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Tahia is one of the highest respected dancers, that ever was. Tahia is considered an artist, something dancers in Egypt are always striving for. She accomplished it nearly effortlessly, due her natural talent to dance beautifully with out fault. Nearly every other famous dancer, I have written about, has at some point said that Tahia is one of their favourite dancers and they look to her for inspiration. Tahia was very good friends with Samia Gamal and in later life Fifi Abdou. Tahia was born on the 22nd of Febuary,1919, in Manzala, with the name Badaweya Mohamed Kareem Al Nirani. Shortly after her birth, her family moved to Ismailia. In her teens she began dancing. Like most dancers she initially suffered criticism from her family, this for her, came mostly from her overprotective brothers. To escape her brothers Tahia, by herself, moved to Cairo, to live by an old neighbour of hers she knew from Ismailia. Tahia, when in Cairo went to Dancing School. She became quite well know for being a good dancer by the school and by the friends of the neighbour, who was in the entertainment business.
It wasn't long before Tahia was given solo spots .....the crowd loved her, I can't emphasise how much. Dancing was so natural to her, this is evident when you watch her in action, her hips just flow so softly and smoothly to the music, something dancers spend years to master. When Tahia walks onto a stage she has this indescribable glow which takes over the audience, they can do nothing but get lost in her dancing. Her popularity grew at the club and she became their top performer.
It was at Badeia's club that Tahia befriended the younger dancer Samia Gamal. She helped Samia greatly in to going on and becoming the famous dancer that we know her to be now. This friendship was for life and lasted till Samia died.
After appearing in a few films as just a dancer, Tahia went on to act as well. Her fist acting role was as a main character along side the famous comedian Naguib El-Rihani. The film was Li'bet Al-Set (Woman's Play, 1946). It was a brilliant hit not just for the box office but also for Tahia. Her gift for acting had also been showed to the world. After that the offers of acting and dancing roles didn't stop. Tahia performed in over 200 films over 50 years!!!!! Here is a list of a few:
As I said before, Tahia was a highly respected dancer and always is alongside the likes of Umu Kalsome and Abdou Halim Hafis as the best of Egyptian stars. But this artistic title she had, didn’t mean that her dance was compensated, so to be accepted by conservative and religious people, (like the dance of Mahmod Reda and Farida Fahmi). Tahia’s dancing was sexy. She was a strong, sexy, intelligent lady. This went through to her acting she was often given the dominant, seductive female role. Seductive through her dance As you can see from her list of films Tahia stayed very active in the Egyptian dance industry through out her life. She became friends and a mentor for new dancers entering the field, especially the amazing dancer of the 90's Fifi Abdou who looked up to her with the deepest respect.
Tahia automatically married all the men which she fell in “love” with. She had a lot of love to give, yet none were worthy enough. Her total number of husbands amounted to about 14, I’m not exactly sure. When Tahia was interviewed by Edward Said (see below for article source) and he asked the question: which of them she had loved? she replied; “None of them. They were a shabby lot of bastards”, as I said she was a strong woman. Her husbands included nearly every important male celebrity in Egypt at that time. One of her husbands was an American and she moved to the sates with him. The marriage didn't last long. She missed the Egyptian night scene too much, and to the delight of the fans returned to Egypt.
Tahia was so successful for one reason; people the world over, loved her dance. People loved to watch her and it brought them joy. She had a never ending amount of admires who loved her throughout her career. Tahia did not need contacts to promote her career; her hips did it for her. Watching Tahia dance, is so relaxing because her hips just role to the music in a soft perfected way. The joy of dance is so evident it is shared with the audience. That's why they loved her, she shared her joy. She is undoubtedly one of the biggest inspirations for dancers around the world. I know she's one of mine! "Dance, Dance, nothing but the dance - I will dance till I die!"
(Sources: Youssef Rakha, Dancing to the rhythm of time, http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/1999/448/cu1.htm Edward Said, Homage To A Belly Dancer, London Review of Books, 13/10/1990)
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