Serpent of the Nile

Focusing on the 19th and early 20th centuries, the author shows how Arabic dance came to be influenced by Western ideas about art and entertainment. But the influence was two-way. In the heyday of "Orientalism", Arabic dance exerted a powerful influence on the Western imagination - on such writers as Flaubert, such artists as David Roberts and Jean-Leon Gerome, and such imitators as Colette and Mata Hari. Their fascination was often based on common fantasies about the women of the Middle East. Yet, as the book's illustrations show, this obsession also produced wonderfully evocative images. At the turn of the century, the genre also had an impact on fashion, theatre and popular entertainment.