The Book of Oriental Dance
"The book of oriental dance" is a useful tool for those who are about to explore this discipline for the first time, but also an in-depth text for anyone who intends to read up on the history and imagery of the so-called "belly dance". The first section dedicated to the "Myth" presents the archetypes that inspire dancers and aficionados and which have formed the main humus on which the "Orientalist" phenomena of European and Western art have been grafted. This is followed by a large and documented historical section accompanied by numerous illustrations, starting from the remote pharaonic past up to the modern fusion suggestions, not neglecting the discussion of some of the most important choreographers, dancers and musicians, especially Egyptians, who have made oriental dance famous all over the world. In the part dedicated to the manual the main movements, the basic positions and the layering technique are described, moreover you can find numerous suggestions regarding the knowledge of the rhythms, the main maqamat (musical modes), the structuring of a choreography, improvisation. The thread that binds the three sections, Myth, History and Manual, consists of an in-depth reflection on the evolution of this dance, considered the oldest in the world, and on how it, despite apparently having lost the sacred connotation with which was born, still constitutes, not only for Arab women, an important tool to regain their primeval femininity, reconnecting to the inner archetypes. It is therefore a vast, composite and in-depth work that encompasses the author's twenty-five years of experience in this field and her research on historical and iconographic sources, aimed both at an audience of "experts" and at laymen.