I've heard from Egyptians and from very experienced dancers here that Ramadan has changed drastically, in regard to the dance scene, over the past 10 years. Cabarets in Cairo used to stay open during the entire month, complete with dancing. A local dancer said she never lost jobs in Arab clubs because of Ramadan; everything functioned normally.

I don't feel like we dancers lose a lot of business during Ramadan now because private parties increase exponentially, but I'm just surprised by the reason for these parties. Some of them are Christian, Jewish, yes; but a lot of them are Muslim. I think it's sad that they could party in public as recently as ten years ago, but now parties with dancing have to be private affairs.

The current Ramadan protocol is all I've known since I started working in clubs and such 8 years ago, so I've never known anything different. I don't think most other dancers here have experienced anything to the contrary. Things are always changing, but I found this change particularly interesting.