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Why the Fuss Over Egyptian Style Music and Oriental Dance? - Page 2

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From Nightclubs to Movies and Music

As the U.S. movie and music industries arose in the first part of the 20th century, a similar entertainment industry emerged in the Arabic world. Just as New York and Hollywood were the centers of the U.S. entertainment industry, Cairo and Beirut became the centers of music and film for the Arabic-speaking world.

Starting around the 1940's, Egyptian film production companies began releasing Arabic-language musicals. Farid al-Atrache emerged as a multi-talented star who captured women's hearts as a leading man, composed music that became instant hits throughout the Arabic world, and played the oud with the skill of a virtuoso. Another composer who rose to fame and popularity was Mohammed Abdel Wahab.

Just as English-language musicals featured dance scenes, so did the Arabic ones. The Oriental dance performances in these movies soon turned Tahia Carioca, Samia Gamal, and others into international stars. Even today, these early stars of Egyptian dance are as much a part of the Arabic cultural heritage as Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, and Gene Kelly are part of the American culture.

In parallel, Lebanon was growing its own Oriental dance scene, led by Nadia Gamal.

Inspired by harem scenes in Hollywood movies, the Egyptian movie industry garbed its performers in costumes similar to those produced half a world away. Soon, Egyptian dance was setting a new standard throughout the Middle East for treating Oriental dance as a performing art rather than a social dance.

Although the social dance is part of the culture throughout the Middle East, there really wasn't any analogous development of Oriental dance as a performing art in Turkey, Iran, or North Africa. So that's why many people from the Middle East refer to the public performance of Oriental dance as "Arabic dance".

The 1960's Through the 1980's

Lebanon's rich contributions to Arabic culture were sadly interrupted by their civil war. It's hard for an entertainment industry to prosper when people's primary concern is simply staying alive and eking out a living under the dark cloud of war.

As a result, Egypt became the centerpiece for continued development of the Arabic performing arts. Several memorable stars emerged during this era: Soheir Zaki, Nagwa Fouad, Lucy, Nadia Hamdi, Fifi Abdo, and others. These dancers were paid very, very well and became rich by the standards of their own culture. They commissioned musicians to compose intricate songs played by 40-piece orchestras just for them. This was a wonderful time for a tourist with an interest in dance to visit Egypt and see world-class performances.

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