The Ghawazee were one of the most famous dancing tribes in Egypt. Female Ghawazee were called Ghazeeye, and male were called Ghazee. The name Ghawazee was generally thought of as referring to the female dancers. Although they professed the Moslem faith and spoke the same a language, they were not really Egyptians, but members of a distinct tribe. The Ghawazee were said to be different in appearance from the rest of the Egyptians and were considered by many to be the most beautiful women in Egypt.

Western writers reported Ghawazee dancers flourishing as an accepted part of the Egyptian society in the 1700’s. This lasted until about 1834, when they were banished due to religious pressures. The primary reason for the banishment was because they did not wear face veils. Ghawazee lived in every large village of Egypt, particularly in Upper Egypt, and in the delta towns, in settlements of tents and huts. They prized girl babies and considered a son to be an economic misfortune. Ghawazee females, without exception, were raised to be prostitutes and dancers. Before a Ghawazee girl married, her father would sell her favours to the highest bidder. She would then usually marry a man of her own tribe.

The tribe always traveled around from city to city, attending fairs and going to troupe camps. Ghawazee women danced in the streets, usually passing the tambourine after their shows. While the men of the tribe played instruments, the women danced either singly or with a few other girls, accompanying themselves with finger cymbals. Often they danced for festive occasions in the harem, at marriages and at births. They had the prestige of being the most well-known dancers in Egypt. Ghawazee economic structure allowed their women to acquire considerable wealth, fame and good marriages. The rich Ghawazee dressed in silk and wore necklaces, anklets, heavy gold bracelets, and coins across their foreheads. Sometimes they wore a nose ring. Usually, their dress was almost identical to that of Egyptian middle class women. Both men and women blackened their eyes with kohl and hennaed their hands and feet as was the custom of the Egyptian middle and upper class. Some Ghawazee acquired considerable wealth and rich homes, slaves and cattle.

What are typical dance movements of the Ghawazee? Theirs is an earthy dance, heavy and voluptuousl. Their hip shimmies usually twisted forward and back, parallel to the floor, rather than a vertical up-and-down hip movement. They included many shrill cries and zaghareets, some floor work and backbends, an occasional head slide, all the while playing finger cymbals. The gestures most often implied a calling to the audience to participate and clap with the music, as well as to acquire money.

With the early Orentalist visitors to the Middle East came descriptions of the Ghawazee which reflect Western sensibilities at that time. The Ghawazee, and related groups, become the center of attention -- but all that attention was focused upon their dancing, as well as other rumored skills. In 1762, the German explorer, Carsten Niebuhr, describes his experience of the Ghawazee.

"At first we did not appreciate this kind of entertainment, for the music was poor and the women immodest, to our way of thinking. They exposed themselves in front of us in every way, and we found them ugly with their dyed yellow hands and blood red fingernails. The black and blue necklaces and big heavy anklets, the rings in their ears and noses, and the rich use of grease in their hair was not to our taste at all. However, little by little we changed our minds and found them beautiful, even to the extent that we enjoyed their entertainment as much as we would have enjoyed seeing the finest dancers and singers in Europe."

Like many who live by their wits on the fringes of society, the Ghawazee knew several languages and had a secret code of their own which was not understood by outsiders. The dancers could be found performing in public squares and cafes. During Napoleon's time, the women fraternized with the French. Napoleon's generals, blaming the Ghawazee for creating unrest, announced that they would be severely punished if they did not stay away from the barracks. According to the French writer, Auriant, the women were not deterred by this threat. As a result, 400 of them were seized and decapitated and their headless bodies thrown into the Nile. In 1834, the Ghawazee were outlawed in Cairo by Muhammad Ali. They were banished to Upper Egypt where they settled in the towns of Esna, Aswan and Kean. Any woman who defied the ban was liable to fifty lashes for the first offence and hard labour for any further infringement of the law. In 1866, the ban was lifted and the Ghawazee were allowed to return to Cairo.

Whilst westerners may have found Arabic dance lewd, immodest and shocking, it is interesting to note an alternative perspective on the comparisons of Ghawazee dance and European ballet reflected in the 1870s by the American traveller, Charles Leland:

"Sometimes two (Ghawazee) girls dance a duo: and I have seen this made quite as improper, though not as sickly sentimental, as in any opera house in Europe, when the ballerina falls back into the male object's arms, eyeing him with a leering smile, while she lifts one leg to the gallery!"

Acknowledgements: Sources and reference - Serpent of the Nile by Wendy Buonaventura - Saqi Books