The Arab world isn't known for its progressive outlook on queer culture or fluid gender roles. But Lebanese dancer Alexandre Paulikevitch isn't letting that stop him from freely expressing himself, in ...

What makes Alexandre Paulikevitch unique? He's one of a very small handful of male baladi dancers in the Middle East. Baladi is an urban style of music with roots in Egyptian folk music dating back to ...

Belly dancing is often seen as Orientalist, erotic and undeniably feminine – but one Lebanese performer is using it to fight for gender fluidity. In the Middle East, the word ‘belly-dancing’ is never ...

Traditional belly dancing comes into the spotlight with rise in Islamism To the West, it is the belly dance. To Middle Easterners, it is raqs sharqi or the oriental dance. Whatever the name, the dance ...