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Inspiration - Books

Disclaimer: We aim to provide you with a varied and informative book selection, and we encourage you to read, but with a questioning mind…

Here is an amazingly detailed book that will help you understand Arab culture and protocols better. I obtained it from my local library. It is quite antiquated, but very interesting.

Books by reputed Dancers/Researchers

This definitive handbook by Josephine Wise is highly reccommended
Buy it here

 


The Iconic Morrocco. Fountain of knowledge and wisdom generously shared

 

Belly Dance Around the World: New Communities, Performance and Identity edited by Caitlin E. McDonald, Barbara Sellers-Young


Ancient Egyptian Dances
Female Singers and Dancers in Egypt
Irena Lexova

Buy from Amazon



Sacred Woman, Sacred Dance
Awakening Spirituality Through Dance
and Ritual
Iris J Stewart

Buy from Amazon


The Book of Arabic Wisdom
Proverbs and Anecdotes

compiled by Hussain M Al-Amily

Buy from New Internationalist



A Trade Like Any Other
Female Singers and Dancers in Egypt
Karin Van Nieuwkerk

Scholarly research into world of female
Egyptian entertainers

Buy from Amazon


Belly Dancing: Unlock the Secret Power of an Ancient Dance
Rosina-Fawzia al-Rawi


Buy from Amazon  
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Arabesque
Jewish-Egyptian writer and Historian, Claudia Roden, has produced a cookery book, containing anecdotes that you might enjoy!
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Costuming Books
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There is a free booklet by Dawn Devine Brown
which has almost everything you need to know about costuming. The booklet is a PDF and can be downloaded for free. You will also find on Dawn’s website a list of books to buy but one that you may find particularly interesting is Costuming from the Hip. The book is an introduction and overview of Middle Eastern costume design. Dawn talks about colours, costuming styles and what suits your body type. She also has a wide range of books if you are a skilled at sewing.




 
From the archives

'Al Raqs Al Sharqi: an historical perspective of the dance'
S Hilal
Raqs Sharqi Today, vol 1


'Reflexions sur la danse artistique musulmane au moyen age'
Cahiers de civilisation medievale, vol 5, 1962, pp 463-474
Dance in Medieval Muslim courts


'Female Entertainment in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Egypt'
Karin Van Nieuwkerk
MERA papers, Amsterdam 1990
ISBN 90-72985-06-0


'Les musicians du Nil'
Alain Weber
Dansons, magazine special issue, April 1993
ISSN 1155-228


'Ghawazi on the edge of extinction'
E Nearing
Hilal School of Raqs Sharqi, Newsletter 4-5 1995