Legends of Belly Dance: Ibrahim Farrah

Ibrahim Farrah (also known as Bobby Farrah) is best known as a pioneer for Belly Dancing in the USA. Born in Pennsylvania of Lebanese descent he went on to become famous as both a performer and a choreographer, as well as publishing the international ethnic dance magazine Arabesque.

In the early 1960s Farrah taught at the Internation dance School at Carnegie Hall and in the 1970s he set-up the Ibrahim Farrah Near East Dance Group. He was particularly influenced by the more traditional dances of the Lebanon, Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries.

Farrah died from a heart attack in 1998, but his legacy lives on in his writings, teaching materials, research and photographs (known as the Ibrahim Farrah Papers) as well as in the skills and choreography he taught his many (sometimes famous) pupils.

This video shows a tribute to Farrah from 2000, performed by Morwenna and Walid Assaf:

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