Femininity and Dance in Egypt: Embodiment and Meaning in al-Raqs al-Baladi

Femininity and Dance in Egypt: Embodiment and Meaning in al-Raqs al-Baladi

Noha Roushdy

Department

Cairo Papers in Social Science

Program

Cairo Papers in Social Science

Description

Considering the paradoxical position of al-raqs al-baladi or “belly dance” in Egyptian social life, as both a vibrant and a contested cultural form, this issue of Cairo Papers in Social Science considers the impact of wider socio-cultural and political forces on the marginalization of professional performers, on the one hand, and in defining the parameters for non-professional performances on the other hand. Through interviews with professional and non-professional female dancers in Egypt, it explores the relationship between al-raqs al-baladi and the dynamic cultural repertoire that produces notions of femininity and normative personhood in Egypt. As a dance that Egyptians learn in childhood, it exposes the cardinal relationship between culture and body movement. The study received the Magda al-Nowaihi Award for best graduate work on gender studies in 2010

ISBN

9789774165931

Publication Date

Fall 2014

Publisher

American University in Cairo Press

City

Cairo

Keywords

raqs albaladi, Egypt, femininity, dance

Series

Cairo Papers in Social Science 32(3)

Femininity and Dance in Egypt: Embodiment and Meaning in al-Raqs al-Baladi

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