[CFerhat]

I think there are two elements here - the religious one, where defacing the body w/tatoos is seen as bad, but, as noted, on a haram bellydancer who cares? The other is that, typically, one of the dancer's roles in Arabic culture is to embody the feminine ideal, which doesn't include tats. Even though tatoos are getting fashionable in Lebanon, it's still mostly the guys who get them. You just generally don't see them on Arabic women, like you don't see pixie haircuts. I think an tatooed Arab dancer with an Arab audience would catch a lot of flack, for Americans the rules are a bit different.