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m I changed it a little more as there are movements ongoing for it so while there might be a historical trend of the Ghawazi dances losing popularity, it is ongoing and could become more practiced
 
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{{Short description|Female dancers for money}}
{{Life in Egypt}}
[[File:شفيقة_القبطية.jpg|thumb|200px250px|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>
The '''Ghawazi''' (also ''ghawazee'') ({{lang-arz|الغوازي}}) is a local practice describing female dancers who dance in return of money; the male version of the practice is described as "khawal". They first started as few Egyptian [[Dom people|Domari]] who refused to dance for free unlike the common habit among all Egypt, then the idea got extensively practiced and got developed among rural Egyptians or ''[[Fellahin]]'', who also developed a more rural and traditional style accompanied by [[Egyptian music|Rural Egyptian songs]] and colorful dresses of the Fellahin and became a theme of Rural Egypt. Over the years, [[Saidi people|Upper Egyptians (''Sa'idis'')]] mastered and then developed a different style of traditional Saidi dancing that's accompanied by Egyptian ''mizmar'' flute and [[Qena]] and [[Assuit]]'s traditional female clothing of ''Telli ''({{lang-arz|تلي)}})'' '', a super silky type of local fabric. That Upper Egyptian style is the most famous, where the dancer is accompanied by a traditional Upper Egyptian Mizmar and a singer singing and narrating folk-songs in "Saidi Arabic" (Upper Egyptian Arabic language) about local hereos and popular love stories in towns.
 
TheTraditional GhawazeeGhawazi dancers are some of the indigenous professional dancers of Egypt. These traditional entertainers are becoming harder andhave harderbecome toless findcommon as time passes. There are main movements and positioning of two of the most popular GhawazeeGhawazi groups that are found in Modernmodern Egypt; the ''Banat Mazin'' ({{lang-langx|arz|بنات مازن}}) of [[Luxor]] and the ''Sumbati Ghawazee'' ({{lang-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>
 
While the performative and traditional ''raqs sharqi'' in [[List of cities and towns in Egypt|urban Egypt]] was more classical and influenced by more formal and classical Western styles such as [[classical ballet]] or [[Latin dance|Latin American dance]], the term ''ghawazi'' in Egypt refers to the dancers in rural Egypt who have preserved the traditional 18th- to 19th-century style.
 
==Name==
[[File:167 Egyptian types and scenes - Arab Dancing Girls.jpg|thumb|[[Postcard]] photograph of two dancing girls posing in a dance costume with the name of "Egyptian types and scenes'' (c. 1900).]]▼
 
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>
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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>
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 gotwere banished because of their low-class dancing. By time the termtime thenof didn'ttheir referbanishment tothe them butterm mainlyhad becamebecome 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.
[[File:Dancer in front of a divan.jpg|thumb|A [[khawal]] slave (dancing boy) dressed in a female dancing costume (c. 1870).]]▼
 
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.
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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.
 
The word ''khawal'' in Egypt is modern detogitoryderogatory slang for a man participating in passive [[gay]] intercourse.
 
==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 thatwho 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 GhawazeeGhawazi troupes wear a shorter version over a full, knee-length skirt. GhawazeeGhawazi 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 richrichly in colorscolored. 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|thumb|[[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|thumb|A [[khawal]] slave (dancing boy) dressed in a female dancing costume (c. 1870).]]
</gallery>
 
==References==
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[[Category:Egyptian clothing]]
[[Category:Belly dance]]
[[Category:Egyptian female dancers|*]]
[[Category:EgyptianCulture cultureof Egypt]]
[[Category:NorthCulture Africanof North cultureAfrica]]
[[Category:MiddleCulture Easternof the Middle cultureEast]]
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