When I turned 17, I wanted just one thing for my birthday: belly-dancing classes. The dance's beauty, grace and creative costumes, along with its strong connection to Arabic music, made it a natural ...

While Arab politicians might avoid visiting Israel at any cost given its hostile status and disputes over the still unresolved occupation of Palestinian land; Arab belly-dancers are reportedly having ...

While some prominent Arab and Turkish belly dancers plan to take part in upcoming festival in Eilat, others condemn idea as treasonous given Israel's ongoing abuse, dispossession of Palestinian people ...

“Here, there is a growing trend to invite foreign belly dancers to weddings, nightclubs and other events.” At a Cairo wedding hall, Russian belly dancer Anastasia Biserova shimmied to the dance floor ...

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 ...

It is 1:30 in the morning at the packed Al Rashid nightclub, and the scene is “Arabian Nights” crossed with Studio 54. A private nurse wearing an Islamic veil attends to a heavy-set Saudi man in robe ...

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

Giselle Rodríguez is the author of "Danza Oriental en Egipto", a Spanish-language book that traces the origins of oriental dance all the way back to the Pharaonic Egypt until today.

While Arab politicians might avoid visiting Israel at any cost given its hostile status and disputes over the still unresolved occupation of Palestinian land; Arab belly dancers are reportedly having ...

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 ...