We have been looking at the Ghawazee Shimmy Combo in class this week and I wanted to share something about the dancers who were the inspiration behind the move. Here are a few photographs and illustrations showing the Egyptian Ghawazee dancers from the past through to modern times ..read more

Talismans and symbols surround us even in our high tech 21st Century lives, their origins often forgotten or reinterpreted, date back to the earliest of human cultures. There is an innate need in many of us to seek order and the familiar amongst the unknown. These symbols can help to ground us and connect us back to a spiritual world. In the belly dance world many dancers have been drawn to the ever popular and instantly recognisable symbol, known by many names, according to its cultural origin, including; the Hamsa (Khomsa), the Hand of Fatima, the Hand of Miriam, the hand of Tanit and the h ..read more

Little is known about Zuza Ben i Ford, a dancer from Biskara in Eastern Algeria. Her story as far as I know it is confined to her visit to Newcastle upon Tyne and it is here that it sadly ended. She was invited, with others from her community, as part of the North East Coast Exhibition in 1929 to come to Newcastle upon Tyne. The exhibition was intended to revive interest and stimulate trade with the region, to place the north east of England within a global context. Local products were to be brought together alongside people and artefacts from around the world. This included the construction ..read more