Belly dancing lesson

General information

Destination	Category
Istanbul, Turkey	Attractions/Entertainment

Program details

As a our team we can offer you Turkish Classical & Gypsy Style belly dance lessons during your visit in Istanbul.


Belly dance is a Western name for an Arabic style of dance developed in the Middle East. Some American devotees refer to it simply as "Middle Eastern Dance".


In the Arabic language it is known as raqs sharqi ("eastern dance") or sometimesraqs baladi ("national" or "folk" dance). The term "raqs sharqi" may have originated in Egypt.


Outside of the Middle East, raqs sharqi dancing was popularized during the Romantic movement in the 18th and 19th centuries as Orientalist artists depicted their interpretations of harem life in the Ottoman Empire. Around this time, dancers from different Middle Eastern countries began to exhibit such dances at various World's Fairs; they often drew crowds that rivaled the technological exhibits.


Some mistakenly believe that Turkish oriental dancing is known as Çiftetelli due to the fact that this style of music has been incorporated into oriental dancing by Greeks and Roma, illustrated by the fact that the Greek belly dance is called Tsifteteli. However, Turkish Çiftetelli is more correctly a form of wedding folk music, the part that makes up the lively part of the dance at the wedding and is not connected with oriental dancing.


Turkish belly dance today may have been influenced by Roma people as much as by the Egyptian and Syrian/Lebanese forms, having developed from the Ottoman rakkas to the oriental dance known worldwide today. As Turkish law does not impose restrictions on Turkish dancers' movements and costuming as in Egypt, where dancers are prevented from performing floor work and certain pelvic movements, Turkish dancers are often more outwardly expressive than their Egyptian sisters.


Famous Turkish belly dancers include Tulay Karaca,Nesrin Topkapi and Birgul Berai.


When immigrants from Turkey, Iran, and the Arab states began to immigrate to New York in the 1930s and 1940s, dancers started to perform a mixture of these styles in the nightclubs and restaurants. Often called "Classic Cabaret" or "American Cabaret" belly dance, these dancers are the grandmothers and great-grandmothers of some of today's most accomplished performers, such as Anahid Sofian and Artemis Mourat.



Meeting/pick-up point: Les Arts Turcs.

Duration: Two to three hours.

Start/opening time: At 10.30am.

Languages: English.