Fusion Belly Dance History Timeline

This timeline is still under construction, and does not yet reflect the totality of my archived information.

last updated 1/8/26

Timeline submission

What is the timeline?

The fusion belly dance timeline is part of my dissertation research for my PhD in Performance as Public Practice at UT Austin. I’m working to establish a publicly-accessible archive of fusion belly dance information for anyone who is curious about this history.

As part of this project, I am crowdsourcing information because the majority of this history doesn’t live in books—it lives in memories, and without communal memory, there is no history. So if you have a submission, a correction, or a suggestion, please use my Google Form linked below to send along your information.

That said, as a researcher, I am not omniscient. I am just one human compiling, synthesizing, and indexing all of this information as a labor of love. I make no money from it, and I ask only for your compassion and kindness in offering your submissions and corrections. I understand that history is personal, and omissions and mistakes can feel like personal slights, but please give me the benefit of the doubt and know that any mistakes in this timeline are not symbolic of my opinion towards those affected by error.

Timeline submission

FAQ

  • You can submit any of the following:

    • Formative figures

    • Formative events

    • Stylistic influences

    • Ruptures/discourse

    • Texts

    • Corrections

    • Photos, videos, and media

  • After receiving a submission, I cross-reference and verify it to the best of my ability. Assuming it is appropriate for submission, it should go up within two weeks of submitting it.

  • Usually submissions are declined for being off-topic. This is usually because the respondent submitted:

    • A style outside of fusion belly dance (raqs sharqi, am cab)

    • Hybrid belly dance instead of fusion (“salsa fusion,” “Indian fusion,” etc)

    • Demonstrably inaccurate information (claims of goddess worship, speculative origins, etc)

  • Provide me with as MUCH detail as you can, especially in regard to dates, geographic locations, lineages, and associations.

    I’m also much more likely to upload a dancer when you provide supportive media—photos, videos, texts, etc.

  • Yes, the goal is to eventually compile all of this into a publishable book. If that happens, I may have to contact you for explicit permission to print any media you provided.

  • No, you don’t have to provide your name. If you’re submitting a correction and don’t want to disclose your identity, just opt to submit anonymously. This also goes for submitting additions.

  • As a researcher in the humanities, I openly disclose that bias is impossible to eliminate. It’s true that every archive is shaped by the values of the curators, and since I am the sole curator of this archive, that means the choices I make are reflective of my values.

    This archive isn’t important because it’s free of bias. This archive is important because our dance community lacks institutional representation, and an imperfect resource such as this timeline is better than a perfect archive that will never exist.

  • Any additional questions can be directed to my email via the “contact” button in the footer.