Awalim was formed in 1999 under the Direction of Ziah Ali McKinney-Taylor as a group to bring World Fusion Tribal Bellydance to the stages of Atlanta and the Southest US. Awalim's particular flavor of Tribal is decidedly upbeat and earthy while being sophisticated and urban, bringing what we feel are Atlanta's strongest characteristics to the Tribal genre.

What does Awalim mean?
Awalim is plural for Almeh. An Almeh was an educated entertainer that was very highly thought of in Egypt during the 1800's. She was educated in music, poetry, song, dance, history, religion and politics. All of these things were considered interconnected and important knowledge for any real artist. The Awalim were very well respected and left Cairo when Napoleon's invading army treated them as "common" entertainers. We call ourselves Awalim because education is very important to us. We all study at least one musical instrument along with the finger cymbals (zils). I also stress the history and sociology of the wide spread area that is called the Middle East which brings us (and our audience) closer to an understanding of the culture we are emulating.