of Ghawazi dancers.
==Influence on Western belly-dance==
{{further|Belly dance#Outside the Middle East}}
The style of dance and costuming of the Ghawazi has been especially influential in crafting the look of [[American Tribal Style Belly Dance]]. The Gypsy Ghawazi dress consists of an [[Ottoman clothing|Ottoman coat]] with slits, known as a [[Jelick|Yelek]] or entari. The abdomen is covered by these coats. Turkish [[harem pants]] are worn under these coats. The coats are typically ankle-length, though some modern Ghawazi troupes wear a shorter version over a full, knee-length skirt. Ghawazi dancers often adorn their heads with elaborate headresses, with dancers often accompanying themselves by playing [[zill|zils]], or small cymbals that are used by dancers in many forms of [[Middle Eastern dance]].
The [[Egyptians|Egyptian]] Ghawazi costumes worn by rural and upper Egyptians are more richly colored. In [[Fellah|Rural Egypt]], the traditional female dancing dress is floral and fluffy; the dancers typically choose different colors, each dancer usually wearing a different color from the one next to her.
In the [[Upper Egypt|Upper Egyptian]] style, the dancers wear the popular Saidi Telli dress, a black and glittery traditional Egyptian dress. The main dancers are accompanied by Saidi music, mainly the Egyptian flute and traditional Saidi songs narrating stories about the beauty of [[Qena]], [[Assuit]], [[Minya, Egypt|Minya]] and their traditions.
==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:167 Egyptian types and scenes - Arab Dancing Girls.jpg|[[Postcard]] photograph of two dancing girls posing in a dance costume with the name of "Egyptian types and scenes"  (c. 1900).
File:Dancer in front of a divan.jpg|A [[khawal]] slave (dancing boy) dressed in a female dancing costume (c. 1870).
</gallery>
==References==
{{reflist}}
==Further reading==
*Karin van Nieuwkerk, “Changing Images and Shifting Identities: Female Performers in Egypt” pp 136–143 in ''Moving History/Dancing Cultures: A Dance History Reader'' (2001), Dils, Ann and Ann Cooper Albright (eds) Wesleyan University Press, Durham, North Carolina, {{ISBN|0-8195-6412-5}}
{{Commonscat|Ghawazee}}
[[Category:Egyptian folklore]]
[[Category:Upper Egypt]]
[[Category:Egyptian dances]]
[[Category:Egyptian dancers]]
[[Category:Egyptian clothing]]
[[Category:Belly dance]]
[[Category:Egyptian female dancers|*]]
[[Category:Culture of Egypt]]
[[Category:Culture of North Africa]]
[[Category:Culture of the Middle East]]