Tahiya Karioka – is one of the dancers of the Golden Age of Egypt and was born between 1915 and 1923 in Ismaileya, Egypt. As a teenager she fled to Cairo, due to contrasts with her family, where she started her career as a dancer and was introduced to Badeia Masabny. Taheyya Karioka then started dancing in Badia’s troupe and she gradually became famous and starred in not less then 150 movies.

She was also known as: Tahiya Mohamed (born as: Badaweya Mohamed Kareem Al Nirani), Tahiya was an Egyptian Belly dancer and a film actress. Born in the Egyptian town of Ismaileya in 1920 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 industries “Golden Age”. She was a talented dancer, singer, and actor.

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 aopted a daughter (Atiyat Allah). Tahiya also was very involved with her sibling’s children. Tahiya later moved to London.

Tayiha died on May 03, 1999 of a
heart attack.

Enjoy the video of her below!  She was a wonderful dancer and one of my many inspirations!

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A few days ago,   I had a friend, who is also a dancer commented on a rough time they were having.  I thought it was unusual so I
let her know that I was thinking about her and she would be in my prayers.  Later in the week she emailed me and briefly
told me what was going on.  It does not matter these days where you live; you will find some sort of drama in the world
of Belly Dance.  My friend was just so frustrated because there are women accusing other women of slandering and even
going as far as sueing!!  My comment to her was that these type of women usually act out this way because one, they are
insecure about themselves or two, they have got such a big head that they cannot get through the door!!  I realize
that this comment I have just made will make some angry but sometimes the truth does hurt.  In the last 9 years of my
dance career I have witnessed a few ugly things and it just amazes me; since this dance is supposed to be women celebrating with other women our feminist side and sharing our experiences with each other that should form one of the
strongest bonds between all of us.   I have another dance friend who has experienced the same thing where dancers
where saying stuff about her and they did not even know her or have met her.  Why is it we belittle others when
we should be embracing each other and seeing the beauty within each one of us?   Who can we trust and confide in if we cannot
trust our own dance sisters? The only way we can stop this is if we say something when it happens.  We need to realize that we need to truly believe in ourselves and fight for our passion within this dance.  The passion is what leads most of us to dance in the first place, but if we cannot be true to ourselves first and foremost then we cannot be true to those around us.  My mentor and very good friend taught me this.   As teachers, we teach our students that this dance is the oldest and most respected dance form, but if we are not respecting
others are we really respecting the dance? There is no way we can respect the dance and not respect each other.  We need to fully embrace each other’s talents and passions and support each other in what we do.  Be true to yourself and your dance sisters!

Photo By WG Images

A few years back I traveled to Michigan to have a rare occassion in being part of a 2 day workshop with Suhaila Salimpour.  The workshop was amazing and there were many things that I came away with after the two days were over.  Suhaila is very well known for her technique and glute squeezes.  Suhaila is where I learned that in order to have better control over the movements and for them to be sharper it must be down with muscle.  We spent at least the first hour warming up followed by strengthening our arms legs, quads, glutes and stomachs.  Then moving on to glute squeezes standing followed by a series of different rhythms and foot patterns with ups or downs and so on.  We also spent several hours each day on zills.  The workshop was very fast paced and it was necessary to keep up.  I must say it was really hard but I was able to keep up with the class as we were all covered in sweat and sheer exhaustion!  At the end of the workshop which would have been Sunday evening, I was so sore I could hardly move!  It was amazing though and it is one of those workshop moments that I will never forget.  It was very exhilarating and even though I was tired I had a surge of energy going though me.  Suhaila is a 2nd generation belly dancer, her mom who is Jamila Salimpour and was the first her was the orginator of tribal belly dance in america. (http://suhailainternational.com/Jamila.php)

Click on the link below to watch a performance of Suhaila:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nIKBQ5ozZU

Photo by WG Images