Bellydance: A Guide to Middle Eastern Dance, Its Music, Its Culture and Costume

by Keti Sharif

For those wanting to shake and shimmy their way to a firmer body, this comprehensive guide to belly dancing offers instructions on how to make the most of the hot belly-dancing-as-fitness trend. In addition to guiding the dancer to a trimmer waist, this how-to book helps put women in touch with their sensuality through the alluring moves of this ancient dance. Specific guidelines for pregnant women who wish to stay strong throughout the nine months and regain their prebaby belly are included. The history and culture of the art is also explored with a celebration of the pulsating music and shimmering costumes that make belly dancing a joy to watch. In Cairo there is a saying: "Every girl is born a dancer." With this guide, all women can be divas of the dance.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

121 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2005

Reviews

[SterlingSpider · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was actually a surprising little book. A quick flip through led me to believe this was going to be the typical fluffy intro to belly dance book. The typical history, basic movements, and rah rah mystical female culture sections are offered, but where this book differs from several others I've seen is in the offering of brief but nuanced overviews of several important aspects of dance which are typically glossed over by information sources aimed at the beginner.

The first section I especially appreciated the chapter regarding common instruments with a brief breakdown of the mood generated by, and the motions generally driven by the instruments. This included an explanation of common rhythms (which actually goes beyond Baladi, Masmoudi, and Chiftetelli!) listing regional source, time signatures, "feel", and most common drumming patterns.

The other really interesting section for me was the breakdown of commonly seen dance styles with information on area of origin, and distinguishing characteristics in movement, musical style, and costume.

Belly dance is often offered by beginner books as sort of a homogeneous monolithic thing, when in reality it's a very broad collection of sometimes rather tenuously related styles. I think this book does a really good job of giving the reader a taste of the many different flavors of belly dance available without causing information overload.

One caveat: while the predominantly purple and blue printing in the book is awfully pretty, some of the layout choices leave a bit to be desired. Read it in good lighting.

[Marga Barcones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Libro sencillo y bien estructurado que contiene explicaciones sobre la cultura de la danza oriental, tipos de danza, ritmos típicos y técnicas básicas de movimiento. Es un buen libro para principiantes, si ya sabes, se queda algo corto.

[Susana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es un libro básico e interesante para quienes se están acercando al mundo de la danza del vientre. Las fotografías son buenas, pero es complicado leer sobre ellas. Hay un apartado donde explica algunos movimientos, no le veo mucho el caso dado que es complicado seguir instrucciones leídas. Si llevas tiempo estudiando la teoría sobre la danza del vientre, quizá te parezca demasiado básico.

[Shara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an excellent resource. The notes about the music are great. The photos are beautiful. There are explanations of the origins of the dance, the culture, costuming, music, zills, and performing. Make sure you read this in a well-lit room, as the text is layered over the photos.

[Terrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for the history and differentiating the styles/regionality; impossible to learn any moves from - especially when splitting the description of a belly roll between two pages. The pictures are hard to see as they're set in sort of a faded out printing style.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating resource, filled with history and information. It addresses the moves, music, and costumes, in addition to cultural & regional differences. I’m looking forward to reading it again, to absorb more of the content. It has a lot of layers to it. The book deserves more than a quick perusal. Plan on taking time to enjoy this little book. The author has presented it in an easy to understand format, in clearly defined chapters, with an eye to clarity and comprehension. I was delighted to read it, especially with the cultural similarities and differences in Bellydance.

[Star · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really love this little gem. It is brief but contains ALOT of really interesting information on music, instruments, rhythms, specific traditional dances, costuming, even a little tutorial on some steps and combinations for the reader to try. The photography and layout is edgey but romantic and the book design so very streamlined- I also appreciate the concise and well-written explanations. If you enjoy this book, you will also enjoy the author's website www.ketisharif.com- with another book worth of informative articles and access to great instructional dvd courses and vacation packages to Egypt for a dance trip (you wanna experience it for yourself).

[Sonya]

Great picture on the cover. It's more like a recipe book for people wanting to try bellydance. I was much more pleased with the "Grandmother's Secrets" book.

I must admit, though, that this one looks really good on my display shelf. :) Is that shallow?

[Bron · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book itself looks beautiful, but the text is a bit repetitive. It was interesting to read but not quite as meaty an account of the history and culture of belly dance as I was after. I think if you already knew all the basics you would find this a bit boring.

[Nick Imrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great book for beginners who want to get an idea of the different forms of bellydance. It's a basic introduction to the cultures that gave us the dance and includes simple info on the different styles of the dance, rhythms and costumes.

[Brynna Schiller · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books. It has usefull info on Zills & drums. I like how it breaks down the steps (something difficult to learn from a book). Full of useful information for a dancer.

[Mari · Rating 3 out of 5]

Learned a few new things. I wish there were more photos/illustrations though.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book to introduce people to the history of belly dance. Touches on the main styles and music as well as costumes.

[Lisa]

new

[Dreamersemporium]

new

[J.D. Holman · Rating 4 out of 5]

For those reading this review but don't know me, I'm a belly dancer, and have performed in a local dance troupe for several years. My original teacher was trained under Dahlena. So I do know a few things on this subject.

This is a really good bellydance book. It offers a lightly comprehensive look at the history of this art, the benefits, the instruments, the styles, and the costumes. There are some basic moves, and suggested choreography foundations. I could recommend this book to any of my fellow dancers. We'd all benefit from reading this, I believe.

The main issue with the book, as other reviewers have noted, are the stylistic choices of the book's layout. The text can be hard to read at times, changing colors from page to page and sometimes conflicting with the background. A little too artsy-farsty.

[Elizabeth De Simone]

I didn't read this all the way through. It's not what I was expecting.