Samia Gamal (Arabic: سامية جمال‎, born as Zaynab Khalil
Ibrahim Mahfuz, 5 March 1924 â€" 1 December 1994) was an Egyptian
belly dancer and film actress.Born in the small Egyptian town of Wana
in 1922 February, 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 owner of a big Cairo nightclub back
then. 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.
Ibrahim Mahfuz, 5 March 1924 â€" 1 December 1994) was an Egyptian
belly dancer and film actress.Born in the small Egyptian town of Wana
in 1922 February, 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 owner of a big Cairo nightclub back
then. 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.
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