“Raks Sharki” would be the proper term for what most of us call “bellydancing.” And, of course, like most things we dumb down for our own consumption, the mutation of a centuries-old artform into an ...

It was an evening of shoulder rolls, hip shimmies and “snake arms” as the dancers, both professional and amateur, took to the dance floor to revive the ancient art of raks sharki, better known as ...

GABRIEL Beckford and business partner Shari-lee Perrin, owners of Raks Sharki JA, are treading uncommon territory. The two are attempting to pioneer the movement of belly dance and Eastern style ...

IN THE Orient -- that once-mysterious swath of land that arced from the Middle East to the Far East encompassing Egypt, Turkey, Persia and India along the way -- a hip shimmy, a pelvic thrust or an ...