Men in Raqs

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Men do and have always participated in raqs.

They might dance at home or at parties, in the casual style, as you can see from these Egyptian policemen. Dance might also happen in women's only spaces, but that doesn't mean it isn't also happen in men's or in mixed spaces.

Some artists keep older styles alive in performances, such as these Turkish men dancing in the Köçkek style, attributed to the Ottoman era, which admittedly is a long span of time. I believe this is now considered a dirty word, although it wasn't back in the day. The modern Turkish term is zenie. Click for an under 2min report on the zenie trend.

One famous story goes that, during the 1500s, the dancing boys were so popular with soldiers that fights over their attention caused such a disruption to military disciple that the Ottoman sultan banished the dancing men. There is *speculation* that they went to Egypt, which was part of the Ottoman Empire at the time, and filled in for the Awalim and Ghawazee who had recently been banished from Cairo. The story goes that, since the government had a much easier time getting the female dancers to pay their taxes than men, the female dancers were able to return.

Remember that, being under Ottoman rule, Egyptian upperclass fashions, including for entertainment, followed what was fashionable in Turkey. In all cases, there have been periods where male dancers were the fashion, since men did not experience quite the same stigma against public preforming as women (although it was never a high-class job for any gender).

In the US, male dancers often receive privilege within the community due to their relative rarity, although they are also discriminated against in other ways, such as not fitting the show-biz image of a bellydancer. Men were part of the Am-cab boom, including as teachers.

From Am-Cab, men also participated in the formation and development of various fusion styles. Drake Von Trapp has a course specifically about the history of male bellydancers, with great insights into the history of male dancers in the US and in the countries of origin, if you want to learn more than this overview article covers.

In the modern world, the public has developed an association between male dancers and homosexuality, which can make life difficult for them in conservative societies. Ironic, given that older versions of conservatism preferred men performing for men and women performing for women.

In some cases, men contain themselves to performing more masculine styles of folklore. You might also hear people trying to separate masculine ways of performing raqs from feminine ways, but the movement really is all the same.

In Egypt, many male dancers would rather make their living on the festival circuit, since life can be easier abroad. In Turkey, Ottoman nostalgia is making male dancers more popular, although it is coinciding with increased homophobia. Of course, a love of dance, sexuality, and gender identity are three different and unrelated things that can exist in one person in any combination.

To the left is Dutch dancer Rashid, and below is Turkish dancer living in the UK, Ozgen. I had to fit them both in here somewhere!