Belly Dancing On Fire Around the World, but Now Decadent in Egypt

Belly dancing has been practised in Egypt since the time of the Pharaohs, but the dance is loosing its luster in Egypt, where internationals flock to the Ahlan Wa Sahlan belly dancing festival.

“I see people coming from France, Italy, United States, Argentina, Spain, Japan,” Raqia Hassan, the festival organiser, told the BBC.

Simona Minisini - Winner of “Ahlan Wa Sahlan” Festival 2007

“I don’t like belly dancing. I don’t like to see a woman half-naked dancing and moving her body like that,” says one man on the street in central Cairo.

“It has a kind of sexual movement. That’s why I don’t like to watch it,” adds his friend. Read BBC’s Enduring allure of Egyptian belly dance.