The Journey of Italian Belly Dancers

Commonly referred to as Raqs Sharqi in Arabic, “belly dance” is a choreographic form intricately woven into the cultural fabric of the MENAT region. This paper begins by tracing its transcultural evolution, from colonial influences to recent feminist discourses, illustrating how research on belly dance offers a rich field for examining the complex interplay of culture, ethnicity, religion, gender, and power. The second section builds on this foundation, applying theoretical frameworks to investigate how dancers’ habitus is selectively developed through “reflexive body techniques” (Crossley 2004), exploring how gendered social structures are embodied (Sassatelli 2022) and performed (Butler 2006) by Italian dancers. The third section details the research methodology, employing a mixed-methods approach informed by a narrative-inspired analysis (Greimas & Courtés 1982; Ferraro 2021). A web survey and in-depth qualitative interviews were designed to explore dancers’ perceived processes of transformation. The Greimasian and Ferraro frameworks were operationalised to structure the data according to the Canonical Narrative Schema (CNS), enabling an analysis of the key stages of the dancers’ journeys. The fourth and fifth sections present and analyse data collected from 428 respondents and three in-depth interviews. Using NVivo software, all data were analysed thematically within the CNS framework. Five key themes emerged: Empowerment, Cultural Capital, Vitality, Socialisation, and Identity. These findings are contextualised within Italian society, with an emphasis on gender roles and stereotypes, which have shaped the experiences of Italian women over the past two decades. Given the breadth of data collected, this paper focuses on one key dimension: the perceived experience of personal transformation, which most participants described as leading to the emergence of a “new self.” By examining the different stages of the Italian belly dancers’ journeys, this paper aims to explore how gendered social structures in the Italian context are embodied by practitioners, shaping their learning and performing as a journey of self-discovery.