Pakistani Punjabi Mujra by Saima Khan

Video: Saima Khan performs hot Punjabi Mujra “Heeriyan di gain”.

Ortel Zomer Carnaval 2010

A dancer performs at the Ortel Zomer Carnaval 2010 in Rotterdam.

Sadie - Belly Dance Video

Her website www.bedouinprincess.com says, “Sadie is an International performing artist, instructor and choreographer who is recognized worldwide as one of today's most exciting Belly Dance artists”. She has visited over 20 countries teaching and performing Belly Dance and she is one of the most watched belly dancers on YouTube. For instance, this video clip alone has received with over 12 million hits at the time of this post.

With over 14 years of training in gymnastics and swimming, she began practicing Belly Dance in her late teens. In addition to Belly dance, Sadie has studied other dance forms such as, Brazilian Samba, Salsa, Tahitian, etc. Based in Denver, Colorado, when Sadie is not on tour, she can be found teaching at her bellydance classes as well as dancing at some of the city’s finest restaurants, nightclubs and events.

Visit her website www.bedouinprincess.com for SADIE'S Bellydance Newsletters, for updated tour info, performances, classes, DVD updates, etc.

Belly dancer at The Silk Route

Saji - Bellydancer at The Silk Route 28/9/2008 (Copyright Dave Halley 2008), originally uploaded by Dave Halley.

The movements in belly dance involve isolating different parts of the body such as hips, shoulders, chest, stomach etc. which appear similar to the isolations used in jazz ballet but performed differently. In most belly dance styles, the focus is on the hip and pelvic area. In Shimmy movement, a shimmering vibration of the hips, a vibration is created by moving the knees past each other at high speed, although some dancers use contractions of the gluts. Dancers also put one leg to the side and then shimmy is performed by vibration of the leg which bears the weight. Shoulder shimmy is also an important element of belly dance. In ‘Swinging arms’, an important expressive move in belly dance, the move stresses on the beauty and flexibility of the dancer. In many cases hands are used to frame around the moving part of the body to stress the expression of that part. In ‘Hip punches’, a basic move, dancers alternate the weight on the legs and create impression of the swinging pelvis. And in ‘Undulation’, rotating movements of the chest forward, up, back and down, create impression of riding a camel.

Carnival: Éden

Éden, originally uploaded by leonel bras.

Indian Club Dance

Belly Dance costume

Wonder Woman Belly Dance costume: Finished product, ya'll!, originally uploaded by inlovingmemory_87.

Iconic belly dancer Arielle Juliette

Iconic, originally uploaded by Drumdude Bill.

Belly dancer at a Dubai Bedouin camp

Belly dancer, Dubai Bedouin camp, originally uploaded by Roger Tavener/prone.

This photo shows the scene at a Dubai Bedouin camp where a belly dancer is performing. The Bedouin are a desert-dwelling nomadic Arab ethnic group, now mostly settled after the surge of petrodollars in the Middle East. They are found in the desert belt extending from the Atlantic coast of the Sahara to the Arabian Desert. Also some non-Arab groups such as the Beja of the African coast of the Red Sea are sometimes known as Bedouin. After the 1950's large numbers of Bedouin throughout the Middle East started ending nomadic life because of government policies, oil production in many countries including the Persian Gulf and improved standards of living made them become settled citizens of various nations rather than stateless nomadic herders. There a number of Bedouin tribes, but the total population is difficult to determine as many Bedouin have ceased to lead nomadic and joined the general population.

Actress Ramya Krishna acted in over 200 films

img1096, originally uploaded by ravi.chandra30.

Ramya Krishna is a successful Indian movie actress. She has acted in more than 200 films in five Indian languages, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi.

Ramya was born on September 15, 1970 in Atreyapuram, East Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh, India. She is the niece of Cho Ramaswamy, veteran actor, politician, dramatist and journalist. She is a trained dancer (Bharathanatyam and Kuchipudi) and is credited with many stage performances. Ramya married the Telugu film director Krishna Vamsi in 2003 and is settled in Hyderabad.

Ramya Krishna started her acting career at the age of 13. She first played the lead role in the Tamil movie Vellai Manasu opposite Y.G. Mahendran. Since then she has portrayed a wide range of roles, from an innocent village belle to a hip and happening modern glam doll.

Ramyakrishnan's first Telugu film was Bhalae Mithrulu. Kasinadhuni Viswanath’s masterpiece Sutradharulu (1987) gave her first major break as an actress. Since then she has appeared on the silver screen with two generations of major heroes such as Akkineni Nagarjuna, Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Balakrishna Nandamuri, Chiranjeevi, Jagapathi Babu, Krishna, Nandamuri Taraka Ramarao, Sobhan Babu and Venkatesh.

Ramya’s Tamil film Padayappa (Narasimha in Telugu) was popular with both film critics and fans, both in India and internationally in Japan, Singapore, London and Paris. Recently she gave performance in stage shows in New York, Dallas, San Jose and Cincinnati along with Nagarjuna and Tabu.

Ramya’s hit Kannada films include Gadibidi Ganda and Mangalyam Thanthunanaena with Ravichandran and Raktha Kanneeru with Upendra.