Dance like the Egyptian danced with the boy. Folk oriental dances

Egypt has a rich dance history, dating from the ancient dances of the pharaohs to the twentieth-century urban folklore style of "baladi" and modern "oriental" dance. Egypt has many provincial folk dance styles.

If we talk only about belly dancing, the Egyptians call this style “oriental” or “raqs sharqi”, which means “dance of the east”. Modern Egyptian belly dancing is constantly influenced by other dances and is often mixed with ballet and cabaret dancing.

Wonderful versions of various Egyptian dances are currently extremely popular. Their popularity extends not only to the countries of the Arab world, but is also very high in other countries of the world, including the USA and Russia. These are mainly women's dances aimed at the attention of men.

Maybe that's why they have the strongest energetic internal substance. Many modern dances have incorporated various elements of Arabic dances. Belly dancing is especially popular. This dance has over fifty different variations of performance with characteristic national features.

Very beneficial for the health of people who use it. This dance also gives a joyful feeling of indescribable pleasure from movements, a feeling of the joy of life. Not only Bellydance, but also other Arabic dances enjoy constant success. Arabic almey dances are also widespread in Egypt, which have come down to modern world from ancient Egypt during the New Kingdom era. This Arabic dance is based on the suffering and empathy of lovers. Other types occurring in modern Egypt with more ancient origins are the "Ghawazi" and the "wasp dance". "Gavazi" is very erotic dance. A woman in dance conveys love in her body movements from an awakening state to delight. The dance of passion called the “dance of the wasp” is of a similar direction. During the dance, the dancer tears off parts of her clothes until she is completely naked, accompanying the dance with the cry of “wasp.” Elements of Arabic dances, as a result of interpenetration, formed and are forming other types of dances. This was the case with the emergence of the Spanish flamenco dance. He took a lot of belly dance elements. And Arabic dances took elements of both Spanish and gypsy dances into their performance. To make Arabic dances shine bright colors it was necessary for the artist to pick up a brush, and that is precisely what modern professional choreographers are, adapting Arabic dances in a modern way. A lot of people like what happens as a result. Therefore, the popularity of Arabic dances is now at its height. Oriental dances confidently march on dance floors around the world. Arabic dances can be observed both on the stage and in nightclubs and discos.

Raks Sharki ("Raks Sharki") translated from Arabic means “Dance of the East”, or simply “Oriental dance”. It exists in various forms throughout the Middle East and North Africa, but most of all it flourished and developed in Egypt.

Modern Egyptian dance, of course, is very different from the dances of the ancient Egyptians. He was greatly influenced by Muslim customs. And yet some individual features of the ancient Egyptian dance have been preserved. It is not without reason that to this day, during dances, instrumental instruments similar to those found in the catacombs of Thebes are used. Some of the poses and movements of the women's dance are reminiscent of those depicted in ancient Egyptian bas-reliefs.

From the 19th century through the first decades of the 20th century, professional dancers in Egypt were divided into Ghawazee and Awalim. Although most Egyptian women can dance, few become professional dancers due to social rejection of this type of profession. Ghawazee were gypsies who usually performed on the streets or in courtyards, often with lower class people as their audience. The Awalim were more respected than the Ghawazee. They could not only dance, but also sing, play musical instruments and recite poetry, and they were often invited to the homes of the rich. At the beginning of the century, famous Awalim dancers were Bamba Kashar, Jalilah and Shafika el Koptia.

Up to the 30s. In the 20th century, dancers most often performed in homes or cafes. Then, in Cairo, a Lebanese girl named Badia Mansabny opened a nightclub, Casino badia, which was decorated in the style of European cabarets. The varied program featured oriental performances in the form of dancing, singing, playing musicians and comedians, and also included various European numbers, and even offered a concert for families with children during the daytime. Performed in fairly small venues, Raks Sharki had to adapt to larger stages. European dance choreographers working for Badia Mansabny helped train the dancers, adding elements from other dance schools, especially ballet. This was just at the time when the costume, consisting of two parts connected to each other, which is inseparably associated with oriental dances, came into fashion.

At this time, films featuring dancers from the Badia Mansabny club became very popular, turning the latter into great women of Egyptian cinema. The dancers have achieved a level of popularity that they never could have achieved in the past.

Today, famous dancers perform in nightclubs or five-star hotels, wedding parties, theaters and films, along with other representatives of the entertainment genre. They usually have their own large orchestras, including several drummers. The musicians rehearse until they achieve what the dancer wants. Music is often written specifically for them by famous composers.

A full show consists of Raks Sharki, one or more "scoreboards": folklore or satire or something else, which allows for several costume changes. Some performers add non-oriental, sometimes even inappropriate movements (or costumes) to be different or simply because they like it. A couple of the young dancers (especially Dina) wear less material on stage than we wear to the beach.

(in Arabic it sounds like “eskandarani”) - this is a cheerful, fiery, playful dance of girls.

The name of the dance comes from the name of the Egyptian port and fishing city of Alexandria (or, in Arabic, Eskenderaya). This dance is one of the types of Egyptian urban folklore. However, this is not folklore that has been performed traditionally since ancient times, but rather “invented” folklore. The dance was first invented and staged on stage by the famous Egyptian choreographer Mahmoud Reda.

An indispensable attribute of the dance is a large black blanket - melyaya. Initially, melyaya was made of wool, it was “outerwear” in which people went out of the house, completely wrapped in it. It is too heavy for dancing, gradually the melyaya changed, becoming lighter, satin, chiffon or knitted. Now melyaya is a large black scarf made of nylon or silk, in which women wrap themselves from head to toe. For the stage, the melaya is decorated with sequins made of gold or silver.

Under the melyaya the dancer is wearing a tight-fitting, bright and short dress. During the dance, the melyaya either slides off the performer or again wraps itself around her figure. The head is covered with a shawl or veil and jewelry.

Since the girls were fishermen, they used to tuck the hem of the dress at the side of the belt so that it would not interfere when pulling out the nets - hence the traditional beveled edge of the dress.

The Alexandrian dance must be performed in sandals and shoes. The poorest segments of the population did not wear shoes, and if a girl wears shoes, it means she has a decent level of well-being and can afford it. But these were a kind of clog shoes, nicknamed “Ship-ship”, because of the sound they made when walking - hence the somewhat unstable, “loose” gait in the dance.

Often Alexandria is performed by a group of dancers - either several women, or women and men together. If men participate, they wear fishermen's costumes (black pants, colored vest, hat). Costume for men: Egyptian sailor or fisherman costume, loose long pants, vest and "yanke" hat.

Mahmoud Reda used beledi style music for this dance. Any song can also be used, the text of which mentions the city of Alexandria, the sea, or the port. It could also be any modern popular song that fits the image - fun and flirty. In the songs to which the Alexandrian dance is performed, it is often sung that the girls are going to socialize, show themselves and find suitors. Sometimes steamship whistles are woven into the melody. The most famous performers of Eskanderani songs are Um Kalthoum, Abdel Halim and Karim Mahmoud - a singer whose repertoire included a large number of Alexandrian songs.

As in other folk dances, different situations from life can play out - meetings, quarrels, competitions - who will out-dance whom. Melyaya, as the main attribute, is actively used in dance - girls wrap themselves in it, rotate the ends of the shawl, throw it over their shoulders different ways etc. A large number of frills on a dress suggests horizontal movements of the hips and shaking of the shoulders and chest. Under the influence of fashion, the stage costume became much shorter than the folk dress.

- dance in Arabic folk style. "Shaab" means people, ordinary people. This is a theatrical dance, it usually depicts what is sung in the song. Maybe not the whole text, but keywords, meaning, must be shown.

This dance can be performed to the old Arabic “chanson” in the traditional folk style, where the male voice sounds with a characteristic hoarseness, sometimes with a special pronunciation, and to modern songs using electronic instruments. Several style options can be distinguished, respectively: the older folk dance and the urban shaabi - street modern style, which is very popular today in Egypt.

Shaabi is usually performed in a white galabee, but the stage costume allows for different variations and interpretations of the folk dress. Shaabi dance with their head covered, barefoot, the dress supported by a sash. It is possible to use various items - baskets, jugs, hookahs, etc. It all depends on the dancer’s imagination; the sash can be untied during the dance, played with it, tied on the head or returned to the hips again. It is especially important for the performer to create and convey to the viewer a special mood, enthusiasm and character of this wonderful dance.

A distinctive feature of modern female Egyptian dances is the exceptional flexibility of the body and the dancer’s ability to control not only the movements of the arms, legs, body, head, but also each muscle individually. Relaxed, confident dance, lots of hip movements, and yet not a frantic rhythm. Mostly fast, sometimes very intricate, orchestral, colorful music, especially the introductions. Lots of maxum and drums. A short, slow taksim if there ever was one. Clear placement of hands and accents, movements and passages, a lot of interaction with the audience.

Here are the most famous names not only in the dance art of Egypt, but throughout the world: Mahmoud Reda, Rakiya Hassan, Aida Nur, Dina, Dr. Farida Fahmy, Randa Kamal, Suher Zaki, Mona El Said and others.

Unfortunately, it can be said that the dance scene in Egypt went into decline after the 1990s. One reason is that there has been less support from Gulf Arabs who used to sponsor Cairo's five-star nightclubs. It was the old generation who liked to visit these clubs and watch dance performances. Today's younger generation prefers other entertainment and goes elsewhere for it. As a result, several famous clubs have recently closed.

Another serious development is that Muslim extremists have chosen Egypt as a country to spread their conservative influence. For example, they offer to pay families for their women to wear traditional Muslim clothing instead of Western clothes. They also began to use violence against people whose behavior did not fit their rigid interpretation of Islam.

Extremists particularly target public performances by female dancers, as Islamic law requires a woman to hide her beauty from everyone except her husband. They spread threats that any event where a woman would perform a belly dance in the presence of unrelated men would be forcibly interrupted. As a result, many people have stopped inviting female dancers to weddings and other celebrations because no one wants trouble.

Although Egypt is famous for belly dancing, free body movements in public places are vulgar signs of promiscuity. Most belly dancers in tourist hotels and resorts are American or European, since it is indecent for a Muslim woman to behave so provocatively in public. Those dancers who are Egyptian, like Fifi Abdou and Dina, have personal guards to protect them from Islamic fanatics, and dancers Nagwa Fouad and Suher Zaki "retired" at the end of 1980. Dancers who previously lived on income from performing at weddings and in more democratic clubs are now struggling to make ends meet. Many Egyptian women gave up dancing altogether. Among the performers on stage there were mainly foreigners from Russia, Argentina and other distant places. However, "belly dancing" is still popular today, as is "takhtib" (a dance depicting fighting and wielding weapons) performed by men.

Sufi dance- Dervish dances. In Egypt they are known as tanura dances. The Tanura dance is an Egyptian stage version of the whirling dervishes. Tanura is considered one of the most difficult dances in the world. The most important thing is that a dancer needs an exclusively ideal vestibular apparatus. During the dance, he rotates around himself for 15 minutes, in one direction. At the same time, he holds several tambourines in his hands, and the performer, holding them and at the same time rotating with incredible speed, shows the viewer a real show. Then comes the turn of the skirts - the dancer’s costume consists of several tanuras, put on one another, and very heavy ones. As the tempo of the music quickens, so do the performer's circular movements, and the overskirt flies up and is finally spun on the tip of a finger by a skilled dancer! Like many crafts in Arab countries, the craft of performing tanura is passed on from father to son: boys are taught the skill of this amazing and mesmerizing dance from childhood.

Egypt is the only country in the Middle East to have a classical ballet company, the Cairo Ballet.

Almost forty years ago, the Ministry of Culture invited masters of Russian ballet to train a newly formed group of local ballerinas and dancers. Today, Cairo Ballet boasts 150 full-time students and is applauded by international audiences for its progressive and inspiring work.

Folklore dance is a dance born from the traditions of a country or region. Usually consists of movements that can be learned by a large number of people. According to tradition, folk dance is passed down from generation to generation in the environment in which it is danced. Folklore is the cultural heritage of all people, reflecting their customs, habits, music, costumes and history.

Folklore dance, in turn, is divided into:
1. Performed by all people, expressing their feelings. It is not associated with theatre, but is very popular at national celebrations and weddings.
2.Performed by professionals of theatrical dance art.

Saidi
There are many nationalities living in Egypt, but the hottest and dangerous people Egypt is the Saidi People. They live along the Nile from the city of ASYUN to the city of ASWAN, in the southern part of Egypt. Men in this area of ​​Egypt are very fond of beautiful mustaches. They specially grow and groom them, because a large and long mustache is a sign of prosperity and wealth, especially if the mustache is accompanied by weapons, gold and 4 wives.………… There is a saying that goes like this: The most handsome (cool) man in his own right Eagle can plant a mustache.
Saidi - this word refers to everything related to the Said region in Egypt. Saidi style can be danced with or without a cane.
Asaya: Asaya is the Arabic term for cane. This dance came from Southern Egypt from a region called Said or Upper Egypt. Traditionally, men in this area carried long bamboo sticks with them, which they used as weapons. Gradually, a special male dance took shape - Takhtib, in which stick fighting was imitated. Women adopted the style of dancing with a cane, but made the dance lighter and more playful, and created a separate style - raks el asaya (dance with a cane).

Hawaii
The Gawaizi are a gypsy tribe that settled in Egypt. The first significant mention of Gawazi dates back to the 18th century. When the Gawaizi were expelled from Cairo in 1834, they settled in Southern Egypt. Their music, dance and cultural attributes are markedly different from what the Saidi people who historically inhabited this area are known for. Cymbals are used in the dance. (Style Naima Akef.)

Baladi
Baladi in Arabic means “homeland” or “ hometown" In Egyptian slang it sounds like Oriental Shaabi. The Belladi dance was performed in many villages throughout Egypt. It was usually danced in the house of a woman and for women. It was mostly hip movements. The hand movements were quite simple and unsystematic. We danced barefoot. Traditional dance clothing is a white golobeya with a scarf on the hips and a scarf on the head. Shaabi is a style that is very popular in Egypt, especially in the central part of old Cairo on Muhammad Ali Street, where many famous artists were born and now live. This is the style of such famous dancers as Nagwa Foad, Fifi Abdu, Zinat Olwy.

Nubia
Nubia, known in ancient times as the Kingdom of Kush, stretches south from Aswan to the capital of Sudan, Khartoum. The Nubians, darker-skinned than the Egyptians themselves, have their own language, culture and traditions. Aswan is the sunniest place in Egypt. It is located in the south of the country and was a border town in ancient times. Life here moves slowly. It's nice to take a walk along the embankment or by boat along the Nile, sit in a restaurant right by the water, and listen to ancient Nubian music. Nubian dance is a group dance. Colorful costumes, special unusual rhythm. Nubia people are very cheerful and always love to dance together. At weddings, hundreds of people gather and everyone dances together.
Nubia is the name of a city and region in southern Egypt. Nubia is located on the border with Sudan. Nubian dance is a group dance. It's mostly hip movement. Nice hand system. A special unusual rhythm, mostly fast (similar to the Khaliji rhythm). Dof (tambourine) and Khus (reed plate) are used as dance accessories.

Haggala
Haggala is the style of the Bedouins who live in the oases of the Sahara. Haggala translates as “to jump.” This is a very energetic dance that places emphasis on hip movements. Movements include hand clapping and jumping (jumping is primarily used by men). The male haggala dance is reminiscent of the Dabka (Lebanese group wedding dance). Traditional clothing for this style is a dress + skirt with lots of flounces.

Alexandria
Alexandria is the second largest city in Egypt. Alexandria has more Mediterranean than oriental features. The spirit and culture of the city is different from the rest of the country, although it is only 225 km from Cairo. Translated into Arabic, Alexandria sounds like “Eskandarani”. Eskandarani's dance style is very fun, fiery and playful. The traditional clothing for this style is a dress and cape (Melaya). Melaya is part of the national clothing of the women of Alexandria.

Shamadam
In Egyptian slang, the name of this style sounds like “Avalem”. The full name is “Raqs el Shamadam” - dance with a candelabra. It has been danced in Egypt for a long time. A large patterned candelabra with lit candles is carried on the head of a dancer at a wedding, illuminating the path to a happy life for the young family life. The art of isolated movements of the hips, chest and the softness of the step is amazing when a girl dances with a candelabra - after all, it should be motionless! You just need to think through the costume very carefully so as not to set it on fire or ruin it with dripping wax. The traditional costume for this style is harem pants + top or long dress with a tight top and wide bottom.

Raks el sharqi
Or else they call it “Oriental Belly Dance”. The literal translation from Arabic is “belly dance” i.e. that part of the body that is located from the navel to the hips. In some countries, including Russia, this dance is called Belly Dance, although this is incorrect. There are many versions of why this dance is called that way. There may not be an exact translation for the word “belly” in other languages. Why Belly Dance? The name of this type of dance also comes from the name “Baladi”, which in Arabic means “homeland” or “hometown”. The Baladi dance was performed in many villages throughout Egypt. Usually it was danced in the house of women for themselves or for their friends. It was mostly hip movements. The hand movements were quite simple and unsystematic. We danced barefoot. Since 1921, the “Beladi” style acquired another name: “Oriental Shaabi”. This style was very popular in Egypt, especially in the central part of old Cairo on Muhammad Ali Street, where many famous artists were born and now live. This is the style of such famous dancers as Nagwa Foad, Fifi Abdu, Zinat Olwy. Of course, over these 80 years the dance style has been modernized and mixed with others. oriental styles, but we should not forget that “Raks el Sharqi” or “Oriental Belly Dance” is part of Egyptian Folklore. And Egyptian folklore has more than 25 types of dance, and all dances are danced mainly by that part of the body called “belly”.

Tabla
It is impossible to imagine the East without the Arabic drum called Tabla. The sound of this instrument can be heard wherever you are in the East: On the street, in the bazaar, in a cafe, on a ship, at any Arab wedding.....
Tabla is the most popular and famous Arabic instrument. This instrument is the heart of oriental music and dance. Extremely loved and adored in Russia. Maybe because the sound of this instrument resembles a heartbeat….
There are 9 different tabla rhythms, which, unfortunately, no one knows about in Russia. For now, this remains the privilege of the Arab-Egyptians. I hope that in the near future a true school for learning to play this “magic” instrument will open in Moscow.

Dance with a scarf
This is one of the most theatrical dances and requires acting skills. The scarf is also a background to highlight the beauty of the body and movement. This is also what hides in order to be revealed later.
It is very important for the dancer to feel the scarf not as part of the costume, but as part of her body.
There are many types and forms of scarves: Malaya, Gulf and others.
The scarf is so clearly associated with oriental dance that it seems as if it has always been there. However, historians cannot find ancient roots for this type of dance. The Egyptians say that the scarf may have even come from Russia. In the 1940s, Egypt's ruler Farukh invited Russian ballerina Ivanova to teach his daughters the art of ballet. Ivanova taught a famous Egyptian dancer named Samia Gamal a beautiful entrance with a scarf and some movements with it, and the scarf took root in Egypt.
Western dancers work with the scarf in great detail, wrapping themselves in it and revealing themselves seductively. The fairy tale is alive in the European consciousness: the East, the harem, the bodies of beautiful women are hidden expensive fabrics... The Egyptian women themselves use a scarf only to go on stage, and after 30-60 seconds they throw it aside. Western style seems tasteless to Eastern audiences and is too reminiscent of striptease. Russian girls work in a kind of intermediate manner.

Dance with cymbals (Sagat)
Cymbals are one of the most ancient musical instruments in the form of two pairs of wooden or metal plates. The dancer uses their sound as musical accompaniment to her dance.
Sagat (or dulcimer) require a good knowledge of traditional music and rhythmic patterns. Sagat are distant relatives of Spanish castanets, only made of metal. The performer manages not only to dance, but also to accompany herself with the ringing of sagatas. You can also add your own rhythm to the music by playing the tambourine or tambourine.

Dance with fire
Continuation of the cult of fire. Candles or scented oil lamps can be used. As a rule, they dance with thick, bright candles. A lamp with a candle, reminiscent of Aladdin's lamp, also looks great in a dance.

Dance with the snake
A less common dance is the snake dance. It’s quite difficult to dance with such an “attribute”. It takes a lot of skill, courage and experience to handle a snake.
A snake can keep a girl company in a dance. To see what this looks like, look no further than the movie From Dusk Till Dawn, where Salma Hayek dances with an albino python. Of course, this was again invented by the West, greedy for small effects. Perhaps when we too have so many dancers that they will have to compete for jobs even by such means, snakes will also become somewhat widespread.

Many thousands of years ago, BC, the first known civilization on Earth, Ancient Egypt, arose in the Nile River valley. It was a strong state, headed by the pharaoh - god on earth. The Egyptians built huge cities, protected from enemies by strong walls, created majestic temples and pyramids, and accomplished amazing scientific discoveries. The monuments of art and literature that have reached us testify to great importance music and dance in Egypt. Music sounded in folk life, accompanying work, and was performed during mass celebrations and celebrations, solemn processions and palace entertainment.

Archaeologists have discovered many complex musical instruments in the tombs - arched harps, flutes, lyres, lutes, drums; and on the walls there are amazingly beautiful drawings depicting dancing people. On one of the reliefs, Pharaoh Akhenaten gives gifts to the priest, and he joyfully dances in front of his master. Another depicts acrobats; they play with balls, do tricks, stand on one leg, jump high. Interestingly, the dancer is depicted here completely leaning back - this position is somewhat reminiscent of a “bridge”. Of particular value is a fresco from one grave, which depicts a feast scene. Here, dancers in long transparent dresses move smoothly and gracefully to the sounds of a tambourine. These discoveries proved that in Ancient Egypt dance was of no small importance and not a single festival, not a single religious or palace ceremony could do without it: in the home circle, in a public place, in a temple - dance is found everywhere. In Ancient Egypt, there were even special institutions where dancers, musicians and singers were trained; most often such music and dance schools existed at large temples.

Classification of ancient Egyptian dances:

1. Sacred dances. The priestly caste played a large role in the cultural and political life of Ancient Egypt. The servants of the gods tried to surround religion with an impenetrable mystery; the rituals were full of mysticism and supernaturalism. Dance rituals surrounded most of the ancient Egyptian sacred cults. It was considered the oldest dance in Ancient Egypt astral dance of the zodiac. It was performed at night in the main temple of the city. On the platform in front of the temple, under clear starry sky the altar was set up and the fire was lit. Twelve young beautiful priestesses, depicting the twelve signs of the zodiac, in long robes, holding hands, moved around the altar in the direction from east to west. Their slow, solemn dance symbolized the movement of the Earth around the Sun. Then each priestess mimicked the events associated with the appearance of each constellation. For example, priestesses depicting the autumn signs of the zodiac - Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, danced to show the harvest, harvest, etc.

The performances associated with the myth of Osiris and Isis were grandiose and solemn, during which the "Dance of Apis" These celebrations took place before the Nile flooded. According to the teachings of the Egyptian priests, the supreme deity, the beloved god of the ancient Egyptians Osiris, was incarnated in a bull every twenty-five years. It was believed that the bull was born from a lightning strike. This bull was searched throughout Egypt; it had to be black and have special features. For forty days this bull was fed in the sacred Nile Valley, he was served by special priestesses dressed in white translucent clothes, who performed sacred dances in front of the bull. Forty days later, the bull marched to the main temple of Ancient Egypt in Memphis, where the main celebration began. The procession was accompanied by cheerful dancing, music, and singing of priests. The dances told the myth of Osiris and Isis - the birth of God, his union with Isis, the goddess of the Earth, the murder of Osiris by his evil brother, Isis's search for her husband's body, her crying and the resurrection of Osiris. In the finale, the dance was performed at a very lively pace: the priestesses jumped high, strongly bent their bodies and rotated quickly. After twenty-five years, the time came when Osiris had to move into the body of another bull, Apis, and the old one was sacrificed. His death was accompanied by the same celebrations and dances as during his deification, but no longer cheerful and joyful, but sad, funeral ones.

2. Home dances- they were performed for the entertainment of guests during the feast by specially trained dancers called almei. They performed in long transparent dresses or short aprons. The dancers' arms and legs were always decorated with bracelets, their chests with a necklace, their bodies with garlands of flowers, their heads with a ribbon or lotus flower, and their hair was styled in several braids. They danced to the accompaniment of musical instruments. Was especially popular belly dance, preserved in the East to this day.

3. Ritual dances. Description preserved funeral dance: Her images are found on the walls of sarcophagi and tombs. When a person died, his body was embalmed: the ancient Egyptians believed that if the body decayed and collapsed, the soul of the deceased would cease to live. After embalming, the body was swaddled, placed in a decorated sarcophagus, and the funeral procession set off for the “city of the dead.” The procession was very solemn: with the lingering sounds of trumpets, mourners in long transparent tunics yellow color(the color of mourning in Ancient Egypt) they depicted desperate grief with gestures, screamed and cried, tore out their hair, raised their hands in prayer with palms up, wrung their hands and in pantomime depicted the deeds of the deceased.

Ritual dances include dance "Four Fundamentals", which was performed in the temple of the goddess Isis. This dance was attended by priests and priestesses, in whose hands there were different symbols– flowers, mirrors, hair and sometimes harps, the main instrument accompanying these dances.

Types of Egyptian dances:

Mimic– in which gestures and postures served as an expression of thought;

Clean– it consisted of oscillatory movements of the body, exercises for flexibility and agility.

There were schools at the temples of ancient Egypt, the graduates of which were “concubines of deities”, priestesses-dancers, and enjoyed great authority among the Egyptians. The main subject in schools was dance. In all dances performed by girls, the role of the hips is so great that there is not a single dance without their movements. Hands play an important role in dance. In the ritual women's dance of snakes there are snake-like movements of the hands: the hands are closed in the form of a snake's head and raised upward.

Dances performed were very popular in Ancient Egypt "Almeyami" and "Gavazi". The plasticity in these dances was of Arabic origin, but none of the researchers claims that everything Egyptian disappeared in them. The designs in these dances were of the Arabic type, but some of the poses and musical instruments that accompanied the dances remained Egyptian for a long time. “Almei” and “Gavazi” were different from each other, the plasticity and poses of the former were more modest, and the “Almei” themselves considered themselves noble and educated. They were invited to holidays and to the houses of the rich, not only to have fun with their dances, but also to learn the basics of choreography and singing. The “Almei” were rich, their art and skill were paid very generously, it happened that some of them worked for many years as dancers in the harem of some rich man, and most importantly, they had unlimited freedom. One of the popular Almey dances was the saber dance, in which some of them brilliantly controlled sabers, juggled them, and at the same time perfectly coordinated the actions of their hands with virtuoso dance technique. Almey dances could be found not only in Egypt, but also in Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Tripoli, Turkey and Persia. Their dances defined the style, and now it is called Egyptian-Arab. Love was depicted in the Gavazi dances. The dancer made slow movements, then the tempo quickened, the gestures became sharper, so that at the end of the dance she could barely stand on her feet or fell exhausted.

Egyptian culture is more than 5 thousand years old. Already then the feast and preparation for the entroche, as well as jumps and spins, were known. Songs and dances accompanied numerous Egyptian rituals and various events - weddings and even funerals. The Egyptians had religious dances, which reflected the relationship of man to the deities, but there were also home dances, in which there was a place for fun and amusements. A simple man worked and contemplated, all this found a response in his soul and consciousness.

T.N.Borozdina.

Ancient Egyptian dance.

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About ancient Egyptian dance.

The purpose of this work is a short excursion into the field of ancient Egyptian dance. It should be noted that this issue has still been very little developed in Egyptology, and therefore we have to deal with very raw material.

Unfortunately, I can only introduce you to some of the monuments I have collected, since I am very limited in the number of drawings.

The image of ancient Egyptian dance has been preserved mainly in relief. Some Egyptian texts mentioning dance are extremely interesting.

The monuments of art and literature that have reached us show that dance in Egypt was of no small importance. In the home circle, in public place, there is dance everywhere in the temple.

Almost not a single festival, not a single solemn religious procession was complete without dance.

It dominated Egypt as an expression of ecstasy, joy. Rejoicing and dance were synonymous in Egyptian poetry.

For all peoples, dance was an expression of inner feelings; Joy, grief, love and anger were expressed through various poses, leaps, and movements.

Consequently, dance is a series of body movements consistent with a person’s mood and subject to musical rhythm.

The crude forms of dance of primitive man are replaced by more refined and subordinated to known rules among cultural peoples. Musical rhythm song and music - created correct body movements subordinate to it, expressing various feelings. The sounds of song and music set the rhythm and meter of body movements.

Egyptian literary sources introduce us to the name of the dances that prevailed at that time, and the determinant of the dance is the figure of a person with a raised arm and leg.

Dance is very commonib,then dance T ww,terefhebeb,the image of which we will see in reliefs.

There are not many texts that directly talk about dance, but there are many that can be used to judge the strength of the ancient Egyptian’s desire for joy in life and fun.

Here, for example, is an excerpt from the text of the pyramids “Oh, you who transport the righteous who do not have a ship, the carrier of the fields of Ialu! The name is justified before heaven and earth! The name is justified before each island, called “whoever sails reaches it” and placed between the legs of Nut “On the dance of God, the joy of God before his throne” - that’s what you hear in houses, that’s what you learn on the roads on the day when you were called to listen to the command.” Then another: “He is flying, flying! He is flying away from you, people. He is not towards the earth - he is towards the sky. His city god, his spirit is on your fingers. He stormily rushes to the sky, like a crane. He kisses the sky. You are the wild star of Orion, ride through the underworld with Osiris, sail across the sky with Orion, sail across the sky with Orion.

The name comes out from the eastern side of the sky, his youth is renewed at all times... Nut gives birth to him along with Sirius... like a falcon, he reaches the sky, like a grasshopper, he did not offend the king, did not anger Bast, did not dance before the seat of God. When the son of Ra is healthy, he is also healthy; when he is hungry, he is hungry." Both of these texts have a well-known magical meaning.

Then the texts are interesting, representing songs in honor of the goddess of joy Hathor, they were performed by the pharaoh dancing in front of her.

1. “Pharaoh comes to dance, He comes (to you) to sing.

Oh, his lady! Look how he dances; O bride of Horus! look how he jumps.

2. Pharaoh, whose hands are washed, whose fingers are clean,

Oh, his lady, look how he dances;

Oh, bride of Horus, look how he jumps.

3. When he brings you this vesselmww. Oh, his lady! look how he dances; O bride of Horus! look how he jumps.

4. His heart is open, his life is sincere. There is no arrogance in his heart.

Oh, his lady! look how he dances. O bride of Horus! look how he jumps."

In the story of the Egyptian Sinuhet we find a mention of dancingmww. “They will arrange for you a solemn procession on the day of burial, they will make a case for the mummy from gold with a head part with decorations (?) from lapis lazuli, the sky will be above you, placed on a sleigh (?) with the oxen dragging you and the singers (going) ahead of you, They will dance "muu" at the gates of your tomb, and they will recite the formula of the sacrificial table for you.

The victims will be slaughtered before your steel door. Your columns will be built of white stone among the (tombs of) princes. You won’t die in a foreign land, it won’t be the Asians who will take you (to the grave), you won’t be wrapped in lamb’s skin, a stone structure will be built for you - but all this will not happen. Take care of your body and come."

Professor Turaev makes the following note on the “muu” dance: “Gardiner pointed out the dubiousness of the usual translation “dance of the dwarfs.” In Theban and El-Kab ( Peheri V ) the tombs depict a dance called, as in our text, “hebeb”, the performers are called “muu” (which paleographically may be close to the “yen” dwarfs of our text) and are depicted of normal height. Note that the wish of the deceased regarding this dance is found in a solemn form several times subsequently, for example, on one stele of the New Kingdom, in Cairo, on the Akhmim Ptolemaic slab. It can be assumed that the authors of the inscriptions knew our text, but the opposite assumption is more likely - the author of the latter used current formulas" (B. A. Turaev The Story of the Egyptian Sinukhet, pp. 31-32).

Then, in one of the letters of the fictitious author of the New Kingdom era, we also find a mention of dance: “they tell me that you throw away your books, indulge in dancing, turn your face to agriculture, and the rear to the word of God (i.e., hieroglyphic writing)."

What a call to joy and fun sounds in another letter: “I arrived in the city of Ramses, I found it in good condition. It is beautiful, there is no equal to it, it is founded like Thebes. Oh, capital, pleasant life! her field is full of everything good, delicious food is there every day; its waters are full of fish, its surroundings are full of flowers and grass (follows a description of fish, wines and all kinds of dishes). Provisions and gifts are there daily. Those who live in it rejoice; in it the small are like the great. Let's celebrate the sky and the seasons.

The inhabitants of Onakhtu wear festive clothes every day; fragrant ointments on their heads and new wigs; they stand at their doors, their hands hold bouquets, branches of the temple of Hathor and garlands of the Pakheri canal - on the day of Ramesses’ accession, like Montu of both lands on the morning of the Khonsa holiday, then everyone is equal and says their requests to each other. Sweet are the attempts at Onakhta; there are wines from the fruits of "Inu, honey, beer from Codi in the harbor, wines in the cellars, fragrant ointments in the area of ​​​​the Salabi canal, garlands in the orchard, pleasant inhabitants at the Memphis gates. Joy reigns everywhere, nothing interferes with it."

And finally, as a final chord, we can give a sample of songs that were performed at feasts; they are full of carefree fun and a call to the joys of life. The best example of this kind of literature is the harpist's song. It is reminiscent in its content of the story of Herodotus that at the feasts of rich Egyptians they showed a coffin and advised those feasting to enjoy the pleasures of life before they themselves had to lie down in it. “In rich houses at feasts, at the end of dinner, a wooden image of a dead man lying in a coffin, skillfully made and painted, one or two cubits in size, is carried around; each of the feasters is shown it with the words: “Drink and enjoy, but look at it; after death you will be the same." This is what they do at feasts ( Herodotus, II , 78). Some of the songs sound Epicureanism, which, given the general outlook of the Egyptians, can be explained by dissatisfaction and disappointment with official theology. One hymn, for example, says that both gods and nobles rest in their tombs, but no one will return from there, no one can tell what happened to him there, “how he exists there to strengthen our hearts until we ourselves let us approach the place where they have already gone, and therefore, with a joyful heart, do not forget to have fun and follow the desire of your heart while you are alive.

"Celebrate the joyful day!

Place ointments and incense before your nose,

Decorate your members with lotus flowers,

The body of your sister, who lives in your heart,

Who is sitting next to you.

Make them sing and play for you.

Throw away the worries around you and think only about joy,

Until the day comes,

When you have to go to a country where they love silence."

In addition to Egyptian literary sources, there is a number of information from ancient Greek and Roman authors, such as Diodorus, Plato, Herodotus, Lucian and others; It is difficult to determine how reliable the material they provide is.

The only thing that is completely reliable is what we find in Egyptian texts and art monuments. We have excellent examples of sacred, secular, military dance, gymnastic exercises and wrestling.

The priestly caste, as is known, played a large role in the cultural and political life of Egypt - and in the temple cult, in solemn religious processions, sacred dance plays a large role. The servants of the gods tried to surround religion with an impenetrable mystery; the rituals were full of mysticism, symbolism and supernaturalism.

The psychology of the people was influenced by grandiose performances and ceremonies, among which dance played a prominent role. Solemn were the performances associated with the myth of Osiris and Isis, which lasted for several days in a row and to which a mass of people flocked.

The cult should also include the dance that accompanied women's service to the sacred bull Apis. The whole life of these dancers was spent performing a dance in front of a sacred animal.

The dance accompanied the burial and offering of the dead; this is evidenced by monuments of fine art.

Among the Egyptians, the gods and patrons of fun, music and dance were Hathor, Nehemaut and the bearded dwarf Hatiy. The latter was depicted either greeting the sun god, or dancing, or playing musical instruments in front of him or the goddess Hathor. A number of monuments give us similar images (on vases, vessels and scarabs).

Already in the era of the Old Kingdom, religious dances of dwarfs played a prominent role in the ritual and were very highly valued; The descriptions of Egyptian dance by ancient authors, such as Herodotus, are extremely interesting. He gives a picture of a cheerful holiday in Bubasta, where main role played dance ( Herodotus, II, 60).

An interesting description by Plato, Lucian and Plutarch of the Egyptian astronomical dance of the priests, which depicted the movement of various heavenly bodies harmoniously located in the universe. The dance took place in the temple: around the altar, placed in the middle and representing the sun, priests dressed in bright dresses, representing the signs of the zodiac, smoothly moved and twirled. According to Plutarch's explanation, they moved from east to west, reminiscent of the movement of the sky, and then from west to east, in imitation of the movement of the planets. Then the performers stopped as a sign of the stillness of the earth. With the help of various gestures and movements, the priests gave a visual representation of the planetary system and the harmony of perpetual motion.

Unfortunately, Egyptian sources do not tell us anything about this dance, so when describing it we can only be guided by the above-mentioned ancient authors.

Khudyakov in his work “History of Dances” notes that many choreographers XVIII - XIX centuries, like Dauberval and Gardel, giving complete freedom to their imagination, they reproduced the astronomical dance in their choreographic works. The performers, however, were not priests, but fantastically dressed dancers, depicting stars and planets that spun and jumped around the altar or around a ballerina who personified the sun.

In view of the important role that dance played in Egyptian ritual, there were obviously special schools where dancers, musicians and singers were trained; there is even an indication that the temple of Amun had its own choreographic school that trained priestesses-dancers.

Starting to review the monuments on which the dance is presented, it is necessary to say a few words about the depiction of the human figure on the Egyptian relief. It was taken in profile (in the later period there are examples of the front), and in all eras of the development of Egyptian art the same convention is found: head in profile, eyes and shoulders en face , torso in profile, legs in profile, with the big toe in the foreground of both legs. As for the hands, instead of the palm they sometimes depicted the upper part of the hand or vice versa. The first four fingers are always the same length. Regarding the legs, you can notice that the second leg is put forward, i.e. the one that is further from the viewer (in a later period, otherwise (In his article “Old Prejudice”, p. 7, Prof. V.K. Malmberg, examining the images of the “chief of the treasury Isi”, presented on two slabs, and once the figure depicted to the right, another to the left, and a number of other monuments of Egyptian art, comes to the following conclusion: “in Egyptian relief and drawing, with the shoulders turned, we never really have the body in front of us, but always from the side, as the line of its outline proves: one always represents the outline of the chest and abdomen, the other the back and seat." The expansion of the torso is explained by the image of both shoulders and the need to fit the outer contours of the body to the armpits; as for the image of the chest in relief, always represent the chest in which direction the figure was facing.

True, attempts to change the position of the shoulders also occur in the era of the Old Kingdom, but mainly in the later period, where we already see the correct profile of the shoulders).

Let's start our review of the sacred dance on Egyptian reliefs with the sacrificial dance of the pharaoh, or as it is called the pharaoh's run.

A number of reliefs, placed mainly on the doors of the temple, represent the figure of a pharaoh with various attributes in his hands, who with a quick step, touching only the tips of his toes to the ground, heads towards the deity - this is a sacrificial dance that played a large role in the cult ritual of Egypt. For the most part, it is called running and four types of this running can be defined: 1) Running with a bird, when the pharaoh held a bird in one hand and a bunch of scepters in the other. 2) Running with vessels, when the pharaoh holds the vessel (shaped like a hieroglyphhsj). 3) Running with a rudder, when the pharaoh’s attribute was a rudder and a weapon shaped like a hieroglyph hap. 4) Running heb-sed(hieroglyph heb-sedmeans royal jubilee), in the hands of the pharaoh is a whip and another symbol of power, an object somewhat reminiscent of the shape of a swallow’s tail. Due to the connection with the royal anniversary (heb-sed) this run is called runningheb-sed.

Extremely interesting is the work of Kezz, devoted to the consideration of the run of the pharaoh ( Opfertanz).

Running with a bird - this group includes reliefs starting from XVIII dynasties, several date back to the era of Hatshepsut from the temple of Deir el-Bahari. An interesting example is the relief from Kummeh (Fig. 1): it depicts the usual diagram of the pharaoh running to the deity (in this case to the goddess Hathor), in the pharaoh’s left hand there is a bird with a tuft, in the right hand there is a bunch of three long rods in the shapeanh, dd And wast, i.e. hieroglyphs meaning life, permanence and pleasure; On the top of the wands are birds ibis, owl and kite. The ibis represents Thoth, then instead of the owl? obviously there had to be a falcon, i.e. Horus and the kite are Mut or Nekhbet or Ner.

Consequently, all the signs considered have a symbolic meaning. Next, the bird that is on the left is defined in the texts asiahand resembles an ibis; Of course, this attribute also had a symbolic meaning.

In one text we read: "I tookjaht, to open the way, I hasten to Your Majesty, at that timeanh, dd,wast And wadjin my hand and birdsbah they sit on them."

Now let's move on to running with a vase (Fig. 2). The scheme is the same - the pharaoh runs, touching the ground with his fingertips, and has vessels in his hands. He heads towards the gods standing before him. The inscription says: "Offering cool water." The pharaoh is followed by priests with statues. This is a relief from Luxor.

Along the way, we present one of the songs that was performed in front of the goddess Hathor by the pharaoh dancing in front of her:

1. "He comes to dance. He comes to sing

With your bread in hand,

He does not let the bread in his hand spoil,

His food is pure in his hands,

Because he comes out of the eye of Horus,

And it cleanses what it brings to you.

2. He comes to dance,

He comes to sing.

His dbht from twin,

His mat baskets

His sister is made of gold,

His mnitlanguage of the southern green stone,

His feet rush to the lady of fun,

He dances for her and he loves what he does."

Turning to running with a steering wheel We see on one relief of the Ramsesid era a running pharaoh, who holds a steering wheel in one hand and a vessel in the other (Table 1). Here both circuits close to each other are connected. The figure of the god is missing, but the inscription reads: "Offering given to Ra-Horus-Yahuti."

The race with vessels represents the scene of libation of water before the deity; a scene of purification and at the same time offerings. The vessel held by the pharaoh was used for ritual purposes. As for running with the steering wheel, it also certainly had a certain ritual significance. The rudder that the pharaoh holds is, as it were, an emblem of the boat whose arrival the pharaoh wants to inform God about. One relief shows a running pharaoh pulling a divine barge on a rope in the direction of the goddess Nekhbet; in one hand he holds a sign of royal power (htp). The pharaoh himself will take the deity in a barge drawn by him to his sanctuary. Running in the cult had the meaning of expressing zealous service during which servants brought gifts to the master.

Similar running was also found in everyday life, such as the running of soldiers ( El. Amarna, I, The tomb of Meryra. P.I. XV (Archeaological Survay of Egypt). El. Amarna, II, The tomb of Panchery PI. XVI (Arch. Survay of Egypt), El. Amarna, III, The tomb of Ahmes. P.I.. XXXI (Arch. Survay of Egypt )). They run because they are servants and want to show their obedience and consideration to their master and thereby please him. The movement here is always calm and not scattered, not like the wild, jumping dances of blacks and Libyans on the terrain Deir - el - Bahari (Fig. 3). The bottom row depicts people running with branches in their hands, but the dance of the Libyans is of particular interest here; with feathers on their heads, in special dresses, with boomerangs in their hands, they perform a stormy dance.

Running is depicted on another relief from Deir - el - Bahari , and above we see an arriving ship, and below a procession of Egyptians, dressed in short aprons, in wigs, with various objects in their hands.

Along with dances full of rhythmic movement, dances were very common in Egypt, which were direct exercises in agility, flexibility and grace, and sometimes completely turned into purely gymnastic exercises. In essence, the purpose of the Egyptian dance accompanying any celebrations is to express joy and greeting, just as it was expressed by the escorts of fleeing soldiers. Running cannot be accepted as a real dance: even if it seemed to represent the simplest, strict form of dance, it was still deprived of independence.

At the heart of the offering dance is worship of one's lord, worship expressed by running hastily with gifts to please him.

In its subsequent development, the dance becomes an end in itself and develops quite freely, although in cult dances much was still drawn from the old source.

There are attempts to explain the origin of the ancient dance from “joyful jumping”, but the determinant itselfiba- dance, which represents a person with one leg raised, gives a number of contradictions.

Now all that remains is to consider runningheb-sed, which is performed on the royal holiday. His image is already found on the monuments of the first dynasties, such as, for example, on the mace of King Narmer or on the plate of King Densetui. Osiris sits on the throne with a scourge; in the opposite direction from him the running king is shown, also with a scourge and other attributes in his hands. The work of this monument is still very primitive. Running patternheb-sedis similar to the dance of offerings, and only the existing inscriptions and attributes give the scenes a special character. .

The most interesting example is the relief from Abusir, which represents several phases of the development of the cult celebration (Fig. 4). The beginning of the relief is poorly preserved, you can only make out the figure in calm movement in the mantlesedwith a staff and a scourge and wearing an Upper Egyptian crown. Next, the pharaoh in the same attire, only without attributes, stands in the naos, next to him are the “priests of the spirits of Nekhen”, who hold a standard with the image of a jackal.

The pharaoh holds his hands in a peculiar way, pressing his elbows to his waist; he holds them out, clenching them into a fist and extending his fourth finger - this depicts the ritual anointing of the statue of the deity by the pharaoh himself.

The third phase is the pharaoh in the same attire, only in his hands he has a whip and a rod. In front of him is a building, on the other side of which is a priest irj sma with the welcoming words: “bring and come,” he holds a scepter and a staff in his hands. Next, the running of the pharaoh is presented: in a short apron, in the crown of Upper Egypt, with a whip and other attributes of power in his hands, he is presented in fast motion. In front of him stand a priest with a standard depicting a jackal - Anubis, the main god of the holiday, behind him are two more figures who obviously took part in the cult by singing, and again a running pharaoh, in front of whom there is also a priest and a seated figure. The inscription says: "four times" - this refers to the dance of the pharaoh.

An important act of the entire ceremony is the transfer of symbols of power: the pharaoh transfers them to God, and then receives them from him already consecrated, while the dance is closely connected with the entire ceremony. Therefore, there are two acts represented here: anointing and running.

Special iconic form of runningheb-sedand its close connection with the holidaysedover time it fades and with the development of its certain independence, it mixes with other types of running.

Moving on to the consideration of dance in various festivals, we can list the following: “Festival of Eternity”, Festival in honor of the deceased”, where the procession in which the statue of the deceased is carried opens with dance, then “Harvest Festival”, when peasants offer a sacrifice in the form of the first fruit Minu from Copt or "Festival in honor of the goddesses Hathor and Bast", which was also accompanied by a dance to express jubilation. It is interesting that the sacred dance, common among various peoples of antiquity, is still preserved in some places, such as in Abyssinia, Spain .

But not only in the cult and public life, but also in private dance played a big role. The harems of noble persons had their own dancers, musicians and singers who were supposed to entertain their master and his guests. As for the costume, the dancers wore an ordinary short apron; sometimes there was a belt around the waist, which was tied with a loop.

The women danced either completely naked, or in the same short aprons, or in pantaloons, or in long, completely transparent dresses. In a ritual dance, the dancers had to be dressed, as for example in the service of Apis, in order to thereby show a certain respect to the sacred animal. The dancers' arms and legs were decorated with bracelets, their chests with a necklace, and a ribbon or lotus flower on their heads.

Dancing in ancient Egypt was performed to the accompaniment of musical instruments, singing and clapping to the beat and clapping. The instruments were: harps, lyres, lutes and double flutes: “as to the nature and nature of the music performed, as well as the number of known octaves, we can say nothing,” notes Breasted (Brasted, History of Ancient Egypt, p. 115).

Egyptian reliefs present us with a wide variety of dances, here there are solo numbers and pas de deux, pas de trois , and a whole corps de ballet. The symmetry of the figures plays an important role.

During the Old Kingdom, dancers are depicted mainly in rhythmic, slow movement, such as the dancers from the same grave V dynasties (Fig. 5). Dressed in short aprons, with decorations on the chest, they smoothly step out with their left leg, raising their arms above their heads. Women in long, tight dresses clap their hands, musicians play a melody. Sometimes the dancer's raised leg reaches the shoulder of the previous one. An example is the dancer from the tomb of Ankhmahoru at Saqqara (2500 BC). X.) (Table II).

Standing on her left leg, she boldly bends and throws her right leg above her head. Regarding her hairstyle, one can think that the hair gathered together was put into a kind of cover, narrow and long, the size of the hair, with a ball attached to the tip; or maybe they were just braids with balls tied to the ends. Both explanations are confirmed in several other reliefs.

Famous dancers from Anta's tomb, in Deshasha ( Tomb of Anta. P.I. XII ), depicted in fast motion, also follow a certain pattern. The top two rows represent figures with their legs extended forward and their arms raised, others with their legs and arms thrown back, and to the right in the second row the dancers, throwing their torsos back, extending their left leg, lowering their right arm and throwing their left, amaze with the softness and ease of their movement .

The dance was accompanied by music and clapping. On all three reliefs there is a dance inscription -ib. A notable progression is the dancing couples from the tomb of Zaw, at Deir el-Gebraoui of the Middle Kingdom (Fig. 6).

The relief depicts a funeral procession with accompanying dances. Several persons are dragging the sarcophagus under the naos; above, apparently, the women of the harem are dancing, completely naked, with bracelets on their arms and legs. The dancers perform almost real ballet steps. The dance consisted of the dancers, standing opposite each other, taking the same positions, but only from the opposite side, i.e. the right arm and leg of one artist repeated a similar movement of the left arm and leg of the other. Here we see how, holding hands, they touch the tips of their raised toes.

The couples are separated by a quickly rushing figure who has raised his leg so high that it touches the shoulder of one of the dancers. The inscription gives the name of the dancehebeb. We find a similar dance, obviously performed at a slow tempo, in the grave of Aba ( Deir el Gebrawi, P.I. X (Arch. Survay of Egypt)).

Dance name hebebwe also meet on the relief of the tomb of Paheri, New Kingdom. The sarcophagus under the naos is being dragged by bulls, two people are dancing at the gates of the tomb, standing on one leg opposite each other, also taking the same positions ( The tomb of Paheri, PI. V (Egypt Explor Fund XI)).

On the relief from El Berche, in front of the dancers, represented with their left leg protruding and their arms raised above their heads, stands, obviously, the leader of the dances; he rhythmically beats the beat with a stick, which he holds in his right hand, and shows the desired movement. They are all dressed in short aprons, their heads are tied with a ribbon ( El. Bersheh, Part II, PI. XIV (Arch. Survay of Egypt)).

The dances also consisted of various interweavings of figures. The dancers either extended their hands to each other, or raised them while holding on to one leg, or twirled on one leg, etc.

We have a number of interesting reliefs from Benihassan.

The group depicting “wind” is extremely interesting (Fig. 7). One of the dancers leaned back strongly, her hands touching the ground, another is above her in almost the same pose, and a third is near them with outstretched arms. Erman. suggests that the presented group was supposed to personify a bush and grass that were bent by the wind ( Erman - Aegypten und Aegyptisches Leben im Altertum )).

To the left on the same relief is another no less interesting group, which is explained as a reproduction of one relief, where the victorious pharaoh tears the hair of a barbarian and raises his sword over him. And on our relief we see dancers in special headdresses or hairstyles, in exactly the same pose. A similar motif is taken on another relief, where two groups are depicted in the center, representing the pharaoh slaying his enemy. The movement on the previous terrain is similar to this one. The group was called "under your feet". The inscription on the relief says the following: “All nations lay together at your feet.” It is difficult to say how correct such assumptions are, since literary sources do not give us a description of these groups.

On the Benihassan reliefs we see a whole series of acts of jugglers, acrobats and acrobats. The peoples of Memphis and Thebes enjoyed the spectacle of deft movements and strength. The Egyptians were obviously familiar with the pirouette, i.e. that movement when the artist, standing on one leg, quickly spins around himself, describing circles in the air with the other outstretched leg. An example is the Beni Hassan relief from the tomb of Kheti ( Beni-Hasan, II, PI. XIII and XVII (Archeological Survay of Egypt)) (Fig. 8).

This movement transitions into a new catechism of dance, first appearing in XVIII century in Italy.

On another relief from Benihassan we see a row of Egyptians walking with offerings, with herds, hunting is also depicted, and in the second row from the top there are dances combined with gymnastics. To the right, all five figures presented perform various movements, to the left are part of the dancers in the usual dance pattern, and part depicts a gymnastic group ( Beni-Hasan, I, PI. XIII tomb of Amenemhat. (Arch. Suravy of Egypt)).

Ball games are extremely interesting; we find samples again in Benihassan. Already from the costume of the women playing, it is clear that this was, in essence, a modification of the dance. The performers perform a series of tricks, they play with several balls at once, they toss two balls, crossing and raising both arms, they try to portray as possible large quantity difficult positions, they stand on one leg, they jump in the air, or sit astride the back of another dancer (Fig. 9).

An amazingly truthful depiction of the painful pose of the acrobat, who completely leaned back before turning over, is given to us by an image on a shard located in Turin (Table 1). III, 2).

Monuments of art from the era of the New Kingdom give us various images of dance, sometimes surprisingly graceful, although from the technical side they differ little from the previous ones.

We have several reliefs from Tell el-Amarna. One of them depicts Akhenaten with his family on a palace balcony; he throws down gold necklaces, vessels, rings and jewelry to his favorite priest Aya and his wife. Aye's servants and retinue dance with joy and bow obsequiously. At the top, therefore behind, are the chariots waiting for Aye and his wife; in the second row, from the top, his scribes record the event, carefully listing all the gifts received from the pharaoh (Fig. 10).

On another relief, various nations with their wives and children are moving towards Amenophis to worship; they present their gifts to Pharaoh ( El Amarna, II, PI. XXXVII - XXXVI 1 I (Archaeological Survay of Egypt)).

The bottom two rows are filled with people dancing and performing complex gymnastic groups. Their writhing bodies are arranged quite boldly and their poses are distinguished by a certain variety.

One of the monuments shows the chariot ride of Akhenaten and his wife to the temple. Near them are depicted running soldiers and walkers ( El Amarna, II, PI. XIII (Archaeological Survay of Egypt)).

The worship of Aten by the conquered peoples was also accompanied by dances and processions ( El Amarna HI. P.I. XIV (Archaeological Survay of Egypt)).

In the New Kingdom, a dance dominated, which is still accepted in the East - the Almei dance. To the picture t 11 depicts dancing almeys: in long transparent dresses with hanging ribbons or fringes, they smoothly move to the sounds of a tambourine or castanets. Very different explanations exist regarding the cone-shaped objects that rest on their heads; perhaps they were filled with fragrant ointments that flowed onto the alme's flowing hair, or perhaps they were simply special caps. The Almeys took part by dancing and singing at the funeral feast.

The Almei Institute dates back to the most ancient times of Egypt; it is a corporation of “learned dancers” who performed at festivals and feasts; Later, the nature of the role of almei changes, the former honor and privilege disappears.

A very valuable monument is the relief XIX dynasty from one grave in Saqqara (Table. IV).

Women in long transparent dresses sway beautifully in a light dance and hit the tambourine, and they are depicted in two rows. Two completely naked girls perform a fast dance and click castanets. They are presented in the foreground, therefore, a kind of triple step is taken here.

The placement of the figures is quite correct, the composition is rhythmic. We see here two groups: to the left are three dancers, with the side ones depicted with their heads turned back, and to the right is a group of three persons, in the center there is an adult artist with two girls. In this monument one can feel the rhythm of dance and some choreographic knowledge. Each of the dancers does not copy the other, but conveys her own understanding of dance in her own way.

The figures in the last row are smaller than the front ones; here, therefore, we have the beginnings of perspective.

The lower part of the background figures is hidden, which, of course, is a well-known success.

No less curious is a fresco from a grave from the era, also of the New Kingdom (Table 1). III , 1). A feast scene is presented; in the presence of guests, ladies and men, extremely richly dressed and decorated, two dancers, completely naked, perform a dance. Their slender bodies, with ribbons on their hips, necklaces and bracelets on their chests and arms, form a beautiful, complete group.

Their faces are framed by black strands of hair, held at the forehead by a bandage. Musician dressed in a transparent dress plays the flute, women sitting nearby clap their hands to the beat.

In this picture, which is certainly a big step forward in terms of technical execution, we see the correct face the flutist, the correct profile of the dancer, her closed outstretched arms well taken.

True, in other figures the old convention still remains; some irregularities are reflected in the somewhat unnaturally curved figure of the background dancer, in the position of her chest in relation to the body, in the depiction of the collars and in the face of the eyes of the profile figure.

“The God of the earth allows his beauty to grow in every creature. Whoever gives beauty with his own hands - his beauty is like a fragrant ointment for the heart; it is so beautiful in nature, when ponds are full of new water and the earth is immersed in the waves of his love” - performed by singers and participants feast

Then wrestling was well known to Egypt - the Benihassan reliefs give us pictures of the athletic wrestling that young recruits were trained in (Fig. 12). The poses are amazingly varied, the most varied twists and turns of contractions are taken. Maspero counts up to 120 groups in the tomb of Catui in Benihassan and in the tomb of Bakuiti. To understand the intricately intertwined bodies, the artist, not yet possessing full artistic maturity, paints his opponents in different colors, one red, the other black.

“So,” Maspero notes about these reliefs, we see how they approach, feel each other, embrace, how they either advance or retreat in order to avoid the attack of the enemy or put him on the ground; one, having grabbed the other across the body, already threw him to the ground, but he did not touch the ground with his shoulders and the fight continues. A professional athlete would easily list individual techniques and, perhaps, would find among them those that are not used or are not allowed in modern wrestling ( Maspero. Egypte, p.114.).

The game and movement of the limbs are captured surprisingly subtly; it is clear that the Egyptian draftsman had to study the naked body in detail, he himself had to be present at the lists of this kind in order to understand the lines and give the main moments of the struggle.

Not only on the relief, but also in the round sculpture we have examples of struggle. Excellent examples are the wrestlers of the Munich Museum and the Moscow Museum of Fine Arts; True, athletic wrestling is conveyed here more crudely, but also truthfully.

Egyptian soldiers were trained in various military exercises, such as marching, running in platoons, jumping, military dance, hand-to-hand combat, battle, etc. We have a number of monuments where this is depicted. The clothing of the Egyptian soldier is a kind of apron, sometimes sewn from leather strips and covering the lower part of the torso and thighs, and a claft or felt cap on the head. The hands contain a shield and some kind of weapon, such as a spear, a dart, an ax, a club, a bow and arrows, a dagger, and a short sword.

Lightly armed warriors walk bareheaded, without leather aprons or shields, with a bow in one hand and an ax or boomerang in the other.

Heavily armed warriors follow in striped cones, leather aprons with a shield and spear in one hand and an ax in the other.

The highest military ranks differ somewhat in dress and weapons. In addition to the Egyptian soldiers, there were foreign soldiers, such as Shardani, Libyans, Bedouins and blacks.

Their clothes and hairstyles had peculiar features.

One of the Tell El Amarna reliefs depicts the running of a military escort, with Libyans in front. The soldiers are dressed in short aprons and armed with spears, shields, javelins, and some carry standards (E1 Amarna I. The tomb of Meryra, PI. XV. (Arch. Survay of Egypt)). The war dance of the riflemen is very interesting and lively. One relief shows the war dance of the Majai, the Bedouins (Fig. 13). Having lined up in front, they suddenly jump with a warlike cry, spinning in place, waving their weapons above their heads, with some convulsive body movements they put the bow on the ground, raise it again, then move forward, then back away.

On the relief from Deir el-Bahari we see the war dance of the Timahu, the Libyans: in peculiar robes, with feathers on their heads, with boomerangs in their hands, they perform a lively dance, while the figures standing nearby echo them in time, striking each other with two boomerangs about a friend.

Concluding this review of ancient Egyptian monuments depicting dance, gymnastic exercises and wrestling, I must again note that I have to present only part of the material I have collected, but I think that the cited monuments sufficiently indicate that choreography and gymnastics reached great development in ancient Egypt.

True, much still seems unclear and controversial, but let’s hope that archaeological research will provide us with the necessary literary and visual material that will shed light on the issue that interests us.

As for the dances of modern Egypt, based on the words of eyewitnesses and the available illustrations, one can think that some features of ancient Egyptian dance have not completely disappeared in them, for example, the Almey dance, the Ghawazi dance and the wasp dance.

Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco are full of almies who perform their dance for a fee, the basis of which is love experiences.

In a few places this dance has retained its poetic tone, in poses and movements reminiscent of ancient Egyptian reliefs; more often, a rough performance of “belly dance” is found.

Another common dance of modern Egypt is "Ghawazi", which the natives pass off as ancient Egyptian.

The character of the dance is devoid of any modesty; the dancer, through her movements, represents love from a slow awakening to a state of ecstasy. Finally, the third ancient dance is considered the passionate “dance of the wasp.” The actress takes off from her place and, shouting “wasp,” begins to dance, looking for the wasp, tearing off her clothes piece by piece, remaining completely naked.

With the greatest caution, in some of the above-mentioned dances of modern Egypt, one can find features that are only partially reminiscent of the poses and movements of ancient Egyptian dancers - and therefore anyone interested in the dance of ancient Egypt should turn to the monuments of hoary antiquity.