Foreigners shake up belly dancing scene

The Oriental dance has attracted dancers from Eastern Europe, Russia, Latin America eager to make a name in the field

Cairo: At a Cairo wedding hall, Russian belly dancer Anastasia Biserova shimmied to the dance floor in a bright, high-slit skirt and an elaborately sequined bra top.

She swirled her diaphanous pink shawl and glided through the hall as a band pumped out music, while the crowd broke into rapturous applause — all captured in a video posted online.

“There is no country around the world that appreciates belly dancing like Egypt. Here, there is a growing trend to invite foreign belly dancers to weddings, nightclubs and other events,” she said.

Biserova came to Cairo more than four years ago and has built a solid name for herself.
Belly dancers from Eastern Europe, Russia, Latin America and elsewhere have dominated the scene in recent years in Egypt — long regarded as the birthplace of belly dancing.

But the North African country has seen its community of homegrown dancers shrink, largely due to the profession’s increasing notoriety as the country has become more conservative over the last half-century — and to a broadening crackdown on freedoms.

Belly dancer Maria Lurdiana Alves Tejas said it took her some time to come to terms with Egyptians’ conflicted view of her profession.The Brazilian, known as Lurdiana, said she had performed to enthusiastic crowds at weddings and nightclubs, and had even taught at gym classes.

But there are some who do not see me as a professional — or (who think) that I did not have a proper education and am only doing this to show my body for money,” she said.Egypt’s belly dancing scene thrived last century, when icons like Samia Gamal and Tahya Carioca rose to fame on the silver screen.