Alicia Dhanifu
Bellydancing: A History & An Art (1979)
From L.A. Rebellion: Creating a New Black Cinema (1971-2006)
YEAR: 1979
FORMAT: Digital video, color
Filmmaker Alicia Dhanifu, who appears in director Jamaa Fanaka’s Emma Mae, constructs a rigorous and beautifully rendered history of belly dancing — its roots and history, forms and meanings. The filmmaker performs this art as well, alone and with other dancers. —Shannon Kelley