As for whether to call it Orientale or Raks Sharqi...I do neither. I see those as dance genres under the moniker bellydance. I consider Orientale to be the very sweeping (almost smooth jazz-like) movement style based in Egyptian, and Raks Sharqi to be strictly Egyptian.
I don't do either. I do something that doesn't resemble those styles, but is based in them and was developed in America. So it seems appropriate that I should use an American name for what I do, and bellydance not only fits the bill, but is understood by the audiences I dance for. As was pointed out above, nobody would know what I meant if I said I was a Raks Sharqi dancer, and I would be lying if I said I was a Middle Eastern dancer. I'm not. I'm an American Bellydancer, who dances the style of tribal.
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