SEQUIM — Laura Samperi-Ferdig has been studying belly dance since she was 8 and teaching since she was 16. “Belly dance is one of the oldest known art forms,” she said. “Its true name is Raks Sharki ...

As belly dancing gains popularity internationally, young Egyptian performers are working to restore its reputation at home, pushing back against decades of stigma to reclaim the dance as part of their ...

Introduction -- Egyptian arts and entertainment at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries -- The rise of raqṣ sharqī -- Reconstructing the technique of early raqṣ sharqī -- Reconstructing ...

Mesbaah was performing at the opening of the Old-Time Moon Cafe, a gig that -- along with weddings, birthdays, night clubs and circumcisions -- is typical for belly dancers. Untypical, at least in ...

How the Saudi influence is transforming Egyptian society. CAIRO, Egypt, June 20, 2008 — -- It was almost midnight at the five-star-hotel overlooking the Nile, but it was far from bedtime. The ...

(ANSA) - ROME, JUL 7 - An Egyptian naturalised Italian belly dancer has been arrested in Cairo on charges of offending public morals amid a clampdown on the traditional sensual dance that has seen ...

In a fitness studio in Saudi Arabia, dozens of women sway to Arabic music as they practise belly dancing -- an activity that ...