Best Belly Dance Books
Reading is a great resource for learning. Wether you are a belly dance student and want to learn more about dance and it's history, if you are a belly dancing teacher and want advice on running classes or creating choreography or if you are a performer of any experience and want to learn more about performance. By investing in belly dancing books you can learn so much to help you on your personal path.
Despite being dyslexic (discalcula) I am a big reader and there's nothing I like more than settling in with a hot drink and a good book. So I invested in some dance books early on in my professional belly dance career. Although I like to read the main reason for buying lots of belly dancing books was to learn more after realising I had to go back on myself. What I had been taught previously over seven years was follow the bum moves without any technique or accurate information on styles of dance cultural or history. Things I realized where important to learn as a professional dancer and teacher. Investing in books was a great addition to private lessons advanced dancer courses and workshops with quality teachers that I travelled a long way to attend. I learned from great humble teachers who also advised me well. I caught up and was on the right path. Every cloud had a silver lining and although my early dance experience wasn't the best quality I have learned so much more since then but that was a long time ago. I learned to be a better teacher also and ensure I incorporate correct information into all of my classes so my students have a base to start from along with encouraging to go to other classes and teachers in the belly dance community.
So less about me babbling on here are my favourite belly dance books with links to where you can but them. Enjoy.
1 - The Belly Dance Book
The Oldest Dance edited by Taz Richards
Buy it on Amazon
This was the first informative belly dance book that I bought. It has lots of tips advice and thorough information for dancers written by trustworthy mainly American collaborators. With everything from dance history consuming tips to makeup and gig advice. I highly recommend this book.
2 - The Belly Dance Hand Book
A companion for the serious dancer
By Princess Farhana
Buy it on Amazon
Check out Princess Farhanas Blog
This book is perfect for anyone wanting to perform professionally it covers everything. It helped me to prepare for gigs perfectly. Written by an accomplished professional successful belly dancer with years of experience. Who wouldn't want to get advice from someone who knows what they are doing.
3 - The JWAAD BOOK OF BELLY DANCE
By Josephine Wise
Buy it from JWAAD website
Josephine Wise Website
This book is great for teachers starting out or even teachers who have been teaching for some time but want to refresh what is already known. It covers everything about teaching belly dance from written and illustrated staple moves of belly dance along with lots of information on dance history and stylization and so much more. This book has given me some great tips for my own belly dance classes. JWAAD is an organisation that offers belly dance teacher courses in dance teaching so dancers can gain legitimate qualifications to teach belly dance safely.
4- My Grandmother's Secrets - The Ancient Rituals and Healing Power of Belly Dancing
By Rosina-Fawzia Al-Rawi
Translated by Monique Arab
Buy it on Amazon
This book is the first book I bought as a belly dance student. It is a collectors item for me and I really enjoyed reading about the authors childhood and the dance as a form of ritual and healing in the words of a Middle Eastern Woman and her perspective. Although I have read some critical comments about the book I liked it.
5- Belly Dancing For Fitness - The Sexy Art That Tones Your Abs, Bum and Thighs
By Rania Androniki Bossonis
Buy it on Amazon
This is what it says on the tin, belly dancing for fitness. It's not everyone's cup of tea but it is a good resource for people who are interested in the fitness side of the dance. Personally I found that marketing some of my Saturday classes as exercise based attracted more students to the dance and to avoid false advertising I implemented things into my dance classes that had more cardio benefits such as a Choo Choo shimmy choreography just to name one. This book has some great tips and is written by a dancer who is also a qualified personal trainer. I would recommend it to teachers who run dance classes.
6 - NADA & MOSAIC Belly Dance Magazines
I recommend both magazines for belly dancers whether students professional performers and teachers so you are able to keep up to date with what's going on in the belly dance community and to read interesting articles. MOSAIC offers insurance for teacher. Both available for membership online.
Visit NADA Website Here
Visit MOSAIC Website Here
7- Teaching Belly Dance
By Sara Shrapnell
Buy it on Amazon
Go to Sara's Website
This is a great book for teachers, it covers everything about teaching belly dance including how to lesson plan, advertise, how to run courses and teaching different sized groups as well as how to run student dance shows courses and haflas. I highly recommend this book to any teacher regardless of experience. There's always something new to learn.
8- Performance Mastery
By Delia Lewis
Buy it on Amazon
A great book for performers regardless of experience (students and professionals) The author shares tips advice and tricks on how to project energy out and how to have stage presence and charisma. It is also a good teaching resource.
9- Leyla Najmas Belly Dance Choreography
and Combos For The Perplexed Choreographer
Buy it on Amazon
This book is best suited to advance dancers who want new idea for choreography.
10- The Fundamental Movement Vocabulary Of Raqs Sharqi
By Morocco (C. Varga Dinicu)
Buy it on Amazon
I was given this book by an Egyptian dance teacher and friend when I took it home I realised I had already bought it years before so I passed it on to a dance friend who also taught. It covers the beginning movements of Egyptian style dance that is the base of higher level Egyptian dance. Great for students who are heavy in Cabaret style but want to learn more about authentic belly dance. Also this book is a great teaching resource and is very much softer and low impact compared to many other styles.
Blog Article Best Belly Dance Books Written By T. Maxwell
