Nadia Gamal ( ar, نادية جمال) was an Egyptian dancer and actress. She is known of mixing local Egyptian belly dance with Western Waltz, Cowboy, Cha Cha and other.

Early life and career

Born as Maria Carydias in

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

, Egypt. Gamal first began dancing as a part of her mother's

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...

act. Trained in piano as well as several kinds of dance such as

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

and tap, Gamal initially performed European folk dances in her mother's act. When she was 14, an ill dancer in her mother's troupe gave her the opportunity to dance raqs sharqi in Lebanon, which her father had forbidden her to do because of her youth. After this debut, she became a popular dancer and went on to star in many

Egyptian films The cinema of Egypt refers to the flourishing film industry based in Cairo, sometimes also referred to as Hollywood on the Nile. Since 1976, the capital has held the annual Cairo International Film Festival, which has been accredited by the Intern ...

. In 1953, she dated Indian movie star

Shammi Kapoor Shammi Kapoor (born Shamsher Raj Kapoor; (pronounced �ʌmːi kʌpuːɾ 21 October 1931 – 14 August 2011) was an Indian actor who worked in Hindi cinema. He is the recipient of two Filmfare Awards, winning in the categories of Best Actor f ...

after they met in Sri Lanka, but she moved back to Cairo. She did perform in a number of Indian movies too. In 1968, Gamal became the first raqs sharqi dancer to perform at the

Baalbeck International Festival The Baalbeck International Festival ( ar, مهرجانات بعلبك الدولية, french: Festival International de Baalbeck) is a cultural event in Lebanon. Since 1955, people from around the world have gone to the city of Baalbek in the Beqaa ...

. She also appeared at the

Cairo Opera House The Cairo Opera House ( ar, دار الأوبرا المصرية, ''Dār el-Opera el-Masreyya''; literally "Egyptian Opera House"), part of Cairo's National Cultural Centre, is the main performing arts venue in the Egyptian capital. Home to mos ...

and danced for

King Hussein Hussein bin Talal ( ar, الحسين بن طلال, ''Al-Ḥusayn ibn Ṭalāl''; 14 November 1935 – 7 February 1999) was King of Jordan from 11 August 1952 until his death in 1999. As a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family of ...

and the

Shah of Iran This is a list of monarchs of Persia (or monarchs of the Iranic peoples, in present-day Iran), which are known by the royal title Shah or Shahanshah. This list starts from the establishment of the Medes around 671 BCE until the deposition of th ...

. Gamal toured Asia, the Middle East, Europe, Latin America, and North America during her career. In 1978 and 1981 she briefly taught dance workshops in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Later in her career, Gamal started a school of dance. Gamal was diagnosed with

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

in 1990, and while undergoing treatment in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

contracted

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

and died.

Style and influence

Gamal was known for her extensive use of floorwork. She also often included

raqs baladi Baladi ( ar, بلدي ' relative-adjective 'of town', 'local', 'rural', comparable to English ''folk'', with a lower-class connotation) can refer to an Egyptian musical style, the folk style of Egyptian bellydance (Raqs Baladi), or the Masmoudi ...

(folkloric dance),

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and A ...

dances and

Zār In the cultures of the Horn of Africa and adjacent regions of the Middle East, ''Zār'' ( ar, زار, gez, ዛር) is the term for a demon or spirit assumed to possess individuals, mostly women, and to cause discomfort or illness. The so-cal ...

dance with raqs sharqi in her performances. She influenced many dancers such as Ibrahim Farrah, Suhaila Salimpour, and Claire Naffa.

Filmography

* ''Prem Pujari'' (1970) *''Bazi-e eshgh'' (1968) *''Bazy-e-shance'' (1968) *''Mawal al akdam al zahabiya'' (1966) *''Twenty-Four Hours to Kill'' (1965) *''Garo'' (1965) *''Layali al chark'' (1965) *''Zenubba'' (1956) *''Mawwal''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gamal, Nadia 1937 births 1990 deaths Tap dancers Belly dancers Deaths from pneumonia in Lebanon Egyptian film actresses Egyptian female dancers People from Alexandria Egyptian people of Italian descent 20th-century Egyptian actresses Egyptian people of Greek descent 20th-century ballet dancers