Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #648265 in Books
• Published on: 2005-10-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 421 pages

Customer Reviews

An intelligent compilation on Middle Eastern Dance
This book contains a fascinating compilation of articles about cultural aspects of Oriental Dance (commonly known as bellydance) both in countries of origin and in western countries. I enjoyed the diverse viewpoints and was exposed to some new ideas by reading this book.

My favorite articles include "Belly Dance: an Urban Folk Genre" and "An Evening in the Orient" (about the Arabic cluc scene in the Eastern US during the 1960's-70's and how that contributed to the evoluion to the American styles of this dance). Other topics include: dance in Egyptian films, American Tribal Style bellydance, Men in Oriental dance, representations of Oriental Dance in the Nutcracker, and others.

I highly recommend this book for bellydance enthusiasts who are interested in considering some of the cultural aspects of this dance or are interested in reading more scholarly works on Middle Eastern Dance. It may also be of interest for those interested in reading about gender roles in the Middle East as several articles include comentary on this topic.

Yes!!!!
Thank heaven they put this book together! It debunks most of the belly dance related myth and nonsense out there.