Stars of Dance Spotlight: Naima Akef

Naima Akef was born in 1929 in Tanta on the Nile Delta to parents who were acrobats in the Akef Circus. This unique childhood resulted in Naima's first performance to transpire at the tender young age of four. She quickly became a popular circus performer, ultimately leading her to stardom as a belly dancer and actress in the Golden Age of Egyptian cinema.

When Naima was 14, the Akef circus disbanded, but she continued on performing both an acrobatic and a clown act. Eventually she found her way to Badia Masbadni's nightclub, the Opera Casino. It was here that she received training in belly dance. However, her time the Opera Casino was short-lived. Due to Masbadni's supposed favoritism of Naima, the other dancers tried to gang up on her and assault her. Naima managed to come out of the episode physically harmed, but the incident resulted in her being fired from the Opera Casino.

But when one door closes, another opens. Shortly thereafter, Naima was hired at another famous nightclub, the Kit Kat Club. It was here that she was introduced to the siblings and film directors, Abbas Kemal and Hussein Fawzy, resulting in her first movie appearance in the 1949 film, Bread and Salt.  From there Naima's career grew rapidly, staring in 17 films between 1949 and 1964.

One of Naima's most famous movies was 1955's Aziza, in which Naima can be seen dancing to the famous song by the same title, composed by Mohammed Adel Wahab.

Another of her more famous roles was in 1957's Tamr Henna, in which she can be seen dancing below.

And I've included one final clip of Naima just because I like how this one highlights her ability to execute turns. Unfortunately, I'm not sure which film this is from. If you know, please leave it in the comments below!

In my opinion, Naima's style is the epitome of "classical". Her style is relaxed and graceful, with clean, simple movements that aren't muddied by too much layering or hyper-activity. The sharp, staccato isolations popular today are replaced with juicy, rounded ones. Nonetheless, her grace is underlied with strength, balance, and dexterity, likely developed in her youth as an acrobat. She has some of the best turns I've ever seen in a belly dancer; sharp, precise, and exact. Her demeanor and carriage exude confidence and femininity, as she practically floats across the floor like many of the dancers of the Golden Age do. 

Naima quit acting in 1964 to take care of her son and only child. Sadly, Naima succumbed to cancer and died just two years later at the young age of 36. Despite her short time with us, her contribution to the world of belly dance will always be remembered.

Photo Credits: All photos Naima Akef

Stars of Dance Spotlight: Mahmoud Reda

 

Mahmoud Reda was born in 1930 in Cairo. He is famous for being a dancer, choreographer, and actor, as well as founding the world-famous Reda Troupe.

Through the influence of his older brother, Ali Reda, who was dancer, and the American stars Gene Kelley and Fred Astaire, Reda was drawn to dance and movement from an early age.  He originally trained as a gymnast, representing Egypt in the 1952 Summer Olympics. He also attended Cairo University and received a degree in Political Economics.  Shortly after graduating, he joined a South American dance troupe and began touring Europe with them.  Shortly thereafter, Reda hoped to start his own dance troupe, but due to lack of funds, he had to work as an accountant for Royal Dutch Shell.  As an accountant by day myself, I love this fact about Reda!  However, Reda's life was about to change.

Around 1957, Reda met Farida Fahmy, who become his dancing partner.  Reda was married to Fahmy's sister, Nadeeda.  Reda and Fahmy, along with Ali Reda, started the Reda Troupe in 1959. The troupe began with 12 dancers and 12 musicians and combined traditional Egyptian folk dances with Western dance styles, predominately ballet.  It was this fusion of styles that made the Reda Troupe, and Reda himself, famous.  As Reda described it in his own words, traditional Egyptian folk dances weren't made for the stage. Trying to put them on stage resulted in the outcome that "they look odd, they look strange".  But by adding in some Western stylizations from ballet and from Reda's idols Kelley and Astaire, Reda was able to infuse these traditional dances with the extra zing needed for success on the stage and big screen. 

Also aiding the troupe's success was the social standing of Fahmy and her family, which helped desensitize the public's reaction to the normally stigmatized profession of dance.  This fact, combined with the grace and elegance encompassed in the Reda dancers, made the troupe shows acceptable for both men and women to attend. In fact, the troupe was so widely accepted and acclaimed, that in 1961 the Egyptian Ministry of Culture decided to sponsor the troupe. In the same year, the troupe starred in its first movie, followed by subsequent movie roles in 1963, 1965, and 1970. 

Let's take a look, at some clips from these movies.  This first clip is Reda and Fahmy from the 1965 film Love in Karnak. You can strongly see the ballet influence in this dance through the carriage, arm movements, turns, and positioning of the feet.

 

This second clip highlights Fahmy, while also including Reda and the Reda Troupe. It's a scene from the 1963 film Mid-Year Holiday.

 

The third clip is also from Love in Karnak. The first minute showcases some of Reda's gymnastic ability.  Then if you want to skip ahead through some of the dialogue, the dancing begins again at the 4:00 minute mark, as Fahmy makes her entrance. All the dances in this movie were choreographed by Reda. 

In 1972, Reda stepped down as the principle dancer of the Reda Troupe, but continued to choreograph and direct performances.  By this time, the group had grown to upwards of 150 dancers, musicians, and stage crew members. The Troupe went onto tour the world, giving performances as far away as Carnegie Hall in New York and parts of China.  Reda has also received a vast number of awards for his work, including Egypt's Order of Arts and Science in 1967, The Star of Jordan in 1965, and the Order of Tunisia in 1973. In 1999, he was honored by the International Dance Committee/Unesco and by the International Conference on Middle Eastern Dance in May 2001.

In 1990, Reda retired as director of the Troupe.  He has however continued to teach workshops internationally.   I had the privilege of studying with Reda in 2010. I've included a picture of myself and the famous star below.

From this discussion, I think it can be seen that Reda has acted as a crucial cornerstone for furthering Egyptian dance, in terms of Egyptian folkloric dance, stage performance, and I would also add, modern belly dance.  While Reda and his troupe didn't focus directly on raqs sharqi per se, his influence has been dramatic in defining modern belly dance for future generations of dancers though his choreographies, movies, and training of belly dancers. His students and former troupe members include Dina and Randa Kamel.  Along with Badia Masabni, I believe he's been the most influential architect and creator of what movements, vocabulary, and technique have been encompassed into raqs sharqi.  Both Reda and Masabni's work blended in Western elements and added footwork and floor patterns, carrying the dancer across the stage, and ultimately making it the dance we know and recognize today.  Reda's work has also helped to foster interest in Egyptian folkloric dance among belly dancers, making folkloric dances like baladi and raqs assaya frequently common place within a belly dancer's set.

The Reda Troupe was a pioneer dance troupe, and Reda was truly the founder of a new genre of dance. Sadly, the Reda Troupe exists only in name today.  However, it has gone on to inspire countless other folkloric groups in universities and schools all over Eypt.  It can't be denied: Reda left a legacy in the realm of Egyptian dance.

Stars of Dance Spotlight: Badia Masabni

Badia Masabni was a dancer, actress, night club owner, and entertainment industry revolutionary.  She was born in Syria in 1892 (some records say 1894) and she is arguably one of the most important figures in the history of belly dance, as she is credited with being the matron of modern day belly dance. 

Badia's life got off to a rough and tragic start. At the age of seven, she was raped by a cafe owner.  This event made her prospects for marriage poor, due to a culture that marked her family with shame and herself as "damaged goods".  However, this meant that she instead turned to dance and theater. After a number of relocations, Badia ended up in Cairo in the early twentieth century, which at the time, was the center of the entertainment industry in the Middle East. Badia began working with various theater ensembles as an actress and dancer, at times traveling back to Syria and Lebanon to perform as well.  It was during one of these trips back to her home in Damascus, that she was attacked and almost killed by her brother who believed he was defending the family honor.

Badia didn't let these early tragedies stand in her way.  Instead, she forever changed dance history when she opened the first Egyptian music hall in 1926.  Badia's main music hall was officially known as Opera Casino, but was also informally referred to as Badia's Casino and Madame Badia's Cabaret.  The casino was modeled after European cabaret clubs, and featured a variety of entertainment, including singers, dancers, musicians, and occasionally comedians and magicians.  Badia's club quickly grew in popularity and became a well-frequented spot for upper-class Egyptians, as well as foreign stars and dignitaries. What many don't know, is that in addition to this club, Badia also owned up to five different clubs at different times: three in Cairo, one in Giza, and one in Alexandria. It was in Badia's nightclub that the famous dancers Samia Gamal and Tahia Carioca launched their careers, and made belly dancers common household names.

But really what made Badia and her nightclub important were the changes she implemented to what's currently known as modern day belly dance, or raqs sharqi or occasionally oriental dance.  Before Badia, the dance was a "shabbi" dance, a dance of the people, or more generally "popular dancing". Badia change this by elevating it to a true performance art and making it stage ready.  Before Badia, the only public performers of belly dance were the ghawazee and almeh.  Their dancing was characterized by standing primarily in one spot while performing hip accents, and they carried their arms in a deep bent "w" shape. Badia changed all this. She encouraged an uplifted carriage. She trained dancers to lift and open their arms, adding in flowing arm movements like snake arms.  She also taught her dancers to use more space on the stage, layering in more traveling steps and footwork.  In general, you can visualize the difference in how you might dance at a house party for a group of your friends, versus how would dance on a stage.  In the house party, you're more likely to keep your arms at your sides and dance in place. But if you were put on stage, you would fill up space, moving across the stage, elongating your limbs, extending your energy to the back of the room, and generally presenting yourself for the audience. Badia took popular local dancing and added style, flair, and drama to make it more suitable for a stage presentation.

Badia is also considered to have introduced the use of veil into belly dance.  Because audience members in the back of the club couldn't always see the fine movements of the dancers, she added in a veil to emphasis the movements.

And finally, Badia is credited with implementing musical change.  Badia began adding musicians who were classically trained on the violin, cello, oud, and accordion into the traditional Egyptian musical line-up of riqq, tabla (or derboukka), and ney (or zurna). These additions created more complex musical arrangements and more musical variety that ultimately came to shape the traditional belly dance set as we know now it, including the taqsim.

Badia's life as a night club owner wasn't without problems as well.  In the 1930s, Badia's nephew, Antoine, fell in love with a dancer in Badia's ensemble, Beba Azzadine.  Based on which account you go with, this pair either took over Badia's nightclub from her based on a power of attorney proxy, locking her from the club, or they alternatively left together, opening their own night club and stealing Badia's clientele.  Either way a low blow from trusted companions.  Later in the 1940s, after a parody skit of Hitler was performed at Badia's nightclub, Badia was placed on Hitler's list of people to be executed. Fortunately, Hitler never made it to Egypt!

There aren't too many videos of Badia performing, due to how long ago she was on stage.  Below is one of the few that is available. It's grainy, but still a gem of belly dance history.

Overall, Badia can easily be called the grandmother of modern day belly dance.  Her club established belly dance as a respected art form, even if sadly, some of that respect has been tarnished over the years.  Badia passed away in 1974.

Stars of Dance Spotlight: Samia Gamal

 

This post is the first in a new series for this blog: the Stars of Dance Spotlight, which will feature bios, commentary, pictures, and videos on selected icons of the belly dance stage. I personally believe that part of being a dancer is understanding the history behind the dance, and therefore it's important for dancers to know the performers who have shaped the stage before them.  Kicking off the inaugural post in this series is a look at the beautiful and talented Samia Gamal!

Samia Gamal was born in 1924 in the small Eyptian town of Wana.  Her family later moved to Cairo where she eventually met Badia Masabni (the women considered to be the founder of modern Oriental dance, we'll do a spotlight on her later).  Samia was extended an invitation to dance with Badia's dance company at her famous casino.  Samia studied under Badia's star dancer at the time, Tahiya Karioka.  Samia soon became a famous and respected soloist in her own right.  She began adding her own fusions and modifications to the dance by incorporating both ballet and Latin influences into her dancing.  Additionally, she is credited with being the first belly dancer to wear high heels while dancing.

Samia starred in many Egyptian films, frequently opposite Farid Al Atrache.  Together they become known as the Egyptian Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. In addition to being love interests on screen, it is rumored they were love interests off screen.  However, Farid refused to marry Samia due to her lower social standing.

In 1949, Egypt's King Farouk declared Samia "The National Dancer of Egypt", which combined with her tabloid marriage to a so-called "Texas millionaire" in 1950, rocketed her into international star status. Her second marriage was to the famous Eygptian actor Roshdy Abaza, who she also starred in a number of films with.

Let's look at a few video clips of Samia dancing.  The first clip is from the 1952 Egyptian film Don't Tell Anyone, also starring Farid Al Atrache.  I like this clip because I think it shows off Samia's overall style, which to me is very soft, rounded, light, and graceful.  There aren't many sharp stacatto movements or isolations.  She employs a lot of hip circles, various figure 8s, arabesques, and camels; all balanced on top of her signature high heels.

The second video clip is of Samia dancing in the 1955 Egyptian film A Glass and a Cigarette.   I selected this one for sharing as it's a beautiful piece that she floats through, and the ballet influence can really be felt in the arms and her overall grace. 

And another short movie clip from the 1954 American film Valley of the Kings.  This was a fun one because you see her acting side come out a bit more as she teases the stuffily-depicted Western woman.

And a fourth movie clip from the 1949 Egyptian film I Love You Only, which also starred Farid Al Atrache. I selected this clip because I like the creative stage setting and I also think it illustrates how Samia drew from other dance traditions, which can be seen in the overall choreography and footwork. In this one I especially get a sense of Hollywood influence, as certain movements, and even the attire, are evocative of Carmen Miranda.

Samia danced until the early 1980s.  She passed away in 1994 at 70 years of age, forever leaving her mark on the world of Oriental dance.