“Religion and Gender in the Egyptian Dance Scene”
with Karin van Nieuwkerk
30 Days streaming access
In this talk, we’ll explore changes in the field of singing and dancing in Egypt over the last century. On one hand, there seems to be a loss of esteem of singing and dancing in popular weddings, and on the other hand there appears to be a growing influence of religion on the field of entertainment and nightclubs. This has a particular impact on the dancing body of women, a highly sensitive religious issue.
We’ll discuss what makes the female performing and dancing body, religiously speaking, a problem and how singers and dancers deal with this stigma. However, interestingly, dance and weddings are so intricately linked that an alternative scene of Islamic weddings has developed. Is dancing in a religiously appropriate way possible? If so, what does it look like? We’ll find out!
You will learn…
- Some history of singing and dancing on popular weddings in Egypt during the 20th and 21st century.
- Historical background of the nightclubs in the 20th and 21st century.
- The influence of religion on the field of entertainment and dancing since the 1970s.
- The way the female body is perceived in religion and in Egypt more broadly, and why dancing for women is a stigmatized profession.
- The stories of some dancers who decided to step down for religious reasons.
- Women’s own perspective on dancing and the way they deal with the stigma attached to the dancing female body.
Registration is $25 and includes streaming access for 30 days.
Karin van Nieuwkerk
Karin van Nieuwkerk is an anthropologist and professor of contemporary Islam in Europe and the Middle East at Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. The lecture is based on longstanding research spanning almost 40 years: In her first book “A Trade like any other Female Singers and Dancers in Egypt”, the author explored the history of singing and dancing in Egypt. In her second book “Performing Piety: Singers and Actors in Egypt’s Islamic Revival”, the author analyzed the impact of the Islamic revival on the field of art and entertainment in Egypt since the 1970s. In her latest book “Manhood is not Easy” Egyptian masculinities through the life of musician Sayyid Henkish, she revisited the scene of popular singing and dancing in Egypt through the eyes of a man from a famous family of musicians in the popular scene, exploring the gendered experiences of male entertainers.