Stars of Egypt
The Golden Age of belly dance began in 1926, when a well-known Syrian dancer by the name of Badia Masabni opened the first European style cabaret on the banks of the Nile. This hard-headed businesswoman single handedly transformed the sha'abi dance of the ghawazee into the floating butterfly we now know as "al raqs sharqi." The following women were unique cabaret artists of the last century who shone among the countless women performing the dance in the Middle East.
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Badia Masabny
Badia Masabny

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Samia Gamal
Samia Gamal
Zeinab Khalil (later to be named Samia Gamal) was a young countryside girl who moved to Cairo in the early 40's. Her first appearance was at the Badia Masabny's famous nightclub which presented many of today's named stars of dance, cinema and theatre. Badia recognized Zeinab's potential and handed her over to a very prominent dance teacher of that time named Jacque. Jacque trained Zeinab in the art of ballet, jazz, tap, and modern dance, as well as helped shape and develop her Egyptian Baladi style of dance. This prepared the young Zeinab Khalil for joining the Badia troupe of dancers as one of the chorus line dancers. She was eventually given front line positions due to her perfect execution of the dance routines and ability to lead the rest of the dancers in rehearsals. She was given the stage name of "Samia Gamal".
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Naime Akef
Naime Akef

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Taheyya Karioka
Taheyya Karioka

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Nagwa Fouad
Nagwa Fouad

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Hager Hamdy
Hager Hamdy

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