'IN OUR BLOOD'

EGYPTIAN WOMEN RECLAIM BELLY DANCE FROM STIGMA

- STORY: MENNA FAROUK

As belly dancing gains popularity internationally, young Egyptian performers are working to restore its reputation at home, pushing back against decades of stigma to reclaim the dance as part of their artistic heritage.

Once iconic figures of Egypt's cinematic golden age, belly dancers have watched their prestige wane, their art increasingly confined to nightclubs and wedding halls.

“No woman can be a belly dancer today and feel she’s truly respected,” said Safy Akef, an instructor and great-niece of dance legend Naima Akef, a fixture on the silver screen during the 1950s.

Despite her celebrated lineage, Safy, 33, has never performed on stage in Egypt. “Once the show ends, the audience doesn’t respect you, they objectify you,” she said.

Today, belly dance is known for skin-baring theatrics performed by foreign dancers and a handful of Egyptians.

The shift has fuelled moral disapproval in the conservative society and pushed even the descendants of iconic starlets away.

“People ask me all the time where they can see belly dancing that does justice to the art,’ said Safaa Saeed, 32, an instructor at a Cairo dance school.

“I struggle to answer’ she said.