The Legends of Egypt

Egypt has long been considered, among other things, the Hollywood of the Middle East and the Motherland of Oriental Dance.
 
The Dance as we know it today has had a long history from its folkloric roots and foundations, to its present day styling with influences of other countries in the region and the West as it has journeyed to today.
It is generally considered that Bedia el Masabni was the strongest first influence to bring the dance from the street as a peoples dance and into the cabarets of Cairo in the early 1920’s as a form of entertainment.
 
The country style, referred to as Baladi, was refined to be more elegant and visually appealing to the eyes.  Elements of refinement of the arms, use of the costume and skirt, and the dance presentation were added, thus giving the dance a more respected position of entertainment.
During this time in Egypt, the dance started to flourish and gave rise to the many dancers of the time that we now call the Golden Era,  which started in the 1930’s and ended in the early 1960’s.  During the 1960’s to about 1990 the time was known as the Classical Era.   By this time a “formula” of music, dance and costuming had been established and began moving world wide in popularity amongst dance enthusiast.
With the new invention of the motion picture, Egypt had been able to embrace the popularity of the dance by usually featuring a dancer as a must in the many movies of the time in Egypt, thus immortalizing the Legends of Oriental Dance.
 
It is a blessing that many of the legend and non legend dancers were captured on film as an educational and historical time line for dance lovers who embrace this art form world wide.
Today Egypt holds a strong popularity for their “Oriental” and “Folk” Style, entertaining and educating thousands around the world.
 
Please enjoy some of the selections of “The Legends of Dance”