Arabic dance, oriental dance or belly dancing does not seem as much a part of life as in Egypt. I was initially very confused by this.  The only place I could find dancing was in tourist shows.  'Why is this?' I asked a friend.  'It is not a part of our culture, we are not Arabs', he pointed out. 

Others argue that it is a part of Turkish culture.  When the Ottoman empire spread far and wide, incorporating Egypt, the different cultures melded sharing skills across continents.  There is definitely a history of Turkish belly dance however the folkloric dance seems to have far deeper roots.

Apparently it used to be popular to have a dancer at your wedding but even this tradition is dying out now.  The only place to see belly dancing is the tourist shows.  Folkloric dance is much more popular and is kept alive by teaching it in schools.  There are some excellent folkloric shows that we will see.

We will also go and see the tourist shows with belly dancing.  The dancers are of very variable standard.  It took a while to find a good one, join me on the quest to find a good Turkish dancer!

Dance Class - we will try to have a dance class with either Nesrin Topkapi - famous Turkish dancer, now retired or Sema Yildiz who has taught many of Istanbul's current dancers.  There are also some excellent folkloric teachers whom I find it useful to study with and it helps develop an understanding of the Turkish rhythms.