Dance and its Various Conceptions in the Islamic Regions

From the beginning of creation, man adopted art for his spiritual ascension and entertainment and found possibilities for the satisfaction of his soul and the cultivation of knowledge in him. In all these arts, where man touched the limits of perfection in poetry, painting, sculpture, music etc., he also invented dance to harmonize himself with the divine rhythm of nature. Every civilization has its own specific expressions, if we turn the pages of history, we know that dance also took different forms during its inter-civilizational journey.

  Dance's enduring popularity is due to the two-way process of movement and emotion. When a primitive man, overwhelmed with ecstasy, began to dance spontaneously, he repeated the same movement in his spare moments so that his fellows could also share that ecstatic state. Tribal chieftains used dance on hunting and war occasions, and medieval Sufis made it a means of divine revelation. Another reason for the dance's enduring popularity is its close association with both magic and religion. Ancient Australians danced for food and rain which includes both magic and religion. Similarly, the Red Indians of America, especially Arizona and Mexico, dance to invoke rain. Even now in most parts of the world magicians dance after casting spells. Animals and herbs have special involvement in their operations. That is why they wear animal skins and horns, flowers and leaves while dancing.

Another reason for the popularity of dance in ancient times may be that it served certain social purposes. The shared passion of dance brought people closer to each other and connected them to society. We find such scenes in some pictures of prehistoric times as well in which people are seen dancing in a circle holding hands. The continuation of this tradition is also found in the pictures made on Greek vases, in which scenes of row after row of dances are depicted. 

In pre-Islamic Arab countries, tribal Arabs used to organize singing gatherings at the time of various events and participate in dancing themselves. In Islam, dance was not viewed as favorably as painting and music, but when the Islamic government spread and during the reign of Banu Umayyads and especially Banu Abbas, the empire reached from China to Spain, under the Islamic empire of Iran and Turkestan. There were also some regions that had their own traditions of fine arts. Dance was highly developed in Iran in particular, it must have influenced the rulers of this new empire and especially the nobles. 

Apart from this, in the era of Banu Abbas, the Greek and Byzantine sciences and arts as well also greatly influenced the various sectors of the Islamic state. During the excavations in Iraq, the palace of Banu Abbas was found in Samarra. There are pictures of dancing women on the walls of the palaces, which suggests that music as well as dance was  popular in the gatherings of these nobles and women learned this art and entertained the nobles. At that time, there was a celebration in the Caliph's court called Qara. A segment of dance and music was presented in it. Many illustrated books of ancient times also contain pictures of different types of dance. An illustrated copy of Jalaluddin Rumi's Mathnavi is in the British Museum in London.

This manuscript is from 1295 AD. It has many hand drawn pictures. In one image, a dancer is shown dancing in front of a few  state persons. She is accompanied by tambourine and harp players. Men and women are standing around the chiefs with folded hands or carrying food and drink. Folk dances were also practiced in this period, although the purpose was entertainment, but it also gives some social glimpse of that period. These dances were held in a special hall or outside. They were accompanied by music. Many dancers, especially male impersonators, were also skilled. Sometimes these dances were about love, hunting etc.

 A form of pure dance has existed among the Muslims of the Middle East since the 13th century AD. It is called the dance of the dervishes and today it is also performed in nightclubs in the Middle East. These dervishes sit in a circle and start reciting or singing a poem and then slowly stand up and start moving in a circle from east to west, and as the music of the instruments gets faster, their masti and movement also get faster. Interest in dance has not waned in modern times.