Middle Eastern Dance Books
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Egyptian Music Appreciation & Practice for Bellydancers
George Dimitri Sawa. 2011. A book and two CD set which provide a primer on rhythms, maqams and melodic modes, musical instruments and musical forms. A must for every serious student of Middle Eastern music and dance.
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Looking For Little Egypt
Donna Carlton. A history of Middle Eastern Dance in the USA. Discusses the origin of the term “belly dancing” which was coined by Sol Bloom at the Chicago World's Fair in the 1890's. Excellent scholarship. Highly recommended.
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Serpent of the Nile: Women and Dance in the Arab World
Wendy Buonaventura. Traces the history of Middle Eastern dancing from modern times until today. It is full of beautiful orientalist art pictures and some historical inaccuracies. Worth reading however!
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A Trade Like Any Other: Female Singers and Dancers in Egypt
Karin Van Nieuwkerk. An anthropological analysis of why entertaining is considered a low-class profession for women in Egypt. Describes the history of women singing and dancing as professional entertainers in Egypt from the nineteenth century to the present. Excellent scholarship. Highly recommended.
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The Middle East: A Brief History of the Last 2,000 Years
Bernard Lewis. Covers the history of the Middle East from the dawn of Christianity and Islam to modern times. A nice history of the Middle East, it doesn’t contain much dance info.
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Grandmother's Secrets: The Ancient Rituals and Healing Power of BellyDancing
Rosina-Fawzia B. Al-Rawi, translated by Monique Arav. The introduction which talks about the Author’s memories of her Grandmother is nice, but the historical section is inaccurate and mixed with lots of made up new age stuff. Disappointing. Borrow it from the library.
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The Harem Within: Tales of a Harem Girlhood (Also called Dreams of Trespass)
Fatima Mernissi. An autobiographical account of a woman who was born in Morocco in 1940 and who grew up to become an internationally recognised feminist. The book mentions dancing and other women’s activities. Sensitive and joyful, this is a delightful book.
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Harem: The World Behind the Veil
Alev Lytle Croutier. By drawing on a host of intimate first-hand accounts and memoirs, Harem explores life in the world's harems, from the Middle Ages to the early twentieth century. Very interesting!
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Costuming From the Hip
Dawn Devine Brown. Describes how to make a belly dancing costumes. This book covers costume basics for beginning dancers, and describes many creative variations that will delight more experienced dancers. Great resource!
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From Turban to Toe Ring
Dawn Devine Brown. Describes how to make American tribal style and historical dance costumes. Dawn has numerous degrees in historical and theatrical costume design and is an excellent scholar. Highly recommended.
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The Belly Dance Book
Edited by Tazz Richards. Articles on every topic you can think of written by some of the great instructors and scholars (including Morocco) of Middle Eastern Dance. Highly recommended.
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The Music of the Arabs
A classic textbook - a useful guide to understanding the wonderfully complex quarter tone, maquam based Middle Eastern music. Highly recommended.
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Ear Training for the Body: A Dancer’s Guide to Music
Katherine Teck. Written for dancers of all disciplines, this is a helpful tool for improving your understanding of music.
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Mastering Finger Cymbals
Mary Ellen Donald. A highly skilled percussionist explains in plain language how to master a variety of Middle Eastern rhythms on zills (finger cymbals). This is an excellent