The traditional dances of the Middle East (
Arabic
Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
: ‎رقص شرق أوسطي) (also known as Oriental dance) span a large variety of
folk traditions throughout
North Africa
North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...
, the
Middle East
The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq.
The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
, and
Central Asia
Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...
.
For detailed information on specific dances of the region, see the main entries as follows:
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Arab dance:
Ardah,
Baladi,
Belly dance,
Dabke,
Deheyeh,
Fann at-Tanbura,
Hosa,
Khaleegy,
Mizmar,
Raqs sharqi,
Shamadan,
Tahtib,
Tanoura,
Yowlah
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Assyrian folk dance:
Khigga
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Kurdish dance:
Dilan
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Persian dance:
Classical Persian dance
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Turkish dance:
Çiftetelli,
Halay
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Jewish dance:
Hora,
Tza'ad Teimani,
Israeli Folk Dances
Western dance is also incorporated in the Middle East.
See also
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Sufi whirling
Sufi whirling (or Sufi turning) ( borrowed from Persian Sama-zan, Sama, meaning ''listening'', from Arabic, and zan, meaning doer, from Persian) is a form of physically active meditation which originated among certain Sufism, Sufi groups, and w ...
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Zaffa
References
Further reading
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External links
Turkish-Egyptian folk dance videos
From dabke to buraa, dance is integral to Middle Eastern culture
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