Belly Dance!

Belly dance is a Western term for “solo, improvised dances based on torso articulation”. Thought to have origins in the Middle East, belly dance has spread to the Western World and is performed as a social or folk dance and as performance art.

This recording is a follow-up to “Belly Dancing for Everyone”, by the Ensemble Sharqi. In this recording percussionist Chris Kalogerson leads a musical octet playing stringed instruments (violin, oud, bouzoukee, double bass, and guitar), percussion (tabia, tymbano, deffl, derbecki, and dumbeg), accordion and clarinet through 14 Greek and Arabic melodies. Of note are the five vocals in this collection; four are sung in Arabic (tracks 103, 105, 201, and 204) and one in Greek (track 107).