For my paper, I’m going to write about the origins of the coin belt. Where it came from and why they started wearing them to begin with. As we know, belly dancing as an art came from Egypt but is that where the coin belt started? According to one of the only websites I could find stories from, the belly dancers were gypsies who would travel in caravans. The basic story says that these dancers were marriageable women who would travel around to earn money marriage. They tied the coins to their clothing because the sounds was alluring. The money they earned and attached to their skirts and bras went to their dowry for marriage. When they earned enough money they would return home to be married and give up dancing. As time went on the only difference to this story was that in the Arab world men would know whether they could afford the dowry or not based on how many coins the women had.

            The problem I found with researching this topic is that there is no clear evidence to support this one theory. This makes a topic like this one a “mythic history” which means there is a theory based on artifacts and other things of a similar nature but it’s nothing more than a theory. I attempted to search for this topic at least five different ways and could only find pictures or places to buy some. I only found this one site.

            In conclusion, sewing coins onto the bra and belt was believed to be a symbol of unmarried single women. It could be used as dowry for the woman to return home with for marriage or it could be a symbol to men how much the woman’s dowry would be to let them know if they could afford to marry her or not. This story implies that the safest place to store your money is on your person. The Arab version makes more sense than the first because in that culture it was not the brides’ responsibility to pay a dowry nor is it the family of the bride. It is entirely up to the husband to worry about because the dowry is to show the father of the bride that the husband can provide for the bride.

Works Cited

1.      "Why belly dancers wear coins." Bellydance. N.p., 30 Mar. 2016. Web. 15 Feb. 2017. <http://www.goldensandsbellydance.com.au/why-belly-dancers-wear-coins/>.

       This course was one of the best experiences I've had throughout my college experience thus far. I made wonderful friends and learned a new dance style that I seemed to succeed in better than any other dancing I've done in the past. Anna West was so willing to teach us and explain things in different ways to help us better our skills and make the movements more fluid. The class showed up and worked hard every single day. I would love to continue learning this style in my life and I look forward to see where this path could take me in the future.