Encyclopedia
Countries
Each country page gathers its history, local styles, music, dancers, schools, festivals and events in one place.
Balkans
Belly dance in Serbia
A young but fast-growing scene: studios in Belgrade and Novi Sad, regional festivals and a generation of dancers training between Cairo and Europe.
Levant
Belly dance in Lebanon
Beirut's theatres and TV stages produced a polished, balletic school of oriental dance and some of the region's most beloved music.
Anatolia
Belly dance in Turkey
Home of Turkish Oriental — a faster, floor-working, 9/8-loving branch of the dance with Romani roots and a distinctive stage tradition of its own.
North Africa
Belly dance in Egypt
The historical heart of raqs sharqi. From the Cairo nightclubs of the 1920s and the Golden Era film studios to today's Nile-side stages, Egypt shaped the vocabulary, music and star system of the dance.