06 February, 2011

Samia Gamal and Farid al Atrache (3)

A clip from the 1951 movie 'Taa la salem'.  Farid al Atrache plays Meshmesh a poor singer who works as a waiter in a nightclub while waiting for his chance at the big time.  Samia Gamal plays a famous bellydancer whose father owns the nightclub where Meshmesh works. While Meshmesh secretly loves Sokara he knows he has no chance, until he unexpectedly inherits a fortune.

05 February, 2011

Samia Gamal and Farid Al Atrache (2)

A second clip from the 1949 Egyptian movie 'Afrita Hanem'. In this musical comedy Farid al Atrache plays Asfour, a poor singer who finds a magic lamp inhabited by a genie played by Samia Gamal. Asfour wants the genie to help him win the heart of a money hungry woman he has his eye on....but the genie has other ideas.

Samia Gamal and Farid Al Atrache (1)

A clip from the 1949 Egyptian movie 'Afrita Hanem'.  In this musical comedy Farid al Atrache plays Asfour, a poor singer who finds a magic lamp inhabited by a genie played by Samia Gamal.  Asfour wants the genie to help him win the heart of a money hungry woman he has his eye on....but the genie has other ideas.

24 December, 2010

What you get when you buy bellydance dvds in Uzbekistan

I've finally started looking at the dvds I bought in Uzbekistan. Many of them have bellydancers in costume on the covers but when you buy in the souqs in this part of the world one rule applies - what you see usually isn't what you get :-)
Anyway, it turns out the dvds were great value, costing the equivalent of about $2 and most of them have 50-70 different MTV-style clips on them, Arabic, Persian, Armenian, a few Turkish and of course lots of Uzbeki. In most of the Uzbeki dvd clips there'll be a scene showing the background dancers wearing modern clothes, then further on they'll be in bellydance costumes doing a couple of moves, and then later on the same girls in traditional Uzbek costumes. This clip is a bit different as all the dance is 'bellydance-style' though not in costume. The song's called 'Leila' the singer's Amran (Armenian or Kurkish, anyone know?)


 

22 December, 2010

Nile musicians: Kom Ombo, Egypt

If you've done a Nile cruise you might recognise these musicians who play in the garden restaurant in Kom Ombo, Egypt.