* LINKS *

Updated January 2009


Monica Raqs

Dance Community Resources
Ongoing Dance Events
Music and Musicians
Publications: Print and Electronic
Costumes and Costuming Supplies
Films and Movies
Arabic Language Resources
Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Travel
Photos, Art and Images
Video footage
Dancers, Companies, Instructors
Flamenco
Web Rings
Site credits and details

Note: Inclusion of a link on this site does not imply endorsement.




Dance Community Resources

The Art of Middle Eastern Dance by Shira features a teacher's directory, links, song lyrics, and lots of information for dancers.
Aziza Said's hightly resourceful site.
Belly Dance Museum.
Belly Dance New York
Bhuz, discussion boards.
The Gilded Serpent, an e-zine for the Middle Eastern dance community.
Giza Club
Joy of Belly Dancing
The MED-Dance List. Send an e-mail with the following line in the body of the message: subscribe med-dance.
MECDA, Middle Eastern Culture and Dance Association.
MECDA--San Francisco Bay Area Chapter
Oriental Dancer, discussion boards.
Standard professional rates and ethics for professional dancers




Annual Events and Contests

Ahlan Wa Sahlan Oriental Dance Festival, every June in Cairo, Egypt.
Arab Cultural Festival, every September in San Francisco.
Bay Area Celebrates National Dance Week, each April.
Belly Dancer of the Universe Contest, every February in Long Beach, Southern CA.
Belly Dancer of the Year Pageant, every May in Walnut Creek, CA.
Cafe Bellie, held four times a year in Berkeley, CA.
Carnival of Stars, every November in Hayward, CA.
Desert Dance Festival, every October in San Jose, CA.
Ethnic Dance Festival, every June in San Francisco (and auditions every January).
North Valley Belly Dance Competition, every November in Chico, Northern CA.
Rakkasah, every March in Richmond, CA, and every October in New Jersey.
Wiggles of the West, every July in Las Vegas, NV.




Music and Musicians
Dorku, lyrics and sheet music.
Arabic Music Translation, a great site!
Abdel Halim Hafez
Alaghany
Arabic lyrics
Aswat, San Francisco based Arabic choir.
Farid Al Atrach.
Karim Nagi
Mary Ellen Donald.
Maqam.
Radio Bastet. Listen to great music--I love this site!
Reda Darwish.
Vince Delgado.



Publications

Print Publications
Al Jadid
Attitude.
Belly Dance: Raqs Sharqi Magazine
Bust Magazine.
The Chronicles.
Habibi.
iShimmy
Jareeda.
Mosaic, UK based dance magazine.
Zaghareet!

Electronic Publications
Cairo Live.
.



Costumes
A good article on dance costuming

Make your own costumes
The Costume Goddess.
Davina.
Denver Fabrics.
Fire Mountain Beads
Folkwear Patterns.
Nadya's Sewing Instructions. Very helpful.


Or buy them from these vendors
L Rose Designs, excellent and affordable quality
Akai Silks
Audrena.
Dahlal.
Scheherezade Imports.
Med'Devi Ink Boutique, garments and patterns
Wicked Smileys Hair Ware



Films and Movies

Arab Film Festival, every October in San Francisco, Berkeley and San Jose.
Arab Film Distribution
Egyptian Film Industry.



Arabic Language Resources

A is for Arabic.
Al Bab.
Arab Academy.
Arabic Class
Egyptian colloquial Arabic tips
Gay Arabic.
ILI, Cairo, Egypt. My former school.
Pacific Arabic Resources, San Francisco, CA.
Swear in Arabic



Travel to the Middle East, Mediterranean and North Africa
Cairo Live
Cairo Metro Map.
Living in Egypt, an ex-pats wonderful blog.
Lonely Planet.
Al Mashriq
Mediterranean ferries.
Middle East Maps.
Tour Egypt.
Train schedules in Egypt.
Yallabina.
Your Egypt
Zar



Photos, Art and Images

IstanbulGipsy
Photo Mythology
Shirin Neshat
Michael Baxter



Sites with video footage of some favorite dancers
Aziza of Montreal
Fifi Abdo
Naima Akef, Samia Gamal and Tahiya Carioca (Click on La Danse Oriental for videos)
My You Tube Dance video playlists



Dancers, Instructors, and Companies
** = Monica's teachers and/or dancers who have influenced her work.

**Aisha Ali, Los Angeles, CA.
Alexandria, Berkeley, CA.
Amina and the Aswan Dancers, San Francisco, CA.
Andrea, Bay Area, CA.
Asmhan, Zurich, Switzerland.
Azura, San Jose, CA
Bellydance Odyssey Productions, Santa Cruz, CA.
**Dalia Carella, New York City, NY.
Gypsy Caravan, Portland, OR.
**Hahbi'Ru, San Francisco, CA.
Hala and the Hala Dance Company, San Jose, CA.
Irida and Orientissime, France.
**Jasmine, Walnut Creek, CA.
Jillina, Los Angeles, CA.
**Judeen, Central California
Kashmir, New Zealand
**Keti Sharif, Australia and Egypt.
Lauren, Illinois. LearnToBellyDance.com
**Leea Aziz, Walnut Creek, CA. My first instructor!
**Leila Haddad, Paris, France.
**Lorna Zilba, San Francisco. No website, but worth finding!
Lulu, Menlo Park, CA.
Margo, Oakland, CA.
Maria, South Bay, CA.
Meera, Los Angeles, CA.
**Morocco, New York City.
Nadiyah, Spokane, WA.
Naiya and Numai'r, Walnut Creek, CA.
Nanna Candelaria, Oakland, CA.
Nashwa Ahlam, Menlo Park, CA.
Parri, San Jose, CA.
Raqia Hassan, Cairo, Egypt.
**Raqs Habibi, California and Washington. My girls!
**Sahra Saeeda, Riverside, CA.
Sarah, Dancer and Photographer, New York City.
Sarayyah, Walnut Creek, CA.
Shahina, Illinois
Shanna, Santa Cruz, CA.
Shaunte, Bay Area, CA.
Shayna, Fremont, CA.
**Shareen El Safy
And an interview with Shereen
Shelby and the Heart of Egyptian Dance
Sumaya, Chicago, Illinois.
Tempest, New Jersey.
Yasmina Ramzy, Toronto, Canada.
Yolanda, Menlo Park, CA.
Yosifah, Martinez, CA.
Zafirah, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Zaina Hart, Vancouver, WA.
Zamoras Studios, Central Valley, CA
Zanbaka, Seattle, WA.
Zizi Zabaneh, Miami, Florida.




Flamenco

De Flamenco.
Flamenco World.
New York Flamenco Workshop Calendar.
San Francisco Flamenco.
**Yaelisa, San Francisco, CA.
**Virginia Iglesias, San Francisco




Web Rings

Middle Eastern Dance [ Join Now | Ring Hub | Random | << Prev | Next >> ]

Belly Dancing Instructors [ Join Now | Ring Hub | Random | << Prev | Next >> ]

bellydance [ Join Now | Ring Hub | Random | << Prev | Next >> ]

Member of the Belly-Dancing.info Network

Site Credits and tech details

Thanks to Neferchichi for the cool graphics.
Thanks to Komodo for the social networking icons.



All the html was originally hand written by Monica using Notepad on an old Toshiba computer. Working soundtrack consists of KUSF 90.3, black metal, Egyptain sha'abi and pop, and lots of Willie Nelson. All typos and bad links are probably just mistakes. Be nice. If you would like to exchange links, please email me. I'd be honored.(9/04)



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