 | The Dancers of Ariccia It is always claimed, isn’t it, that belly-dance began in the time of the Pharaohs in the temples of Ancient Egypt. Unfortunately, archaeologists haven’t yet found anything to prove that it’s true! But what if we’ve all been looking in the wrong place? In this series of three articles originally published in NADA Jo investigates how the lost history of belly-dance may once have been buried in a Roman tomb. Part 1 - In the Service of Isis (Download here) Part 2 - The Dancers of Ariccia (Download here) Part 3 - Kiss of the Scorpion (Download here) |
| | A Ghaziya in the Family In Cairo it’s no wonder belly-dancers enjoy such a doubtful reputation with everything from the scandal-hungry tabloid press to old Egyptian movies stacked against them. And it seems it was ever so as these two cautionary tales from the Arabian Nights clearly demonstrate! A Ghaziya in the Family (Download here) |  |
 | The Eye of Cairo There comes a moment in every student dancer’s career when they see their first “star” belly-dancer, someone whose awe-inspiring skill and impossible glamour are quite simply breath-taking. Those lucky enough to see the unforgettable Fifi Abdou will doubtless empathise with a star-struck novice dancer on a first trip to Cairo in September 2000… A Night in the Eye of Cairo (Download here) | |
| | Horse Steps It’s inevitable that belly-dancers absorb stories - tall tales give accent and colour to the language of dance. But what happens when the stories change or different people tell different stories? Jo presents a collection of animal anecdotes from Saiidi dancing horses to pantomime steeds and ponders the slippery fish of evolving folklore Horse Steps (Download here) |  |
 | The Meaning of Hands One of the questions students always ask about Arabic dance is whether there are hand movements with specific meanings. Since making it her business to collect the facts, fictions and folklore of Arabic dance, Jo has amassed numerous snippets of information which are both picturesque and practical! This article, originally published in Mosaic, also includes the lowdown on all things Khaleegy The Meaning of Hands (Download here) | |
| | The Bedouin Box From the desert sands of Oman to a kitchen table in Yorkshire – what stories can an old battered box tell? Restoring this unusual gift, Alex and Jo reconstruct the life-story not only of the box itself, but of the Bedouin bride who may once have owned it. (Download here) |  |
 | The Art of Restraint The birth of Baladi - A passing guest talks of turn-of-the-century Alexandria and how dancers of private entertainments and outdoor celebrations first came together in Egypt’s big cities. He explains the long and honourable tradition of “restraint” amongst men “of good breeding”, and the very public business of managing one’s emotions when a woman gets up to dance. (Download here) | |
| May Her Name Live In ancient Egypt it was believed that no one truly died whilst their name was remembered and surviving stories suggest that music and dance played a part in a ceremony of names. Jo compares ancient accounts with one from Coptic Cairo around the turn of the last century and wonders if domestic rituals survive through the ages, or are just what people do May Her Name Live (Download here) |  |
