The San Francisco Bay Area is a hotbed of innovative technological development and a crucible for the growth of performance arts. One art that thrives in the progressive creative environment of the ...

Google the term “belly dance” and the first images the search engine offers are of white women in flowing, diaphanous skirts, playing at brownness. How did this become acceptable? The term “belly ...

As manager of the Police and during his subsequent years at the helm of Sting's solo career - not to mention growing up with his CIA agent father - Miles Copeland learned a thing or two about ...

A few shimmies and hip drops can empower even the timidest woman to come — or dance — out of her shell. The trick to belly dancing is "all in the torso," said Garnett Kepler, longtime artistic ...

As much as belly dance has been caricatured, it’s actually a subtle art. Unlike other styles of dance — say, ballet — it’s not focused on movement of the limbs, but instead undulations of the torso.

With its focus on shimmying hips and undulating abs, many people might think belly dancing is a male-oriented performance. It’s actually for and about women, say the members of Troupe Hayati, who are ...

EGYPTIAN MUSIC BOOMS through the amplifier at 6:15 p.m. as instructor Leslie Rosen leads her belly-dance class through what she calls a shimmy warmup. She gives gentle instructions every few seconds ...