Last Updated on January 7, 2023

Arabic terms used in Raqs sharqi

Afrangi

Afrnagi are considered the westernized Egyptian upper class.

Alma (plur. awalim)

Alma is an educated woman who could sing, write music and poetry, play instruments, and sometimes danced and who performed mainly for women in the harem.

Assaya

An Assaya is a stick used sometimes as a prop for Egyptian dance performances.

Awalim

Awalim is the plural for alma.

Baladi

Also spelled Beledi, Baldi is literally ‘of the country’, local. Baladi also refers to the authentic working-class (mainly from urban areas) and their social dance.

Bedlah

A Bedlah is a bra and skirt costume commonly associated with belly dance.

Bint al balad

(also sometimes spelled Bint el Balad) daughter of the country, or daughter of the town; an urban working-class woman.

Ghawazee (sing. Ghaziya)

Ghawazee are Sinti gypsies from Egypt.

Haram

Haram means forbidden, sinful.

Kabareh

A kabareh is a nightclub, but with negative connotations.

Kanoun

A kanoun is a string instrument.

Nay

Nay is a musical instrument, a type of flute.

Raqs

The word Raqs in Arabic means ‘dance’.

Raqs sharqi

And the term Raqs sharqi translates as oriental dance.

Sagat

Sagat means finger cymbals.

Saidi

Saidi means from Upper Egypt. Also, a type of musical rhythm originated from Upper Egypt.

Sala

Sala is one of the nightclubs in which raqs sharqi was first developed in Cairo in the 1920s.

Shaabi

Shaabi is a term that refers to ‘of the people’, popular. Associated with urban working classes from Cairo and a type of music, which has often playful or political connotations.

Shamadan

This is a candelabrum with lit candles, which the performer balances on her head whilst dancing.

Sharqi

Sharqi means oriental (literally, of the east).

Shika (plural shikhat)

In Morocco, a female dancer performs at rites of passage such as marriages or circumcision rituals.

Tahtib

Tahtib is combat activity from Upper Egypt using sticks.

Tarab

Tarab is enchantment or ecstasy. In the field of performing arts, it refers to the feeling produced by music and is often conveyed visually by the dancer to the audience.

Zeffa

A zeffa is a procession. Zeffa al Aroussa, bridal procession.