Hypnotic music from the Middle East pulsates through the room. Hips covered in sparkly skirts sway to the beat. Naked shoulders move up, then down, caressing the air. Arms gracefully flow in and out ...

During the day they are doctors, managers, mothers and secretaries. At night, they slip on their bead-and-sequin-studded bras and matching skirts and are enveloped by rhythmic clapping as they move to ...

When someone mentions belly dancing, do you imagine Salome with her seven veils, or perhaps a cabaret performance in a Middle Eastern restaurant? Often associated with scantily clad women enticing men ...

After her mastectomy, Jennifer LaFleur found herself lying on the hardwood floor in her kitchen. The firm surface seemed to loosen up her tense back muscles, which were sore from the maddening ...

Google the term “belly dance” and the first images the search engine offers are of white women in flowing, diaphanous skirts, playing at brownness. How did this become acceptable? The term “belly ...

Usually considered a tradition of Arab countries, belly dancing has a devoted new group of followers you might not expect: young urban Chinese. A group of women practice belly dance in a gym club in ...