Grandmother's Secrets: The Ancient Rituals and Healing Power of Belly Dancing

This to me is not a book to read if you want to learn how to belly dance. It is fond recollection of the author's childhood and how dance is passed down through the generations from one woman to another and not "taught" in the text book sense. I enjoyed the book very much and would recommend it to beginning belly dancers as a spiritual or philisophical look at the impact dance can have on your life. A very interesting read!

This book is a joy to read. It's not so much about belly dancing as it is a celebration of being female. This is a very suitable book for any women's group library. Instead of angst and raving against men, her attitude is, "We are blessed to be female and we carry the future generations in our bellies." Very strong message, with an eastern twist.If you are looking for a book about the finer points about actual belly dancing, you may want look elsewhere. This is a book about feminism, the joy of a female body and how we dance to celebrate. Fawzia talks about how women protect each other, feel proud and survive. She explains why eastern women belly dance and how they encourage women of all ages to dance. This dance is not a "jiggle show to entertain men" as westerners may think.Now I'm wondering why in the west women dance so stiffly? Who is really suppressed here? Fawzia talks about the ancient history of belly dancing, life in an Arab culture, etc. If you are a dancer, interested in women's issues or interested in the middle east, this book is a must.

With an interesting view of spiritual bellydance that has all-too-often been masked by performance (or erotic) bellydance - this author draws the reader with history, culture, family bonds, womens' interests, health, intimacy, and, of course, the art of bellydance. As a dancer, I have heard many descriptions of basic and advanced moves. Not until I read this author's descriptions, did I feel empowered and spurred to creativity by the spiritual connection between these moves and the body's natural rhythm. This is a must have for the woman who is in study of the dance and wishes to connect with purpose to its origins, meaning, and freedom.

Step into a women's world of black abayas, large gatherings of women and children chatting, drinking tea, eating Arabic sweets-and dancing. "Excitement always reached its peak when one of the women got up to turn on the music, tie a scarf around her hips, and slowly sway into another world, dancing for us. All attention focused on her, tension grew in the bodies of the other women. They stood up, their eyes filling with an old, so far forgotten knowledge as they began to spur on the dancer-'How beautiful is the shape of her eyes, blessed be Allah!' 'Hold your head high, proud Fatima!' 'Look how softly her hips are circling!' The onlookers clapped in rhythm and trilled shrilly, conveying their enthusiasm...."Written by a woman raised in the Middle Eastern culture of Baghdad, the book begins with Rosina's stories of how her grandmother introduced her to dance as a young girl, where dance pervaded their lives. She gives a fascinating multi-cultural history of women's dancing, advocates attaining awareness through dancing (doing any movement), and then describes each movement with its benefits, from head to toe. "The art of expressing moods, states of mind, and experiences through dancing is based on movements and shapes that are meant to strengthen the body, keep it flexible, and prepare the dancer for life."The content is excellent and the writing style is engaging. There are black-and-white photos throughout. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

I enjoyed this book immensely. The first part is a brief, anecdotal account of the author's childhood in Baghdad, with emphasis on the women who raised her and the importance of dance (and bodily awareness in general) in their lives. The second part is a history of dance, from the feminist/revisionist perspective that's been presented more thoroughly in many other books, but she summarizes it succinctly and her conclusions are generally levelheaded. The best part of the book for me (as a student of belly dance) was the third part, where she presents exercises -- mental and physical -- to put the dancer in touch with the meaning of the various dance moves and techniques. Of course you can't learn to dance out of a book, but anyone who has a basic belly dance "vocabulary" will find these exercises extremely valuable in giving depth to your dance and helping you to integrate your mind and body more fully. For most Westerners, raised in religious traditions that divorce mind and body, this is the part of dancing (and physical movement in general) that's most difficult to grasp. Other writers have touched on the same subject (e.g., Gabrielle Roth from a more general dance perspective, and Moshe Feldenkrais and others from the world of "exercise"), but this is the best exposition of the subject I've seen that relates specifically to belly dance. I recommend the book highly, not only to aspiring dancers but to anyone who wants practical guidance for getting your mind and body back in sync. The illustrations are more decorative than useful -- aside from a few touching portraits, and the photo of the author's grandmother (who looks much gentler than her formidable reputation implies!), they could have been omitted without detracting from the book. The translation is admirable: the book is easy to read, and the author's poetic language comes across gracefully.