Belly dance

Belly dance is a name for one variation on raqs, a style of dance developed in the Middle East and other Arabic-influenced areas. Known in it's native tongue as raqs shaquri (translation is "Oriental Dance", or, really, "Dance of the East"), the phrase "belly dance" is utilized now as the best-known name in the West for this form. The creation of the term is generally credited to Sol Bloom, the promoter of the World's Fair that saw the first raqs dancers in America.

See also: dance, raqs, raqs shaquri