Here to delight your senses is a sample of representative videos that cover major bellydance styles, with the objective of showing the wide and beautiful variety to choose from, and how much room there is for personal creativity.

Egyptian Baladi and Folklore

‘Baladi’ in Arabic means ‘of home’, ‘of the people’, or ‘of the country’, and is used to describe the style of simple, earthy, playful dance performed by men and women throughout Egypt at weddings and social occasions. Folkloric dances are traditional to a geographic regions of Egypt or specific tribes. For both styles, a full-length beledi dress or galabeyah is traditionally worn.

Egyptian Raqs Sharqi (oriental dance)

Raqs Sharqi (‘Dance of the East/Orient’ in Arabic), also known as Oriental dance, draws upon baladi and was later developed by famous dancers of the golden age of Egyptian cinema among others. It demonstrates strong technique with light, elegant styling, extensive hip work and shimmies, and often, but not always, balletic extensions and turns. The interpretation of dance rhythms, instrumentation and feeling is personal and playful. As with all oriental dance, it can be danced by men and women. This is probably the most famous and imitated form of bellydance.

Modern Oriental

Modern oriental dance is a fusion of oriental dance and ballet, jazz, or contemporary dance. It is technically precise, often acrobatic, and regularly follows as much detail of the lead tabla drum as possible, making for a visual feast and audience “wow factor”. The grand gestures and stylised turns are most at home on stage or large venue, as opposed to the more intimate and relaxed atmosphere of a restaurant, home to other forms of Middle Eastern dance. In the pursuit of excellence and era of online video sharing, modern oriental has arguably become somewhat standardized. It is typical of competition dancing, and has now become the preferred style of many dancers in the East and West.

Vintage American Cabaret

American cabaret is a glamorous fusion of Middle Eastern bellydance styles, presented in a way to meet the expectations of American audiences who like drama and humour on stage. It arose as immigrant musicians from Armenia, Lebanon, Egypt, Greece, Turkey worked in restaurants and nightclubs with dancers who learned dance steps from wherever they could, creating a unique fusion that equally embraces each form.

Turkish Style

Turkish bellydance is characterised by its costume style, frequent use of finger cymbals (also known as sagat or zills), and the appearance of floorwork and extensive veil-work. The influence of Turkish Rom can be observed in movement, and also sometimes in the dancer’s unfettered exuberance. This is in contrast with more controlled elegance typical of dance in Egypt. Some dancers unfortunately see the Turkish style as an excuse for lack of inhibition that can result in a loss of dignity in the performance, but this is not inherent to the style.

Turkish Rom

The vibrant dance heritage of the Rom people can be observed in Turkish style bellydance and is sometimes interpreted particularly in American fusion styles. It’s a joy to watch and perform, but caution and sensitivity are necessary. The Rom people are very diverse and some may feel affronted at being associated with bellydance.

American Tribal Style

American Tribal Style has roots in San Francisco with Carolena Nerriccio and her dance company FatChance Bellydance. The dance is primarily a group improvisation with a clearly defined movement repertoire, system of cues and costuming aesthetic. Finger cymbals are another strong feature.

Tribal Fusion

Tribal fusion is an American bellydance style that grew out of American Tribal Style and draws upon much of the technique, fusing it with stylisations and movements from modern Egyptian, flamenco, hip-hop, Indian dances, other folkloric dance forms and even martial arts. Serpentine or continuously flowing movements are typical, along with muscular isolations and unexpected or punctuated stops and changes of direction.

Flamenco and Fantasy Fusion

Particularly in America, the intersection of many cultures has resulted in some creative and beautiful dance fusions, including a mixture of flamenco with bellydance and romanticised ‘gypsy’ bellydance with skirt-work. While not authentic in the traditional sense, they can be nevertheless be enchanting interpretations.