Karin van Nieuwkerk

"This fascinating ethnography of professional female entertainers in Egypt brings together issues and ideas relevant to dance, anthropology, ethnomusicology, gender studies, and area studies.... By providing new insight into historical, political, economic, religious, and cultural forces, van Nieuwkerk accounts for the ambivalent attitudes towards female professional performers in Egyptian society as well as the way they cope with their status."
—Ethnomusicology

"Van Nieuwkerk's book is unique because it transcends formulaic suppositions and provides intelligent analysis of a world which has been overlooked for too long. She has partaken in the life of humble entertainers and has tried to understand and explain what their daily and professional lives are like, how they perceive their profession and themselves and how they are perceived by others. In doing so she has written a highly readable and enjoyable ethnography."
—Middle Eastern Studies… (mehr)

Karin Van Nieuwkerk certainly did a thorough job interviewing and exploring the roles a select sampling of women have had in the entertainment industry in Egypt and this book is one I'd recommend to lovers of history, dance historians and dancers in general. Her book is well researched and offers valuable information. However, because this paper was written for academic purposes some may find the writing style to be a little too formal. This sometimes makes the book a little dry and difficult to follow. However the effort is well worth it even if you normally don't read academic styles. She interviews several dancers who reveal a little bit about Egyptian society and their own lives allowing us to see how they came into this dance form despite the stigmas attached to dancers in Egypt. This is helpful for western women looking to understand the position of female entertainers in modern Egyptian society (also in most arab societies). Although much of their experiences are somewhat limited to the Mohammed Ali street area and Cairo in a larger sense much of it still applies to Egypt in general and much of North Africa and the Middle East. It takes a good look at the love-hate dynamic relationship Egyptians have with female performers and loos at the religious cultural, and societal implications of female performance. However, the book was written on research from the 1980's from a select sample of women in a relatively small sample area so when reading it remember that this research does not reflect the current entertainment trade in Egypt nor does it necessarily reflect the way things are everywhere in the Middle East/North Africa (although since it is specifically about Egypt one really shouldn't have that expectation anyways). For those who have already read the book or want to read a shorter updated piece, there is a follow up article by Karin Van Nieuwkerk available online at the following address:
http://www.muspe.unibo.it/period/ma/index/number3/nieuwkerk/karin_0.htm… (mehr)