PHOTO CREDIT: Above photo by John Rickman Photography, San Jose, California.

• Through Foreign Eyes
  • Society
  • Media
• Product Reviews

• Dance Styles

Society

• In Search of the Origins of Dance: Real History, or Fragments of Ourselves? By Andrea Deagon. Why are so many of us obsessed with the origin theories of belly dance? Andrea examines this question.
• Feminism & Belly Dance. An introduction to the ways feminist thought can guide belly dancers.
• A Dance By Any Other Name. What should we call it? Belly dance? Oriental dance? Raqs sharqi?
• Belly Questions. Both snappy answers and educational answers to questions that people commonly ask belly dancers.
• Belly Dancing - Isn't That Like Stripping? Just why do people link belly dancing with stripping? Here's a historical and cultural perspective.
• Middle Eastern Dance and the Internet. Learn how the Internet has changed the worldwide belly dance community.
• Dance of the Seven Veils. Why people think belly dancers do the "dance of the seven veils".
• Dawlath Soliman: Dancing with a Gunshot Wound. Munich, Germany, 1953.

Media

• Exposition Universelle 1900 in IRIS Magazine. Translated by Priscilla Adum. About Egyptian dancers at the Paris exposition in 1900.
• That "Snake Charmer" Song. Find out how belly dancing first came to North America, and learn about the "snake charmer" song that so many non-dancers associate with belly dancing.
• Lady Liberty - What's in a Face? By Dahni. How the Statue of Liberty is connected to Egyptian culture.
• Fatima's Coochee-Coochee Dance (1896): A Film by Thomas Edison. By Marilee Nugent ("Venus"). The story behind the video clip.
• Imagining Movement: Orientalist Paintings & Photographs of Middle Eastern Dancers. By Kristen D. Windmuller.
• The Image of the Eastern Dancer: Flaubert's Salomé. By Andrea Deagon. Analyzes Flaubert's description of Salomé's dance, explains why it's not an Eastern style of dance.
• Mass Media, Mass Stereotypes. By Shira. How movies, children's cartoons, and other mass media have reinforced stereotypes about Oriental dance.
• Maria's List of Belly Dance and Middle Eastern Themes in the Media
  • Movies, Part 1: Movies produced in the USA.
  • Movies, Part 2: Movies produced in Europe.
  • Movies, Part 3: Everything else.
  • Television Shows.
• Cartoons with "Middle Eastern" Themes.
• Mini-Reviews
  • Movies made in North America or Europe with "Middle Eastern" Themes
  • Movies Made in Egypt with Raqs Sharqi Scenes
  • Television Shows with "Middle Eastern" Themes or Dance Scene

ABOUT THE PHOTO: This is a still from the 1896 short clip of Fatima filmed by Thomas Edison.

Knowledge

• Quiz. Tackle these 14 questions to test what you know of belly dancing, Middle Eastern culture, and music. Are you as knowledgeable as you think you are?
• A Glossary Of Middle Eastern Dance Terms. Contains a list of more than 60 terms related to belly dancing along with their definitions and guidelines on pronunciation.
• "The Oldest Dance"? Really??? How to determine which claims of belly dance history are plausible.
• Yes, But Is It History? By Brea Morgiane. A historian's advice on how to determine fact from romantic thinking.
• Clip Art For Dancers. Online clip art collections. The best is a royalty-free collection of 68 clip art images related to belly dancing created by Me'ira for you to use on your web site, in your newsletter, on your flyers, or other places where you need a little artwork. Also includes pointers to several other sources.
• Quotations About Dance. A potpourri of what well-known dancers, choreographers, and others have said about dance. Note that this is not limited to Oriental dance--the quotes come from people of all dance disciplines (Oriental, ballet, modern, etc.)

PHOTO CREDIT: Photo by Pixie Vision Productions, Glendale, California.

• Books about the History of Oriental Dance

PHOTO CREDIT: Photo by Randolph Lynch, Redwood City, California.

• Styles Of Belly Dance In The United States. Describes three styles of belly dancing that are popular in the United States: American Oriental, American Tribal, and Egyptian Oriental.
  • Part 1: Introduction, Overview, Historical Perspective
  • Part 2: Troupe/Solo, Choreography/Improvisation, Structure
  • Part 3: Veil Work, Finger Cymbals, The Music, Type of Dance Moves, The Costume, Performance Venues, Props, Other Dance Styles
• What Is Pharaonic Dance? What does it mean when a dancer says she performs "Pharaonic" dance, and where can you see performances of it?
• Belly Dance in Ancient Egypt, Part 1: Are They Really Belly Dancing? By Andrea Deagon. Part 1 of this article. It examines depictions of dance from ancient Egypt and analyzes whether any show evidence of belly dance.
• Belly Dance in Ancient Egypt, Part 2: Are They Really Naked? By Andrea Deagon. Part 2 of this article. It examines the use of nudity in Egyptian art.
• Fellahi Dance: What Is It? By Shira. Where did this dance style and its costuming come from, and what is the dance itself like?
• History of Tray Dancing in North America. By Shira. Which North African dance genre inspired the use of trays in North American belly dancing?
• Of Ballet and Belly Dancing. How much influence has ballet really exerted on belly dance?

ABOUT THE PHOTO: Photo of Arabella wearing a Pharaonic costume that she made.