A Trade like Any Other: Female Singers and Dancers in Egypt

by Karin van Nieuwkerk

In Egypt, singing and dancing are considered essential on happy occasions. Professional entertainers often perform at weddings and other celebrations, and a host family's prestige rises with the number, expense, and fame of the entertainers they hire. Paradoxically, however, the entertainers themselves are often viewed as disreputable people and are accorded little prestige in Egyptian society. This paradox forms the starting point of Karin van Nieuwkerk's look at the Egyptian entertainment trade. She explores the lives of female performers and the reasons why work they regard as "a trade like any other" is considered disreputable in Egyptian society. In particular, she demonstrates that while male entertainers are often viewed as simply "making a living," female performers are almost always considered bad, seductive women engaged in dishonorable conduct. She traces this perception to the social definition of the female body as always and only sexual and enticing—a perception that stigmatizes women entertainers even as it simultaneously offers them a means of livelihood. Drawn from extensive fieldwork and enriched with the life stories of entertainers and nightclub performers, this is the first ethnography of female singers and dancers in present-day Egypt. It will be of interest to a wide audience in anthropology, women's studies, and Middle Eastern culture, as well as anyone who enjoys belly dancing.

Genres: Nonfiction, Cultural, Anthropology

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Indrany · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the accounts of current and former entertainers' lives. And I very much appreciated the author's exploration of perception amongst different social classes, proving that it is a privilege to look down on others and that privilege makes empathy very difficult. However, as much as the author tried to distinguish experience-far and experience-near and various other methodologies, it's simply impossible for her to analyze this culture from the inside. Language differences notwithstanding, her sources were paid in trinkets or money, she was an educated foreign woman that I'm sure people were eager to please. How can you ever suppose objectivity? And of course, there are cultural nuances that are impossible to understand if you're outside the culture and impossible to analyze if you're inside. Is it shame or modesty? Where does modesty stem from? Is shame truly sexually-based?

In any case, a good read and an important one for a dancer/singer/student of Arab culture. However, one should always read such things with skepticism.

[lady h · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an excellent, detailed overview on the trade of bellydancing in Egypt. This topic is not as frequently covered as I would hope, but Nieuwkerk makes up for that by bringing together historical, social, and anthropological elements to provide a broad picture of the trade in Egypt.

The first two chapters provide historical overviews on female entertainment in Egypt in the 18th and 19th centuries, which for me was the most fascinating part of the book. The following chapters all rely heavily on one-on-one interviews with living dancers. Nieuwkerk delves into the life stories of these dancers as well as their views on their own profession. She also branches out to interview non-performers on their opinions about the entertainment profession and female entertainers in particular in order to come to a conclusion about the profession's respectability.

The book's strength is in its broad yet personal scope. Though Nieuwkerk delves into nearly every angle of the entertainment profession that you can imagine, her work still retains a personal touch due to the multitude of interviews she conducted with dancers. She provides many examples of direct quotes from her interviews which lend the whole book a very authentic feel. Though her examination of bellydancing Nieuwkerk inevitably touches on various facets of Egyptian culture.

Nieuwkerk is incredibly thorough; though I just finished the book, I'm excited to go through all the endnotes of the book to seek out the resources Nieuwkerk consulted. I would highly recommend this volume for a concise yet detailed overview of bellydancing in Egypt.

[Cassandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Karin Van Nieuwkerk certainly did a thorough job interviewing and exploring the roles a select sampling of women have had in the entertainment industry in Egypt and this book is one I'd recommend to lovers of history, dance historians and dancers in general. Her book is well researched and offers valuable information. However, because this paper was written for academic purposes some may find the writing style to be a little too formal. This sometimes makes the book a little dry and difficult to follow. However the effort is well worth it even if you normally don't read academic styles. She interviews several dancers who reveal a little bit about Egyptian society and their own lives allowing us to see how they came into this dance form despite the stigmas attached to dancers in Egypt. This is helpful for western women looking to understand the position of female entertainers in modern Egyptian society (also in most arab societies). Although much of their experiences are somewhat limited to the Mohammed Ali street area and Cairo in a larger sense much of it still applies to Egypt in general and much of North Africa and the Middle East. It takes a good look at the love-hate dynamic relationship Egyptians have with female performers and loos at the religious cultural, and societal implications of female performance. However, the book was written on research from the 1980's from a select sample of women in a relatively small sample area so when reading it remember that this research does not reflect the current entertainment trade in Egypt nor does it necessarily reflect the way things are everywhere in the Middle East/North Africa (although since it is specifically about Egypt one really shouldn't have that expectation anyways). For those who have already read the book or want to read a shorter updated piece, there is a follow up article by Karin Van Nieuwkerk available online at the following address:
http://www.muspe.unibo.it/period/ma/i...

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read for any serious Middle Eastern dancer. It gives great cultural context for the dancers of Egypt and wonderful first hand stories of the difficult lives dancers lead.

[Jalilah · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books out there on the subject. This book is a must read for everyone interested in Middle Eastern, "Raqs Sharqi","Baladi" or "Belly Dance"!