Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ? To the hypnotic strains of Middle Eastern drums and flutes, Nancy Bakhshy shouts instructions to nine students who shimmy, shake and undulate in fluid movements.

“That’s good, very good!” she says when all nine manage a move worthy of a contortionist – gradually kneeling, then lowering themselves further by stretching backward so the upper body is parallel to the floor, all the while shaking their chests to staccato drum beats.

Snaking its way into popular urban culture, belly dancing is becoming a popular activity among middle-class Malaysians, despite a general perception that the dance is too provocative for this conservative, mainly Muslim country.

“It’s not that common in Malaysia to have this type of dance as part of the culture,” says Bakhshy, an Azerbaijani dancer and the most sought after teacher. “In the beginning they thought belly dancing is something like lap dancing – something too sexy, for seduction. So it was like, ‘No, no!”‘

Nancy Bakhshy, left, performs her belly dancing style for students at a class in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Bakhshy's art is snaking its way into popular culture, becoming a hobby among middle class Malaysians, despite a general perception that the dance is too provocative for this conservative, mainly Muslim country.

Bakhshy, who has lived in Malaysia for 13 years, pioneered belly dancing classes in the country, starting three years ago after being urged on by her Malaysian friends.

Today, belly dancing schools have mushroomed all over Kuala Lumpur. Bakhshy said it is difficult to estimate the number of schools or students, but points out that even fitness centers and gyms offer classes, attesting to the growing demand.

“It’s the most happening thing at the moment thanks to pop stars like Beyonce, Britney Spears, Shakira who incorporate a lot of belly dancing moves into their routines,” said Foong Yuh Ling, 35, an ethnic Chinese who also teaches belly dance.

Bakhshy draws about 30 students a day at different dance studios. She also performs at private functions of political leaders and tycoons, and is experimenting with fusion Middle Eastern-Indian styles, including belly dancing to the beat of bhangra – a lively folk music from the Punjab region of India and Pakistan.

Often in tow at these functions are her understudies – daughters Mandana, 17 and Niloufar, 16.

Bakhshy said the art has been passed down from mother to daughter through the generations in her family. She remembers that both her grandmothers had learned it from their mothers. She began taking lessons from her mother in Azerbaijan when she was 5.

Called “Raqs Sharqi” in Arabic, the dance has been part of oral tradition in Iran, Egypt and other parts of Middle East since pre-Islamic times. Both men and women practiced it, but the sexes danced separately.

Bakhsy’s students range from housewives to students to executives in their 40s who dance for fitness and for fun.

“My husband told me to come,” said one student, Yulia Kiseleva, a shy, 21-year-old Russian housewife who has lived in Malaysia for the past two years.

Bakhshy says she started off teaching the elite and members of the country’s royalty, but more students now come from humbler backgrounds, even from more conservative families. Muslims are not comfortable with Western dances because it involves having a male partner. That means, “they have to touch other guys and they’re not going to do that,” she said.

“But with belly dancing, it’s only women dancing so they feel comfortable to come and expose and just come out of that closed feeling.”

Bakhshy believes that the dance would be better understood if taught in the context of Middle Eastern culture, and has been organizing haflas, or Arabian parties, meant especially for women. She’s introduced the women to Arabian cuisine and music.

Now “they like it more and they accept it,” Bakhshy says. “They don’t look at just belly dancing and think: ‘No! No! No!”‘