Dancing the Numinous: Sacred and Spiritual Techniques of Contemporary American Belly Dancers

In this paper, I explore how contemporary American practitioners of belly dance (as Middle Eastern dance and its many varieties are often called in the English-speaking world) conceptualize not only the spiritual dimensions of their dance, but also how the very notion of performance affects sacred a...

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Main Author: Jeana Jorgensen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Sciendo 2013-01-01
Series:Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.jef.ee/index.php/journal/article/view/96
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author Jeana Jorgensen
author_facet Jeana Jorgensen
author_sort Jeana Jorgensen
collection DOAJ
description In this paper, I explore how contemporary American practitioners of belly dance (as Middle Eastern dance and its many varieties are often called in the English-speaking world) conceptualize not only the spiritual dimensions of their dance, but also how the very notion of performance affects sacred and spiritual dance practices. Drawing on interviews with this community, I describe the techniques of sacred and spiritual belly dancers, how these dancers theorize performance, and how the conflicts inherent to patriarchal mind-body dualism are resolved in these practices. My purpose here is twofold: to document an emergent dance tradition and to analyze its meanings in the relevant social context.
format Article
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institution Kabale University
issn 1736-6518
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publishDate 2013-01-01
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series Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics
spelling doaj-art-499a44543062427fad0156dc4d5fcc012025-02-02T06:30:52ZengSciendoJournal of Ethnology and Folkloristics1736-65182228-09872013-01-016232886Dancing the Numinous: Sacred and Spiritual Techniques of Contemporary American Belly DancersJeana Jorgensen0Indiana UniversityIn this paper, I explore how contemporary American practitioners of belly dance (as Middle Eastern dance and its many varieties are often called in the English-speaking world) conceptualize not only the spiritual dimensions of their dance, but also how the very notion of performance affects sacred and spiritual dance practices. Drawing on interviews with this community, I describe the techniques of sacred and spiritual belly dancers, how these dancers theorize performance, and how the conflicts inherent to patriarchal mind-body dualism are resolved in these practices. My purpose here is twofold: to document an emergent dance tradition and to analyze its meanings in the relevant social context.https://www.jef.ee/index.php/journal/article/view/96dancebelly dancespiritualitysacred dancefeminism
spellingShingle Jeana Jorgensen
Dancing the Numinous: Sacred and Spiritual Techniques of Contemporary American Belly Dancers
Journal of Ethnology and Folkloristics
dance
belly dance
spirituality
sacred dance
feminism
title Dancing the Numinous: Sacred and Spiritual Techniques of Contemporary American Belly Dancers
title_full Dancing the Numinous: Sacred and Spiritual Techniques of Contemporary American Belly Dancers
title_fullStr Dancing the Numinous: Sacred and Spiritual Techniques of Contemporary American Belly Dancers
title_full_unstemmed Dancing the Numinous: Sacred and Spiritual Techniques of Contemporary American Belly Dancers
title_short Dancing the Numinous: Sacred and Spiritual Techniques of Contemporary American Belly Dancers
title_sort dancing the numinous sacred and spiritual techniques of contemporary american belly dancers
topic dance
belly dance
spirituality
sacred dance
feminism
url https://www.jef.ee/index.php/journal/article/view/96
work_keys_str_mv AT jeanajorgensen dancingthenuminoussacredandspiritualtechniquesofcontemporaryamericanbellydancers