There were no hand cymbals or sequined harem pants, and no Middle Eastern music was playing in the background. And yet the rhythmic, wavy movements of an Iraqi woman's abdominal wall muscles resembled ...

A flyer and a simple “Do you like good music?” from a promoter led to an obsession. At the time, Rebecca Williams was 17 or 18 and went to a concert for a band she had never heard of, Beats Antique.

At first glance, Alia Mohamed’s Instagram account appears like a fantastical throwback, reminiscent of Middle Eastern record covers and black-and-white movies of the ’50s and ’60s. In one post, the ...