“Historic Roots and A New Exotic” by Aubre Hill

The sun is intense as we walk down dusty paths, exploring craft booths, distracted by jugglers, watching staged debauchery, and meandering among the ten thousand people visiting the Original Renaissance Pleasure Faire. We finally make our way to the Merchant’s stage just as the drums begin and the rhythmic sound of finger cymbals announce the “bellydancers”. Six ornately dressed dancers shimmy through the audience, glide onto the stage, and begin weaving a story of far off lands and exotic places.
            It is officially faire season. Over twenty acres of the Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area in Irwindale, California have been transformed into a 15th century English town including over 30 stages, hundreds of booths and vendors, and a maze of walkways full of history and fantasy brought to life. Originally started 59 years ago, the first Renaissance Pleasure Faire & May Market was the idea of Phyllis Patterson, a local schoolteacher, to create more art education opportunities. Over the decades, faire developed into a subculture of people interested in craft resurgence, vaudevillian style performances, and historic fantasy while expanding into a network of events across the country. From the beginning, “bellydancers” were a popular faire act and frequently people’s introduce to the dance form even though it has no roots in Renaissance history. Adding to this complexity, the music, costuming, and movements are often a mix of influences having little to do with the Renaissance nor Middle Eastern culture where the dance originated. How did this dance form become such an integral part of the Renaissance Faire experience?
Diane Webber was the famous dancer of the Original Renaissance Pleasure Faire. Two-time Playboy centerfold and outspoken nudist, Webber was an icon of 1960s counterculture. This movement celebrated sexual freedom and expression from the stark reserve of the Victorian era. The ‘60s were also a time of increased curiosity about different cultures and a growing number of Middle Eastern restaurants and nightclubs which highlighted dance performances as nightly entertainment. Middle Eastern dance became the perfect vehicle for this new feminist movement. “‪The east came to represent ‪freedom, the exotic, beauty, and simplicity in the minds of ‪Westerners. Furthermore, the American public’s interest in diverse ‪spiritual paths continued to grow, and it has been argued that images ‪of the ‘‘mystic East’’ assisted Americans with spiritual needs Western ‪religions were not meeting,” stated Rachel Kraus, sociologist.
Within a few years of the first faire, Webber created Perfumes of Araby, as a large dance ensemble and band sometimes including up to forty members that would perform regularly at faire until 1973. With growing recognition and popularity, the faire decided to offer strictly English style entertainment banning “bellydancers” from the stages. This did not last long however, and by the following year the dancers were back with some modest costume changes. Bellies were covered to appeal to the growing need for historic realism although not much else was altered. “Bellydance” popularity expanded into the mainstream. By 1979, ABC’s news show 20/20 reported over one million women in the United States were attending “bellydance” classes.
            In this landscape, Renaissance faires were a great venue for the orientalist and exotified form of “bellydance”. While some fair goers were exploring history, most were enticed by the mystery and allure of the exotic whether mead slinging peasants, medieval knights, or serpentine dancers. “It’s the new vaudeville,” said one faire performer. While “bellydance” was empowering American women, this representation deepened the concepts of the occident/orient dichotomy. Few scholars have researched this phenomenon, most notably Jennifer Lynn Haynes-Clark. “Much of the invented tradition of American belly dance relies on the appropriation of elements from other cultures perceived to be “exotic,” based on a belief in a so-called American right to fuse fragmentary aspects of cultures.” Today’s faire “bellydancer” is often seen wearing a fusion of costuming from India, Egypt, and Spain in a bohemian vision reminiscent of the early flower child performers.
            As Renaissance faires examine their practices of inclusion and accessibility, historic accuracy has become a compass for unpacking the fantastical nature of past faires. “OK – you might find yourself asking this: just exactly what does belly dancing have to do with the Renaissance in Europe? Who cares? Use your imagination! Or go sit under a tree and have somebody play “Greensleeves” for you on a hammer dulcimer, and let the rest of us have our fun,” said Scott Pearce, one of the many whom grew up in the faire community. Although faires across the U.S. are taking different approaches, Pearce’s sentiments are not the dominating one. A growing desire to understand the connection of the Renaissance period and “bellydance” however is.
            Since “bellydance” is generally a collage of many cultural influences, this is a complex question although the orientalist perspective can give us some historic elements to investigate. The orient is defined differently through time but generally encompasses parts of Asia and the Middle East. These regions are historically connected through the Silk Road and the Romani Trail.
            The Silk Road refers to a collection of trade routes from China to the Middle East and Europe over land and sea from 130 B.C.E to 1453 C.E. These exchanges were responsible for introducing a wide range of precious metals, silk, spices, tea, ivory, cotton, wool, and culture. Although England was not specifically part of the Silk Road, this started Europe’s fascination with the East conjuring images of lush fabrics, rich living, and exotic otherness.
            The Romani Trail was a multi-generational migration of Roma from India across the Middle East and into Europe from the 9th to 18th century. This migration created much cultural exchange as families settling along the way, sharing their arts and integrating local traditions. By the 14th century, Roma migration reached England and thus is one of the first physical markers of historic connection from the orient to the British Isle. It is worth noting, Britain’s early imperial roots begin shortly after in 1490 or the 1600s depending on the source.
            Historically then by the 15th century, it is quite feasible that an English town would have Roma performing artists and a fascination with the east. Thus, a Roma based dance with orientalist elements to entice and please the English audience into tipping is probably the most likely scenario of any historic accuracy.
            On this warm spring day, the stage is full of dancers wearing an assortment of colorful skirts, tassel belts, brocade vests, coin bras, and a wild arrangement of fabric, flowers, and jewelry. It is more a vision of bohemian creativity than Roma anything. The atari/chemise long dress is accurate to what would be worn in the Ottoman empire at this time, although it certainly was not slit up to the ribcage. That 1960s body liberation is hard to shake from the dance even though current conversations about female empowerment have gone through many evolutions. The vest is historically accurate to this time period as well as it was the main chest support before the invention of the bra in 1910s. It is mainly the decoration that gets fantastical from camel tassels, belly drapes (a piece of jewelry created to decorate and accentual belly movements), to turban like headwraps.
            A closer look turns bewilderment of the fantasy to antipathy as you notice the dancers are wearing facial tattoos (ouchem, the Amazigh term for these tribal markings that denote specific familial lineage), bindis (a Hindu marker of religious significance), and dreadlocks (a specific black cultural marker of political and spiritual meaning). These identity markers are signifiers of overcoming persecution, oppression, and racism. To wear them when they are outside of your personal experience is to trivialize this hardship as simple décor. This practice of cultural appropriation is misguided as audiences become more diverse and through technology our world more connected and accessible.
            In a post 9/11 world with increased Islamophobia and hate crimes, it is time for faire “bellydancers” to examine who they are portraying and how that representation perpetuates stereotypes and othering. “Bellydance” has become a source of healing and harm. In our increasingly global society, it is imperative to examine the role dance has had in perpetuating orientalist concepts. This dance gave American women a safe space to explore self-expression that was liberating in the ‘60s and ‘70s and is now creating restrictions on our concepts of gender, sexuality, and freedom.
            Unknown history is bound to repeat, and we are again repeating our exotification of the dance. Looking at this costuming and the fusion of dance moves, it is difficult not to connect exotic with anything outside of a white Euro-centric identity. This exotification is even stranger when you take into account the diversity of the dancers and audience. Mainstream is no longer white nor Euro-centric. As performing artists, and even as street hustlers, why continue to pander to an antiquated narrative? In an era of vast perspectives couldn’t historic accuracy be the new exotic?

Researched & Written by Aubre Hill. Full copyright to Aubre Hill. Quote with credit.