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Welcome to Amera's Palace on the web! Here you will find all you need for Belly Dancing
– beautiful costumes, jewellery, accessories, instruments, music CDs, videos, books and more.
Order online or visit us at our retail store in Marrickville.
Middle Eastern Dance – Explanation of Styles
Andalusian – Moorish inspired dance, consisting of gentle crescent moon shapes and flowing steps. A style developed during the Spanish/Arabic period of time in Andalusia – the style is called Andalusian – stage presentation of the dance has been adapted and developed by Mahmoud Reda.
Baladi – The earthy, traditional dance of urban Egypt – a traditional legacy brought into the cities from the rural areas. Steady rhythm and more closely related to folk than classical styles, free flowing and improvised.
Classical – Elegant interpretive solo belly dance to orchestral music, sometimes seen as a dance art on stage, but usually depicted in Egyptian films. This style became popular during the 40's and 50's cinema era by dancers that were famous for this classical style – Samia Gamal, Nayima Akaif, Taheya Carioca – the classical style also filtered through into the 60's and 70's. It was then brought to a bigger audience as Egyptian nightclubs were born, which brought on the development of the cabaret style. The setting differed to the previous era of dance, which was mainly watched in theatre style arrangements.
Cabaret – Entertainment venues in Egypt often incorporate humour and audience interaction. It brings belly dance to the people and is presented on their level rather than in a theatre setting. Sometimes in Egypt there are different types of cabaret venues – from street venues which are on the lower rung of the social ladder to cabaret nightclubs in hotels, which are more costly and thought of as more upmarket.
El Zaffah – The wedding march – a style of rhythms for a wedding procession, usually with many drummers, mizmar players and dancers that herald the coming of the bride and groom.
Eskanderany – (Alexandrian Dance) A dance from the city of Alexandria in Northern Egypt which is flirty in nature. It uses a mellaya, or heavy veil, which was formerly used as a fashion accessory in the 40's. The dancer wears a Bourke – (a netted face veil), and a frilly mid-knee length dress.
Fellahin – Also known as Balas, is an Egyptian Farmer Dance.
Guedra – Earthy blessing ritual performed by Berber tribes, includes dancing on knees and flicking moves of hands and wrist.
Ghawazee – Gypsies, from the term “invaders of the heart”. Families of dancers with their own distinct style of dancing passed on from mother to daughter. The men of the family play music and the women perform at festivals, weddings and private parties. The movement vocabulary is more limited and repetitive, but they are able to continue their shimmies and finger cymbal (zills) playing for hours. There is a long history in Egypt about the dancers of the Ghawazee, through the orientalist period, a lot of the Ghawazee dancers were depicted in paintings. A good source of information of this time is found in the book "Serpent of the Nile". Some Ghawazee dancers still exist in Aswan, in Egypt.
Hagalla – Festive dance of the Western Desert. A heavy black kaftan and a shirt that is tight fitting on top, with wide skirts and pantaloons and woven face veils are worn. It’s an earthy dance with mostly hip movement.
Khaleegy – Dance from the Arabian Gulf performed in an ultra long embroidered kaftan called “Thobe” which is held in the hands whilst dancing.
Mellaya il’Laff – Is a type of large veil used for an Egyptian dance from Alexandria and it is usually performed by Egyptian folk troupes. In this dance, the dancer plays the role of mischievous young woman who flirtatiously plays a "conceal and reveal" game with her wrap.
Modern Egyptian Cabaret Style – This style of belly dance usually seen in the Egyptian nightclubs is more westernised with jazz ballet influences, as opposed to the classical style where more ballet moves are used. It is very controlled, elegant and refined. Muscular control is emphasised and movements are small and internalised.
Nubian – A folkdance dance which can be found in the South of Egypt, north of Sudan. Usually performed in a looser Kaftan with colourful embroidery that may consist of several layers.
Ouled Nail – Dancers on the Algerian fringe who fascinated travellers in the 1900's. An earthy, yet poised dance from the Ouled Nail tribeswomen. Highly decorated tribal costume with heavy layered skirts, and coins.
Rompi – Turkish style of Gypsy dance sometimes called rompi-rompi.
Sha'bia (Shaabi) – Modern style of Egyptian street dancing. Fun and a modern form of urban 'street dance' or 'dance of the people', similar to baladi, but danced to more up-tempo music.
Saiidi Cane Dance – Martial art-like cane dance from Upper Egypt traditionally danced by men in Kaftans with heavy canes also known as taktib. Baladi women dancers these days also dance saiidi with a lighter cane which is called an asaya.
Shamadan – (Candle dance) – a dance where the dancer carries a lit candelabra headpiece on her head whilst turning and dancing, usually performed in a dress, and often used for weddings.
Tanoura – Egyptian whirling Dervish dance used to heighten spiritual connection, both cleansing and festive purposes. These dances are performed with several large skirts.
Tribal Fusion Belly Dance – is a modern form of belly dance which has evolved from American Tribal Style belly dancing, blending elements of ATS with any other style of dance. It frequently incorporates elements from Popping, Hip Hop, Breakdance, 'Egyptian' or 'Cabaret' belly dance, as well as from traditional forms such as Flamenco, Kathak, Bhangra, Balinese, and other folkloric dance. The roots of tribal fusion lie in American Tribal Style created in San Francisco by Carolena Nerriccio and her dance company FatChance Bellydance. One of the founding members of FCBD, Jill Parker, can be regarded as being the first to create a form of tribal fusion. The group also progressively deconstructed the classic ATS costume (choli, coin bra, turban, tassel belt, skirt, pantaloons.
Zaar – Egyptian trance dance and spiritual cleansing ritual that involves shaking the body and flicking the hair, the dance begins slowly, building up to a frenzied trance state, with hair flicking.
Folkloric Costume/Accessories – kaftans, galabeyas, hip scarves, coin belts, coin jewellery, head wear and decorated scarves, decorated bamboo canes, sagat (brass finger cymbals – zills), mellayas and shamadans.
Classical Belly dance Costume – classical decorated bra and belt sets, fringed, coined or beaded, flowing chiffon skirts, veils, ornamental jewellery.
Modern Belly Dance Costume – more creative decorated bra and belt sets, fringed, beaded or with coins, full lycra/velvet stretchy body hugging dresses with beadwork and/or cut-out areas or fringing.
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