Isn Belly Dancing like stripping?
The association between bellydance and stripping comes from the fact that in 1893 Algerian dancers (who did not bare their midriff) performed at the World’s Fair with a flexibility that was shocking to Victorian America whose women walked stiffly around in corsets. It was so scandalous that vaudeville owners added “hoochy koochy” dancers to their shows, cashing in on the scandal. These dancers were rarely, if ever, from the Middle East or knew anything of the dance form. As America grew more liberal the dancers had to go farther to shock in order to pull in the crowds. This was the birth of the modern burlesque dancer or stripper, being called “burlesque” dancers because of there inclusion in burlesque variety shows.
