Dancer pushes for UNESCO to recognize Egyptian belly dancing
Egyptian dancer Amie Sultan is working to get classical belly dance recognized as Egyptian heritage globally.
The walls of the Pharaonic temples are adorned with drawings of women belly dancing in supplication to deities of fertility and prosperity, clear testimony that belly dancing is an original Egyptian art form.
In an effort to preserve and protect this art form, Amie Sultan, one of Egypt's most prominent dancers, working to get Egyptian belly dance included in UNESCO's Intangible Heritage List. One of the project's goals is to create a multimedia archive of various forms of belly dance from across Egypt. The initiative is one of three projects by Sultan's nongovernmental organization Tarab, which aims to change belly dancing stereotypes in the eyes of the public.
Sultan in an interview with Al-Monitor, said "Belly dancing is an authentic Egyptian art with a long history and origins, and we need to cherish it the same way people value different types of dance such as contemporary dance and ballet."
Sultan started planning the project in 2018 and began to execute it eight months ago. She explained, "I already teamed up a group of researchers to collect the archive of Egyptian folk dance through exploratory trips nationwide to record all kinds of folk dance, whether in weddings or religious and traditional celebrations."
