Belly Dancing Gifts: The Best Belly Dancing Books

by Lisa

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On the run up to Christmas I hope to give you some ideas for Belly Dancing Gifts for the dancer in your life. In this post I want to focus on Belly Dance Books in particular.

You’d be amazed at just how many books there are on the topic of Belly Dancing and Middle Eastern culture. In fact, I have a shelf full of them, so here are some of my favorites as well as one that is on my own wishlist for Christmas this year:

Serpent of the Nile by Wendy Buonaventura

I reviewed Serpent of the Nile: Women and Dance in the Arab World earlier in the year so you can read more about it there.

This is still the best book I have ever seen or owned on the subject of the history and origins of Middle Eastern dance and I highly recommend you buy it for yourself or for a belly dancing friend. I keep it on my coffee table and love to dip into it for both the illustrations and the wonderful information.

You can buy Serpent of the Nile on Amazon (the photo is different to my review because the book has recently been published in a new edition)

Beauty and the East by Wendy Buonaventura

What can I say? Wendy Buonaventura simply writes wonderful books about Middle Eastern culture.

Beauty and the East: A Book of Oriental Body Care is a fascinating mixture of the history Oriental bathing rituals and body care along with instruction on how you can recreate these rituals and recipes for yourself.

I think Wendy’s greatest asset (along with her talent as a writer) is her knowledge and love for the cultures she is writing about. This book offers some wonderful insights into a world that is so misunderstood in Western society.

Buy Beauty and the East on Amazon

Bellydance: A Guide to Middle Eastern Dance, Its Music, Its Culture and Costume by Keti Sharif

Another book in my collection that would make a great stocking filler is Bellydance: A Guide to Middle Eastern Dance, Its Music, Its Culture and Costume by well-known dancer Keti Sharif.

I’ve never found Belly Dance instruction within books particularly useful (not when you can buy a DVD and watch the technique in action) and Keti does include instruction in the book, but she does it as well as anyone could. And the book is more than just instruction, including chapters on Belly Dance history, culture, music and costumes. Not as comprehensive as Serpent of the Nile but still a good beginner’s book.

Buy Bellydance by Keti Sharif on Amazon

Snake Hips: Belly Dancing and How I Found True Love by Anne Thomas Soffee

This is one for my wishlist this year: Snake Hips: Belly Dancing and How I Found True Love, a memoir about how Soffee found a cure for her broken heart in Belly Dancing.

The book is a journey of self-acceptance for the Lebanese American whose discovery of Belly Dancing also led her to learn more about her heritage.

You can buy Snake Hips on Amazon here.

I hope you receive at least one of these books for Christmas this year and enjoy exploring them as much I did/will.

Please note: all the links to the books on Amazon are affiliate links, which means I will make a commission if you use my link to buy. I chose the books because they are my favorites and don’t feel obliged to click – you can go to Amazon and search for them yourself.

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