Here are links to other male dancers, articles I've found on male dancers,
and a few of the more important general Belly Dance links. And then there
are a few links I've thrown in that have nothing to do with Belly Dance at all!
I have scoured the web looking for articles and websites by, for, and about
male Belly Dancers. Most of what I've found is listed here. I have, however,
omitted sites that merely mention the fact that there are male dancers,
or mention that someone saw a male dancer, or other sites that may
mention male dancers in one context or another but have no real content
(related to male dancers).
If you see the red "Belly Jewel"
(
)
by a vendor's link, Zorba has had dealings with and can recommend that
particular vendor. Nothing at all against the others though!
If you have a favorite link you'd like to contribute, please
contact me.
Jump to your favorite category with these quick links or scroll down
and read it all:
On This Links Page:
General links - Discussion -
Zills -
Articles about male dance - Male dancers' sites
On Second Links Page:
Mostly Pictures -
Female dancers' sites -
Vendors - Henna, Bindis, etc.
Non Belly Dance links -
Linking To This Site
General Belly Dance
Links:
Doumbeks
- An interesting article detailing the various names this drum has in various countries.
What Kind of Belly Dancer are You? - A short, fun quiz. Check it out!
ASAMED dance name registry - An attempt to get dancers to register their
dance names to avoid duplications. Quick and free, why not do it now?
Belly Dance Video Clips - The definitive list. Lots of good articles also!
Arabian Nights at Sea - Belly Dance cruise. If you can take this cruise, DO IT!
IAMED - The International Academy of Middle Eastern Dance.
They claim their videos are the "best in the world". From what I've seen of
them, they very well may be!
MyAisha
- Belly Dance search engine! Really good and getting better! Has submission
form so you can add your site.
Shira's Belly Dance Page - All roads lead to Shira's
site, and with good reason! There is more good information, and tips here
than any other place on the 'net. How-to's, techniques, Zills, you name it!
Aziza Sa'id's Website
- another very good reference site. Don't miss her suggestions for Belly
Dance olympic events!
Oriental Dancer dot net
- Belly Dance news, articles, discussions, directories, more!
VajraVision Link Heaven
- A large and good Belly Dance link site.
Jasmin Jahal
(Female) Dancer in Chicago who has a TON of useful and interesting articles!
Don't miss this one!
Dreaming of Jeannie
- Despina's site. Wonderful articles (don't miss her article on shimmying!)
The Joy of Belly
Dancing - Lots of good articles and tips to be found here!
The Gilded Serpent.
- Very nice Belly Dance E-Zine.
Mohammad El Bakkar -
The Man, The Myth, The Legend. Site has info, and MP3 Downloads of his music
Rakkasah's Web Site
- Billed as the largest Belly Dance festival in the world, it probably is.
It is huge, and well worth attending!
Desert Dance Festival Website
- Another large festival.
"Radio" Bastet
- All vintage Belly Dance music, all of the time. Real audio non-realtime WebCast. Very
cool!
Middle Eastern Culture & Dance Association (MECDA)
- You may find joining an organization like this useful. I do!
San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of MECDA
- All new WebSite, very useful!
Belly Dance UK
- Resources for UK based dancers, including a
Directory of UK teachers who will accept male students!
Talk About It:
Bhuz.com
- Bhuz Discussion Boards, you can often find me here.
Gypsy Talk
- Belly Dance and Pagan discussions.
Lotus Flower
- Belly Dance discussion board in the UK.
Magic of Oriental Dance
- Belly Dance discussion board. This one has a separate male dancer's area!
Men of Middle Eastern Dance - Jim Boz's Tribe group.
Yahoo! Groups male Belly Dancers forum - Sometimes VERY slow, sometimes VERY
active!
Yahoo! Groups Bay Area Belly Dance - San Francisco Bay Area dancers, news
and events.
Yahoo! Groups Belly Dance Santa Cruz - Santa Cruz and Monterey Bay Area dancers, news
and events.
Dance.net
- Has discussion groups about many different dance forms. This links directly
to their Belly Dance discussion.
Zills:
Saroyan Mastercrafts
- Zills, costume coins, a pair of must have CDs, you'll find 'em all here!
El Coyote enterprises - another well regarded Zill maker. John Compton recommends them!
The Ethnic Musical Instrument Company - Click on "Belly Dance" to find Zills and other goodies.
Turquoise International - Also well known.
Zildjian Online
- Zildjian is the Armenian family who has been making cymbals of all types,
including Zills, since 1623. Any questions?
The Online Finger Cymbal Workshop - From Shira's site.
How to play Zills - An additional resource.
Zills on Fire - Sells a complete how-to CD and book.
Hear Middle Eastern Rhythms Online! - Oriented towards drummers, but totally
useful for Zills as well.
Articles about Male Belly Dance:
Articles in newspapers and on news sites tend to come and go rapidly. If you
know of one not listed here, or one of these has departed cyberspace, please
Contact Me.
Shimmy Shaking for Health
- Tito comes to Hawaii!
MaleBellyDancing.com
- An odd little site. I'm really not sure how to classify it. It appears to be
an enthusiast site; it is comprised of a copy of part of my links page blatantly
lifted (but at least with credit given), coupled with links to male dancer's
videos on YouTube.
Male Belly Dancers in Egypt
- Its been talked about for years, how male dancers once graced the stages of Egypt, but are now
pretty much Haram and unheard of for decades. Now, that is slowly changing.
Granted, the guys have to conform to very narrow male stereotypes, but its a beginning...
Beer Belly Dancer
- Las Vegas (male) reporter gives it a try!
From Reuters
- Male belly-dance back in vogue in Turkey
Viraj
- Is featured in this article about the Belly Dancer of the Year pageant.
Teaching Elders
- Belly Dancing, including elderly males!
Brief history
- Of male Belly Dancing (one viewpoint).
Reverse Discrimination?
- "Men Only" belly dance classes by (female) Birmingham teacher!
Belly Dancers Shimmy for Fundraiser
- Including a male Belly Dancer!
Article
- By Australian male Belly Dancer "Ghassan" discussing how the dance enables him to step outside
of normal gender expectations.
We're everywhere!
- Belly dancing, with a little more body hair. You may have to set up a free registration to
view this article.
Another copy
- of the above article.
Gutsy moves
- Male Belly Dancing students shake up expectations
A thread
- from an online discussion about male Belly Dancers. "Aunt Rocky" even weighs in,
although I respectfully disagree with her "no veilwork for males" stance...
Bozzy in Alaska!
- male Belly Dancer Jim Boz gives a workshop in Anchorage. Free registration may be required.
An interview
- with some oddball male Belly Dancer named Zorba!
Arab-American
- Male Belly Dancers.
Vietnam Vet is now a Belly Dancer
- Article does not appear with all browsers, I needed to load Internet Exploder in order to get it to appear!
Belly Dancing, A Manly Dance?
- A male reporter's experience!
Belly Flop
- Another male reporter's experience! Requires a free registration to read.
I haven't got the stomach for this
- Yet another male reporter. This one is British and tells his experience in a Belly Dance Super Stars
rehearsal.
Men & Middle Eastern Dance -
As noted in Mike Waldie's Article on this site, males aren't
generally welcomed with open arms in the UK dance scene. This lady is trying to do
something about that.
"Future belly dancers may be male" -
Article about Australian Belly Dance competition - and HEY! There are male dancers!
Apostate -
Angry Young Black Man does Raks. Thoughts, musings, and ideas drifting around
the world of Raks, aka Middle Eastern Dance, aka Belly Dancing. By male dancer Asim.
NOTE: Both of Asim's sites seem to be off line as of 09/11/06...
Apostate 2 -
More of the same, but newer and updated!
Men Enter Hip Circles -
Male Dancers in Canada.
Group of Guys - being taught Belly Dance so they can perform in a fund raiser.
Men Being Encouraged - to join a Belly Dance class by Chiropractors. Requires
a free registration to read.
Wall Street Journal Article - About male Belly Dancers.
Aziz
- Male Belly Dancer inspired by God. (Which one?)
Book Review
- That reveals an interesting glimpse of male Belly Dancers at the turn of
the 20th century
Interesting Article - a (male) silk painter who discovers Belly Dance.
Male Dancers at Weddings -
Tarik's thoughts on the subject. From Aziza Sa'id's site
Male Belly Dancers in Turkey - From Jasmin Jahal's site.
Moosetafa
- A humorous look at Male Belly dancers. From Shira's site.
Hip Grandpa - 63 year old male discovers that Belly Dance eases back pain!
Oriental
dance, it's not just for women (and never was) - The most definitive
article I've found on the 'net.
A Teacher's Path
- How Tarik Sultan got his start. Very inspirational for male dancers!
Pink Gypsy's Male Belly Dance page - Very informative.
Masculine Belly
Dance - This article has been around forever, which I find unfortunate as it
is being quoted as "Biblical Gospel" (To use Christian phraseology) all over the 'net.
Frankly, I disagree with about 95% of it, but you decide...
Male Dancers - Some varied information, pretty good!
Lebanese male dancer - Mousbah takes the Beirut nightlife by storm!
Belly
Dancing for Men - Advice from Ankh, a male dancer. Lots of rulebooks.
Costumer's
Notes May 2001 - Questions and Answers - A discussion of men's costuming,
with links.
Cross Dressing
Male Dancers - Article on Shira's site, discussing historical and
modern day incidences of Male Belly Dancers who perform in drag.
Reflections
on Being a Male Belly Dance Artist - Brief interview with Aziz, male dancer.
Amara's Excellent
Articles page - Several of her articles discuss male Belly Dancers in terms
of: Is Belly Dance always feminine? Are male Belly Dancers feminized? These
rather intellectual treatises explore these questions. Warning: Some of the
articles are in a proprietary word processor format that some computers will
be unable to read (others are in good old WebPage HTML format).
Feminism & Belly Dance
- Interesting treatise. Belly Dance from a Feminist's viewpoint. Especially poignant
for male dancers is footnote [6]
John Compton talks about the old days - From the Gilded Serpent.
Male Belly Dancers in Istanbul - A world wide phenomenon?
Father-Daughter Belly Dancers! - PDF file, top article.
BBC News Article - About Mohammed Khordadian.
Male dancers' sites:
Steve Langley
- Of the UK. Belly Dancing and other. Skip slow loading
Flash intro.
Tito Seif
- Of Egypt. Male Dancers have been unheard of in Egypt until very recently.
Tito is the best known of the few. Even though he limits his costuming to
traditional male dress, he's a spectacular dancer from the videos I've seen.
Slow loading flash alert!
Site still under construction as of February 2008.
Gogua Iakovos
- Male Dancer in Greece. He does Tango, Rumba, Modern, etc. in addition
to Belly Dancing. It looks like he plays the piano too!
Malek
- Male Belly Dancer in Greece. I like his look and he has a nice WebSite!
Shades of Araby
- Male Belly Dancer Valizan and his ATS troupe!
Alexandros
- Greek male Belly Dancer now in Austria. Like most Greek male Belly Dancers,
he dances essentially topless.
Shafeek
- Of the UK.
Amrit
- In south Florida. Beware loud auto-play music on site - pause button provided!
Farouq
- Of the Netherlands. Site in Dutch.
Ozgen
- Of the UK.
Bondok
- Of Germany. Folkloric style dancer, including Tanoura (Twirling Dervish).
Hakim al Yassir
- Of Argentina. Site in Spanish.
Zadiel
- Student of Horacio. Pulls off a very pretty, androgynous look.
Seres Zoltán
- Hungarian male Belly Dancer. Site under construction...
"Attila The Hunk"
- I'll leave it to the ladies to determine if he lives up to his name!
Darren Ho
- Of Singapore. This is a multiple dancer booking page, scroll down to see Darren's bio.
Shiraz
- Of Vancouver.
Ricodancer
- Of Hollywood, California.
Sultan Adel
- Male dancer in Germany.
Asi
- Male dancer in Israel.
Mustafa
- Of Denmark? I like his look, but his site is riddled with annoying, slow loading flash effects.
Hurrem Sultan
- Appears to be a male Belly Dancer in Montreal. Site in French. Additional info appreciated!
Khaled Mahmoud
- of the UK. I really like his look, he isn't afraid of looking like a Belly Dancer!
Sharif
- Up and coming male Belly Dancer in Santa Cruz! He also has a dance diary,
check it out!
Maharasha
- Male Belly Dancer in Las Vegas. Quotes me on his site - so he must be a cool guy!
Sameh El Dessouki
- Of Russia. This links to the "English" portion of the site, which is only partially translated,
but interesting!
Zuel and Almukatab
-Pair of Spanish male Belly Dancers. Site details many dancers, click on "Artistas", then
on "Bailarines de Danza Oriental" for thumbnails of them all. I really like Zuel's look,
his vest is inspiring!
Mohamed Shahin
- one of the very rare native Egyptian male Belly Dancers.
Skip slow loading splash page.
Tarik Sultan
-Protegé of the storied Morocco. Probably the foremost male Belly Dancer of
our time!
Mohammed Sughayyar
- Of the UK. Details his performances and classes.
Mayodi
- Of Paris. - Lots of pictures and videos. Site in French.
Desert Passion Middle Eastern Dance Theater
- Featuring male Belly Dancer "Drakon".
Serkan
- Of Belgium. I like his costuming, and it is obvious that he, like myself,
loves his veils!
Zaza Hassan
- Of France. Seems to be a male folkloric dancer more than a strictly a
Belly Dancer. Site in French.
Marko
- Of Una's Troupe Nijmeh. I've seen this guy dance, he's very, very good!
The Men of Middle Eastern Dance
- Jim Boz's informational site.
Tribal Attitude
- Look around for male dancer John's photo.
Ossama -
Of the Netherlands. Site in Dutch. I like his androgynous look, it works well
for him. (Site there but empty as of 09/11/06)
Prince Erkan
- Of Germany. Site in German.
Naiya & Numa'ir - Wife and Husband Belly Dancers.
Direct Link - to Numa'ir's page on the above site.
Wes Gomes -
Seattle based male Belly Dancer and fire dancer!
Mark Balahadia -
Young male Belly Dancer in the Washington DC area.
Wes Gomes - I stumbled upon this older page. Wes is a well known dancer
in the Seattle area.
Werner-David -
German male Belly Dancer. (Site in German)
Second Site -
regarding Werner-David. He apparently writes a comedy article about his adventures!
(Site in German)
Nath Keo -
Cambodian-Canadian male Belly Dancer, singer and model.
Prince Andrew -
of Southern California. I like his look and his costuming!
Cihangir -
Male Belly/Flamenco/Eastern Indian Dancer. Site in German. Seems to like
performing in high drag, although I don't know if he does so exclusively.
Magdy El-Leisy
- Male dancer in Germany.
Zahir's Oasis
- Zahir is a male Belly Dancer in the San Francisco area. Site has been in hiatus for many years.
Asim's Links
- Asim is a wonderful Male Dancer, but this links page is WAAAAAY out of date.
Mashala
- A male Belly Dancer & Photographer with a really cool look! Don't miss the Henna
on his hands!
Paul Latta
- Of Canada. Paul is an accomplished Polynesian dancer who is branching
into Belly Dance as (another) 'Aziz'. He has a nice look.
The Male Belly Dance Site
- Ankh's new site!
Momo Kadous
- Of Germany. Bilingual (German/English) site.
Raymere - Of Columbus, Ohio.
Snakes Rising - Second site for Raymere.
Belly Dancing By Zamoras - Male Dancers - Pictures of several male dancers.
Jim Boz of San Diego
- Former leader of the Portland male Belly Dance troupe Sons of the Padisha.
DaVid - Famous
male Belly Dancer, first of Norway, then of Sweden, and now in California, USA!
Shiva - Male dancer of Sydney Australia.
Older page - for Shiva
Another Old
Page - Detailing Shiva and ex-partner Suraiya.
Amir - In
Germany (Site in German).
Oriental Fantasy
Productions - Beata and Horacio Cifuentes in Germany.
Adam Basma Middle
Eastern Dance Company - In Los Angeles.
Egyptian Academy of
Oriental Dance - Yousry Sharif of New York City.
Amir Thaleb - of
Argentina (Site in Spanish).
Hahbi 'Ru
- Home of the fabulous John Compton.
Sayed El Joker
- An Egyptian Dancer who has danced all over Europe.
Said-el-amir
- Munich, Germany.
Jewels of the Oasis - Belly dance troupe with 2 teenage males!
Viraj
- Of Edmonton, Canada.
Viraj's new page
- Replacement for above?
Eduardo, Male Belly Dancer - Several pictures, contact information and bio.
I really like his look!
Links of interest
