Kathryn
Ferguson
By John Clow
This article is being re-issued as part of our tribute to Kathryn. The original article appeared
in our July 2008 issue. It was written by our friend, John Clow, who has also passed.
The inception of this article (and those to follow in this
series, dedicated to some of the pioneers in American belly
dance) came about in the fall of 2007 when I heard of the
passing of Serena Wilson. I couldn’t help but think of all of
the knowledge and experiences that went with her. Having
missed that opportunity to tap into the career of Serena’s
legacy, I quickly made up my wish-list of dancers from the
60s & 70s that I wanted to talk to . . . to pick their collective
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The Belly Dance Chronicles
July 2017
brains about their storied careers. I chose to contact Kathryn
Ferguson because she — in 1987— came out with the first
“complete’” instructional tape for teaching belly dancing.
True: other VHS tapes were released earlier, but none, in
my opinion, were as thorough, or as comprehensive in their
instruction. That, to me, labeled Kathryn as a pioneer, a legend
in her own right. And after you read about the breadth and
depth of her career, I think you’ll see that I made a wise choice.