I've been meaning to investigate this phenom further ever since I saw a Goth Bellydance troupe from St. Louis perform at "Goth Night" at the now, alas, defunct Dart Room in Fayetteville. Check out this vid:
It all goes back to Theda Bara, no?
Here, for the perplexed, is a guide to gothic bellydance.
And--although I've not read it yet--a link, courtesy wayneandwax, to what I am sure is a great article by Sunaina Mair on bellydance orientalism ("arabface"). And check out wayneandwax's recent post on bellydance here.
(I hope, inshallah, to think about these things a bit more systematically in future.)
