Dancing On A Scarab: Must-Know Music for the Performing Belly Dancer

When I started belly dancing back in the early 1970s, I had no idea about a long list of music I was supposed to or would need to know. I just thought that belly dancing would be all I would have to do! Little did I know the complexity of this dance -- and the music. Who knew that there was a long history behind what I had just step into?

It's important to know the music you dance to if you want to complete your studies as a belly dancer. It's also equally important to know who wrote it, who wrote the lyrics, what the lyrics say and mean, who sang it, and if applicable, who it was written for and who originally danced to it. And I'm not talking about the modern stuff. I'm talking about all the classic stuff -- the music of the Golden Age of Egypt.

In 1999, I installed Dish on my roof, ordered the Arabic channels, and tuned into LBC -- Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation. For the next 15 years, I sat glued to the tube and watched movie after Egyptian movie, learned about the actors, identified the musicians, and studied the dancers. I even went as far as to record about 500 of these classic Egyptian movies. I've since replaced Dish with Youtube and continue to enjoy many of these movies over and over when I get the time.

Fast forward....

I have compiled a list of "must-know music for dance", offering a one-hour class on each piece along with a CD of different renditions of the piece, the names of the composer, lyricist, translation, singer, and some history. I have entitled my series "Must-Know Music for Dance Series".

Below are the fliers of the music on the list. Series 4 just started!!! Drop-ins welcome!!! And I'll be repeating this course series again and again.