Defenders of the belly dance tend to define it by what it is not. It is not, they insist, to be found on the list of exotic dance. It is not, they assert, an erotic dance, and it is definitely not a strip tease. In fact the vociferousness of their defense leaves little room for the discussion of what it IS. Some will tell you it is one of the best aerobic exercises around, though its unlikely that the Egyptian dancer Zohair Zaki would sign off on that. One thing we do know, is that once the choreographers of Hollywood got their hands on the belly dance, it quickly evolved into an opportunity to show as much skin and shimmy as the censors would allow. And they showed a lot because, of course, it was more than exotic to them, it was oriental, it was "other". Improvised articulations of the torso.
