Samia Gamal

Samia Gamal (in Arabic: سامية جمال‎, born as Zaynab Ibrahim Mahfuz, 27 May 1924 – 1 December 1994) was an Egyptian belly dancer and film actress.

Born in the small Egyptian town of Wana in 1924, Samia's family moved just months later to Cairo and settled near the Khan El-Khalili bazaar. It was many years later that Samia Gamal met Badia Masabni, the founder of modern Oriental dance. Badia offered Samia an invitation to join her dance company, which Samia accepted. Badia Masabni gave her the stage name Samia Gamal, and she began her dance career.

At first, she studied under Badia and Badia's star dancer at the time, Tahiya Karioka. However she soon became a respected soloist and brought forth her own style. Samia Gamal incorporated techniques from ballet and Latin dance into her solo performances. She was also the first to perform with high-heeled shoes on stage. She starred in dozens of Egyptian films next to the famous Farid Al Attrach. They could be thought of as the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers of the Middle East. They not only played each other's love interest on the silver screen but also in real life. However, their love was not meant to be. Because of Farid's social position, he refused to marry Samia. Farid believed that marriage kills artist talent, he never married. Some claim that Farid as a Druze prince, told her it would bring too much shame to his family for him to marry a belly dancer; but the claim is baseless. Farid helped placing Samia on the National Stage by risking all he owned, and managed to borrow to produce a film (Habib al omr) co-starring with her in 1947.

In 1949, Egypt's King Farouk proclaimed Samia Gamal "The National Dancer of Egypt", which brought US attention to the dancer.

In 1950, Samia came to the US and was photographed by Gjon Mili. She also performed in the Latin Quarter, New York's trendy nightclub. She later married the so-called "Texas millionaire" Shepherd King III, whom, it was later reported only had about $50,000. However, their marriage did not last long.

In 1958, Samia Gamal married Roshdy Abaza, one of the most famous Egyptian actors with whom Samia starred in a number of films. Samia Gamal stopped dancing in 1972 when she was nearly in her 50s but began again after given advice by Samir Sabri. She then danced until the early 1980s.

Samia Gamal died on 1 December 1994, at 70 years of age in Cairo. Samia's charismatic performances in Egyptian and international films gave Oriental Dance recognition and admiration in Egypt and worldwide.

Samia Gamal and Farid Al-Attrach in the Egyptian film Afrita hanem (Genie Lady) (1949)

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Tahiya Karioka

Tahiya Karioka (Arabic: تحية كاريوكا‎) also Tahiya Mohamed (born as: Badaweya Mohamed Kareem Al Nirani), (February 22, 1915 – September 20, 1999) was an Egyptian belly dancer and film actress.

Born in the Egyptian town of Ismaïlia to Mohamed Kareem, Tahiya was discouraged from performing as a dancer by her family. Due to family differences that could not be settled with her father and brothers, she moved to Cairo to stay with an old neighbour, Suad Mahasen, a night club owner and an artist. Tahiya had asked several times for employment in Suad's nightclub but Suad refused to employ her due to the disreputability of working at a night club. However, many of Suad's associates and friends became acquainted with Tahiya through various visits to Suad's home. They all advised Suad to add her to one of the shows as a chorus girl but still she refused. Soon, Tahiya was mentioned to Badia Masabni, the owner of Casino Opera, one of the most prominent nightclubs of the time. Badia offered a position in her troupe to Tahiya. Tahiya accepted and was given the stage name Tahiya Mohamed. She soon began gaining popularity as a solo dancer and as she became more experienced she learned a popular Samba dance from Brasil at the time called the Karioka. After that she became known as Tahiya Karioca. Tahiya began starring in movies during what is dubbed as the Egyptian film industry's "Golden Age". She was a talented dancer, singer, and actress. In 1972, the film “Watch out for Zouzou”, starring Soad Hosni with Tahiya performing the supporting role, was released to become the biggest box- office hit in Egyptian cinema to date!.

Tahiya was married 14 times; among her husbands were actor Rushdy Abaza and playwright Fayez Halawa. Tahiya was unable to conceive any children of her own and hence adopted a daughter (Atiyat Allah). Tahiya also was very involved with her sibling's children. Tahiya later moved to London.

Tahyia died of a heart attack on September 20th, 1999, aged 84.

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Naima Akef

 Naima Akef (Arabic: نعيمة عاكف‎,‎ pronounced [næˈʕiːmæ ˈʕæːkef]; 7 October 1929 - 23 April 1966) was a famous Egyptian belly dancer during the Egyptian cinema's golden age and starred in many films of the time. Naima Akef was born in Tanta on the Nile Delta. Her parents were acrobats in the Akef Circus (run by Naima’s grandfather), which was one of the best known circuses at the time. She started performing in the circus at the age of four, and quickly became one of the most popular acts with her acrobatic skills. Her family was based in the Bab el Khalq district of Cairo, but they traveled far and wide in order to perform.

The circus disbanded when Naima was 14, but this was only the beginning of her career. Her grandfather had many connections in the performance world of Cairo and he introduced her to his friends. When Naima’s parents divorced, she formed an acrobatic and clown act that performed in many clubs throughout Cairo. She then got the chance to work in Badia Masabni's famous nightclub, where she became a star and was one of the very few who danced and sang. Her time with Badeia, however, was short-lived, as Badia favored her, which made the other performers jealous. One day they ganged up on her and attempted to beat her up, but she proved to be stronger and more agile and won the fight. This caused her to be fired, so she started performing elsewhere.

The Kit Kat club was another famous venue in Cairo, and this is where Naima was introduced to film director Abbas Kemal. His brother Hussein Fawzy, also a film director, was very interested in having Naima star in one of his musical films. The first of such films was “Al-Eïch wal malh” (bread and salt). Her costar was singer Saad Abdel Wahab, the nephew of the legendary singer and composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab. The film premiered on the 17th of January 1949, and was an instant success, bringing recognition also to Nahhas Film studios.

Naima quit acting in 1964 to take care of her only child, a son from her second marriage to accountant Salaheldeen Abdel Aleem. She died two years later from cancer, on April 23, 1966, at the age of 36.

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Katy

Katy, her name is also spelt Kitty, Keti and Katie, (1927-1980) was born in Alexandria, Egypt, to a Greek father and Egyptian mother. She acted and danced in many Egyptian movies from the 1950s through to the mid-1960s but returned to Athens in 1965 after being implicated in a spy plot which apparently involved Egyptian/Israeli double agent Refaat el Gammal رأفت الهجّان‎ aka Refaat al Hagan aka Jack Beton. She appeared in at least two Greek language films following her return to Greece. She also speaks Greek in at least one of her earlier Egyptian films where she plays the daughter of the local Greek barber.

Soheir Zaki

SOHEIR ZAKI ABDALLAH, known as "The sweet star of Cairo", born in Mansoura 4 January in 1945. She worked in egyptian cinema from 1963 to 1984, and kept dancing until the 1990's

The legendary dancer and film star Suhair Zaki doesn't need to be introduced anymore in fact. Suhair Zaki may have retired, but she hasn't lost her aura of glamour. Suhair Zaki epitomizes the natural baladi dancer. The late Anwar Sadat once called her "the Oum Kolthoum of dance." "As she sings with her voice, you sing with your body," he told her once. Old US President Nixon named her "Zagharit," when he learned that the word referred to the shrill yelling as an expression of joy. Sohair received expressions of honour from the Shah of Iran, the Tunisian president and Gamal Abdel Nasser.
Suhair Zaki was born in Mansoura, where she and her family lived until she was nine, before moving to the mediterranean city of Alexandria. Suhair fell in love with music and dance from an early age. As much that she taught herself to dance, listening to the radio. Natural talent showed itself young, and before long she was being noticed at the birthday and wedding parties of friends and family. Later on Zaki moved to Cairo, the capital of the Egyptian entertainment world, where she began to entertain weddings. Later she did nightclub performances from early in the evening and going on throughout the night. Just like any other dancer did... Soheir Zaki failed an audition as a presenter but it turned out to be only the beginning of her career on television. 





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Nagwa Fouad

Nagwa Fouad (Arabic: نجوى فؤاد‎, Egyptian Arabic: [ˈnæɡwæ foˈʔæːd]; born 1936) is an Egyptian belly dancer.

After her release she performed at the Abdeen Casino where she met Ahmad Fuad Hassan (her future husband for 6 years), a producer of stage shows that later became a famous conductor. He convinced her to perform live at the most prestigious music and dance show in the 1960s called Adwa El Madina (City Lights) which had featured such superstars as Shadia, Abdel Halim Hafez, Fayza Ahmed, and Sabah.

In 1976, the famous composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab wrote an entire musical piece exclusively for her belly dancing show titled Qamar Arba'tashar (meaning the full Moon of the 14th), it was her transition from traditional oriental dance to a choreographed stage performances.

The next important career step was Nagwa's marriage to Ahmed Fouad Hassan, the talented violin player, composer and conductor. Ahmed gave Nagwa Fouad her chance to appear in the very popular sixties stage show "Adwoua Al-Madina" (City Lights), which had featured such superstars as Abdel-Halim Hafez, Fayza Ahmed, Shadia and Sabah. Nagwa featured on many of the covers of the Ahmed Fouad Hassan LP's/CD's. Nagua took every career step well calculated: "Hassan was 17 years older than me, but I needed him. He nurtured my amateur's talents... He taught me the importance of studying and working on my talent if I wanted to be a big star. He trained me at the Nelly Mazloum Dance School and I joined the National Dance Troupe to study folklore with Russian teachers." Nagoua Fouad learned showmanship and eye-catching techniques which were obvious in her performances of "Ayoub Al-Masri" and "Bahiya wa Yassin". But Fouad Hassan wanted to have a baby with Nagua. Something she didn't approve to so this eventually led to her first divorce after six years of marriage. In 1976, Nagwa Fouad reached the top of her career when composer Mohamed Abdel-Wahab wrote "Qamar Arbaa-tashar" (Blue Moon or 14the moon) for her. Her stage performance to this special piece allowed her to change the way belly-dancing was presented on stage, transforming it from traditional oriental dance to more of a choreographed lavish spectacle adding more dramatic elements to it than ever before. The composition served as a transition for Nagwa: "I was able to combine the oriental dancing of Tahiya Karioka and Samia Gamal with Na'ema's acrobatic style and created a stage show like a dramatic piece" she says. Najwa established her own dance group but it did not last long and later tried to retire dancing to become actress. She played on the stage and in the cinema and finally became cinema producer.

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Mona Said

Mona Saai'd (Mona Ibrahim Wafa) started dancing professionally at 13. Her dancing meant she had to flee Egypt for Lebanon in 1970 to escape the anger of her conservative Bedouin father. When she returned to Cairo in 1975, she was a star.
Her dancing is characterized by an intensity and nuance. However, she has times when she stops dancing for periods. These apparently often match her romantic life. When interviewed by Habibi in 1996 (Vol. 15, No 1) she had married seven times – always to rich men.

Performances always accompanied by a large orchestra, as do all great Egyptian dancers such as Nagua Fouad, Fifi Abdou, Lucy, Dina, Nelli Fouad, Hanan and Nadia Fouad. Mouna Saiid dances "Raks Sharki" or oriental dance. This style of dance was pioneered by the Egyptian topdancer, Tahia Cariocca, who danced in Cairo in the 1930's.
In Egypt it is common that the dancers are the ones that hire the musicians. It speaks for itself the more famous the dancer the more she will be able to engage top musicians. They inquire about who plays well and then search for that musician and try to convince them to work for them. There has also to be a mutual understanding between dancer and musicians. Mona Said hired the most sophisticated musicians at that time. Reda Darwish - who also played for Nelli Fuoad's group - on percussion, Samir Srour on saxophone, Dr. Saad Mohammed Hassan played violin, Omar Farahat the conductor also on violin, and the keyboard player, Mohsen Adley. Mona was mostly performing in London instead of Caïro. Her distinct style made her one of the bellydance stars of the twentieth century. She gave lots of workshops in the US and UK as well as in other countries and trained dance stars like Tamra-henna (who amongst others trained the Bellydance Superstars) and many others.

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