For more information about Bellydance you will receive a Resource list when you start class. You can start your reading with the books below and at www.shira.net/about.htm and www.tiac.net:

Looking For Little Egypt by Donna Carlton
ISBN number 0-9623998-1-7
Published by IDD Books
Detailed historical research focused on the appearance of Middle Eastern dance at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and the evolution of it in the decades that followed.

A Trade Like Any Other by Karin van Nieuwkerk
ISBN number 0292787200
Published by University of Texas Press
In-depth research into the question of why Oriental dance is considered to be such a low-class profession in Egypt. Includes excellent historical information about the rise of the first nightclubs in Cairo in the 20th century.