Introduction
This project links shifting migration patterns from India to the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, to the adoption of representations of a belly dance aesthetic and movement in Bollywood film dance sequences and music videos. I make these connections through an analysis of how the first popular appearance of Arab movement in a Bollywood dance sequence in 1975 occurs right in the midst of the first oil boom in the 1970’s, which in turn led to an increase in Indian migration to the major oil-exporting countries of the Arabian Gulf region. The subsequent development of infrastructure to take advantage of the oil resources and exports increased the demand for Indian labor migration to the Arabian Gulf region and simultaneously created a circular cultural flow, increasing the popularity of belly dancing aesthetics in Bollywood dance, which had previously primarily combined Western movement (i.e. ballet, swing dancing) with Indian classical movement (i.e. bharatnatyam, kathak), and increasing the popularity and consumption of Bollywood films in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Here I argue that the continued integration of Indians and rise of the Indian diaspora in GCC countries has corresponded with a rise in the popularity of Bollywood film in the region, which in turn, has gradually improved the authenticity of belly dance movement in Bollywood dance sequences. At the same time, belly dance sequences in Bollywood consistently appear as an example of the antagonist of the film engaging in vice, reflecting the Hindu nationalist undertones of Bollywood films and perpetuating an Orientalist interpretation of belly dancing.
