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Bellydance history is mired in half-written works, passed by poorly-documented oral history, and steeped in myth and Orentalist bias. This list is about giving you the power to learn all you can about not just Raqs Sharqi, but American Tribal as well (not seen any academic works on Tribal Fusion, and I look forward to reading such!)"
"If you have to choose just one of the books I list, I would suggest this one. A lovely overview of much of the history of the form, even if I think the chapter that touches on ATS is iffy. Much of the data and anecdotes on the history of dance in the Middle East I suspect have not made their way into an English-language work before now."
"It's interesting -- it's an academic work, but it's very personal to the author. Very much a work about the prisms we view sexuality, esp. that which "comes" from the Middle East, through."
"Although it's focused on Persian dance, I highly recommend this work -- it, along with TRADE LIKE ANY OTHER, was the first of the current wave of academically-focused books on our dance form. Excellent for understanding the relationship of the Iranian culture to dance, and how the solo dance that we know best evolved among the changes in that region over centuries."
"This was originally recommended to me by Morocco(the dancer, not the country), and was worth every penny I paid for it. I slightly recommend this book over Said's ORIENTALISM, if only because Mabro talks about dance more, and hangs the people who developed the seedy, oversexed view of the Middle East by their own words."
"A good, if not great, overview work. There's a few really notable articles, and some that I felt were so-so, at best. As a cheap paperback book, I do recommend it, if only for a good overview of the dance "over here" in the West, and a solid article on American Tribal. It does not cover mid-east incarnations as much as the works above."
"The go-to book for understanding the complex relationship between Egyptians and raqs sharqi. A truly rewarding work, and the first of the modern run of academically-focused looks at our art form. Even if your chosen style is a world away from what Dina, Fifi, and Lucy do, I recommend you pick up this work, to see what our dance ancestors suffered though, and still cope with to this day."
"It's rare to get a well-researched work on dance in Egypt that’s also enough raw footage of dancers from "over there" to sate most any serious dancer's palette. That this DVD is cheap on the ground is a major bonus. If you're rather watch than read, this book is a nice substitute for A TRADE LIKE ANY OTHER in some aspects, and acts as an update on some of the issues that older book touches on."
"This work is essential in documenting, among other things, the origins of the word "belly dance" as something not of the native culture, but of those who sought to use the dance to their own ends. It also documents the beginnings of American culture's deep fascination with Middle Eastern dance and the "sexulization" thereof. And somewhere in there, there's a tale about a dancer..."
"Recently re-printed (but not via anyone selling on Amazon!) this is the go-to book for Tribal Style. Everything from philosophy to detailed and complex history to how-to is in here, and given the many rumors and myths that have sprung up around ATS, it's a work that desperately need a re-printing and more popularity."
"Saving the most controversial for last. A watershed when first published, and a tough read for most anyone, the concepts in ORIENTALISM touch indirectly, but forcefully, on our from -- it's not a reach to say that this book helps explain, very indirectly, why bedlah looks like a Western fantasy of Eastern costuming. For the person who really wants to think through their dance influences."
