Where Have Egypt's Belly Dancers Gone?

CAIRO, Egypt, June 20, 2008 — -- It was almost midnight at the five-star-hotel overlooking the Nile, but it was far from bedtime.

The lobby was loud; there was a wedding party. The bride was veiled and so were most of the female guests, a sign that it was a conservative family celebration.

Then a tall, attractive woman in her mid-40s, wearing a black thigh-high dress — and revealing more than it covered — walked into the lobby, stealing everyone's attention.

It was Dina, Egypt's top belly dancer and possibly the last Egyptian in the business.

"I dress this way to remind myself that I can still be a woman," said Dina in a fluent American-tinged accent. "At some point I too used to wear more covering clothes, [but] Egyptian society changed."

Dina, who was recently under fierce criticism by Muslim Brotherhood parliament members for dancing in front of students at a high school prom, explained that there is a love-hate relationship between Egyptian society and belly dancing.

"They all love it but do not want to be associated with belly dancers, that's why today you cannot find Egyptian belly dancers other than myself."

Most of the songs played at the wedding were produced by Saudi Arabian production companies, contradicting the conservative and religious image of the rich Gulf Kingdom.

Saudi Arabia has no movie theaters and singing is considered a sin, yet the three biggest entertainment channels in the Arab world are Saudi owned. They are mostly Saudi royal family investments.

The entertainment TV network & record company, Rotana, is owned by Prince Walid Bin Talal, and produces songs for Egypt's and the Arab world's top singers.

In fact, Saudi companies bought the rights to thousands of Egyptian films. The Saudi presence in Egyptian media outlets is unmissable.

"Some Saudi production companies commit genocide against Egyptian artists, while others enrich Egyptian media," Dina said. "In the past all songs were in the Egyptian dialect; today it is a must to sing in the Gulfy accent to make these companies happy."

Khaled Montasser, who wrote several articles in the Egyptian independent newspaper Sawt El Ummah criticizing the Saudi influence in Egyptian films, explains it as "an attempt to Saudinize the Egyptian soul and society."