Middle Eastern Dance taught by Jamila.

There was a time in the 1970's when Middle Eastern culture and dance gained widespread popular attention in the bay area through the offerings of Jamila Salimpour and her exciting and exotic dance troupe, Bal-Anat. For those students studying with Jamila and dancing with Bal-Anat, it was a complete immersion into Middle Eastern culture. Tribal, temple, folk, interpretive story dance and club dancing were all part of the Bal-Anat repertoire. A Bal-Anat performance with ethnic costumes, intoxicating tribal rhythms, and variations of expressive dance forms, both ritualistic and celebratory, would captivate an audience whenever they performed. This film record captures a little bit of that experience and honors Jamila and the Bal-Anat dance troupe, which continues to perform under the guidance of her daughter Suhaila