Middle Eastern Dance, Including Ethnic and Folk Dance

Ghawazee dancers Learning the dances of medieval europe in the SCA was fun and fascinating to me, however, it never fascinated me as much as middle eastern dance. Originating thousands of years ago as possibly a fertility dance, or used as an aid for women giving birth, it is a dance that has survived and evolved to a beautiful art today. Not limited to just the middle east, to any country or race, not even limited to women, this dance plays many roles today. In Egypt it's called raqs sharqi (dance of the orient). American dancers call it Dance of the Orient, Dance of the East, raqs sharqi, Middle Eastern dance, dance du ventre, oriental dance. It's also erroneously known as belly dance. Belly dance is an incorrect term derived from 'beledi', which refers to a rhythm and style of the dance from Egypt.

These days, you can find dancers who entertain in nightclubs, who explore the dance as an art, who research and recreate the dance as it is/was done by the native tribes and people of the middle east. Some dancers dance only for themselves, some share their dance with other women or dancers, a few use the dance to explore the original goddess-related aspects of the dance. Below you'll find some links that you can follow, to find dancers of all types on the web.

Ouled Nail Dancer This page however, is primarily devoted to the dance as it can be found within the Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA). Within the SCA, we attempt to recreate the dance as it may have been done in the middle east and North Africa during the time period between 600 AD and 1600 AD. We research the dance itself, the costume of the period, and the customs surrounding the dance and the people who did it, in order to understand why and where it was done. Most dancers within the SCA also learn the modern moves which have evolved from the earlier dance, as it better helps to understand the moves.

This page will be updated as often as I have new pictures or articles to add to it. Please check back now and then to see if something has been added. Pictures of troupes at SCA events or RenFaires will be added soon, as well as pictures of local dancers as we have them taken. To learn more about the type of research we in the SCA do, follow the link below for an article on the Ghwazee.

15th Century Ghwazee Wedding Dance by Thais Banu. This article is NOT by ME. This is by one of my teachers. Please do not write me asking questions about this article, I am merely providing it as a service.

A Few Favorite Links

Ancient Rhythms Near Eastern Dance Studios - See for dance classes in the Quad Cities, nearby dance events, news on local performances and more!

Rakset al-Nehri is the dance troupe that I and my fellow dancers formed for performing at SCA events and such, for fun! See some of our pictures. :)

Middle Eastern Dance Information by Shira This page is one of my all time favorites for Middle Eastern Dance on the web. It's full of info about the dance, pictures, links, and even has a coloring book. I recommend stopping here first, if you want more information about the dance or music of the middle east.

Belly Dance Home Page Articles, info, links. Excellent resource.

Middle Eastern Dance Resource Guide More articles, FAQs, guides to music and videos, teachers list, resources and pictures.

Morocco's Meanderings Morocco is one of the premier dancers in the US for many years, and is a well known teacher of the art. Her web site is full of her articles, pictures, reviews and bios. Of special interest are the pictures of her troupe's ethnic repetoire.

Middle Eastern Dance Doumbek Rhthyms Rhthym notations and .wav files to hear the actual rhythms being played. Excellent for both dancers and drummers.

Bellydance Gallery by Jeff Oberman Lots and lots of pictures of dancers performing. Mostly modern costuming, for those looking for costume ideas.

OR try my BIG List of Dance Links!

Designed and maintained by Michele

Last modified June 29, 2003

Visits since 2/23/03