Having glanced, briefly, and as through a glass darkly, at the dance as
it existed in the earliest times of which we have knowledge in the
country whence, through devious and partly obliterated channels, we
derived much of our civilization, let us hastily survey some of its
modern methods in the same region--supplying thereby some small means of
comparison to the reader who may care to note the changes undergone and
the features preserved.
We find the most notable, if not the only, purely Egyptian dancer of our
time in the _Alme_ or _Ghowazee_. The former name is derived from the
original calling of this class--that of reciting poetry to the inmates
of the harem, the latter they acquired by dancing at the festivals of
the Ghors, or Memlooks. Reasonably modest at first, the dancing of the
Alme became, in the course of time, so conspicuously indelicate that
great numbers of the softer sex persuaded themselves to its acquirement
and practice, and a certain viceregal Prude once contracted the powers
of the whole Cairo contingent of Awalim into the pent up Utica of the
town of Esuch, some five hundred miles removed from the viceregal
dissenting eye. For a brief season the order was enforced, then the
sprightly sinners danced out of bounds, and their successors can now be
found by the foreign student of Egyptian morals without the fatigue and
expense of a long journey up the Nile.
The professional dress of the Alme consists of a short embroidered
jacket, fitting closely to the arms and back, but frankly unreserved in
front, long loose trousers of silk sufficiently opaque somewhat to
soften the severity of the lower limbs, a Cashmere shawl bound about the
waist and a light turban of muslin embroidered with gold. The long black
hair, starred with small coins, falls abundantly over the shoulders. The
eyelids are sabled with kohl, and such other paints, oils, varnishes and
dyestuffs are used as the fair one--who is a trifle dark, by the
way--may have proved for herself, or accepted on the superior judgment
of her European sisters. Altogether, the girl's outer and visible aspect
is not unattractive to the eye of the traveler, however faulty to the
eye of the traveler's wife. When about to dance, the Alme puts on a
lighter and more diaphanous dress, eschews her slippers, and with a slow
and measured step advances to the centre of the room--her lithe figure
undulating with a grace peculiarly serpentile. The music is that of a
reed pipe or a tambourine--a number of attendants assisting with
castanets. Perhaps the "argument" of her dance will be a love-passage
with an imaginary young Arab. The coyness of a first meeting by chance,
her gradual warming into passion, their separation, followed by her tears
and dejection the hope of meeting soon again and, finally, the
intoxication of being held once more in his arms--all are delineated
with a fidelity and detail surprising to whatever of judgment the
masculine spectator may have the good fortune to retain.
One of the prime favorites is the "wasp dance," allied to the
Tarantella. Although less pleasing in motive than that described, the
wasp dance gives opportunity for movements of even superior
significance--or, as one may say, suggestures. The girl stands in a
pensive posture, her hands demurely clasped in front, her head poised a
little on one side. Suddenly a wasp is heard to approach, and by her
gestures is seen to have stung her on the breast. She then darts hither
and thither in pursuit of that audacious insect, assuming all manner of
provoking attitudes, until, finally, the wasp having been caught and
miserably exterminated, the girl resumes her innocent smile and modest
pose.