Samia Gamal

[Simone min al Akariyah]

You wonder about the title in the instructor's forum?

The thing is: Last year my teacher happened to mention during class that she was trained in general oriental dance by the egytian Samia Gamal back home in Persia.
None of my mates had ever heard about this 'person' before, so I knew my teacher did not tell us a lie.
My teacher is from a persian artist family and her family sent her to several (persian) dancing teachers. At least they also accepted training in belly dance which became my teacher's only life-earning later on in Germany.

My question to you is:
Does anyone know about Samia' bio in detail? When and why did she live in Persia training local girls in BD? According to my teacher's age it must have been in the late 1960's or early 1970's.

 

[Yasmine Bint Al Nubia]

Hi Simone, Yes there was a famous Egyptian dancer by the name of Samia Gamal-however whether she taught your teacher I can't confirm or deny. Samia was young girl who began her dance caeer with Badi Masabni's Cairo Opera dinner/nightclub. She later starred in amny Egyptian movies and was considered a star.I'm not aware that she traveled beyond the borders to teach Oriental Dance, but others may have more info. Here's clip of Samia dancing to a compostion by Farid El Atrache. Ask your teacher if she has any pictures of Samia:



More info on Samia:
Samya Gamaal - the queen of raqs sharki
Yasmine

 

[Shanazel]

I love Samia Gamal. When I watch her films, I don't feel like I'm seeing something that has all the flavor choreographed out of it, the way I do with some of the very modern, very polished-yea, even unto slick- dancers.

 

[sedoniaraqs]

None of my mates had ever heard about this 'person' before, so I knew my teacher did not tell us a lie.

I don't follow your reasoning here. How does the fact that you and your mates had not heard of Samia Gamal have any bearing on whether or not your teacher was telling the truth?

Sedonia

 

[Kharmine]

Iran has not been officially called Persia since 1935.

You can look up Samia Gamal's biography on the internet, but I've never read that she taught in Iran.

Gamal is not an uncommon name in the Middle East, so perhaps your teacher is mistaken.

 

[Lydia]

samia gamal

Hi Simone,i think the best person to ask is Morroco i am almost sure she knows....the problem is she is not realy posting here but she is a member so just mail her privatly to make sure she read,s it,cheers Lydia

 

[Ranya]

I second Sedonia...don't really get the meaning of that.
anyways...back to the topic...I agree with Lydia that Morocco is the one to ask, if anyone. I tried to look up some stuff on the web but I only found the usual thing: she spent most of her life in Egypt but was also married for a short while to a rich american...no word of Persia or Iran.

 

[sstacy123]

Iran has not been officially called Persia since 1935.

Gamal is not an uncommon name in the Middle East, so perhaps your teacher is mistaken.

But do you think someone would make that kind of a mistake...? I think if studied with a legend I'd remember it.

 

[Kharmine]

But do you think someone would make that kind of a mistake...? I think if studied with a legend I'd remember it.

First, we'll assume that your teacher is a sane, ethical person with at least average memory who thinks she is telling the truth. If you showed her a photo of the real Ms. Gamal she'd say, "Yep, that's her."

If we discover Ms. Gamal never lived in Iran, let alone taught there, then we may have a case of an imposter who passed herself off as the legend to your teacher and others.

All an imposter would need in the days before the Internet, DNA, and cheap long-distance telephone calls was a reasonably close resemblance to the real Ms. Gamal, a plausible-sounding story, and a passport with information from a faked or stolen birth certificate. If somebody official or otherwise trustworthy also claimed this was the real Ms. Gamal, why wouldn't others believe it?

 

[Persephone]

I don't follow your reasoning here. How does the fact that you and your mates had not heard of Samia Gamal have any bearing on whether or not your teacher was telling the truth?

Sedonia

I think what she means is that if she was trying to impress them, she would have mentioned somebody they knew and respected. For instance, I could lie to my coworkers at the web development office and tell them I'd studied with Samia Gamal...


but why?

 

[Kiraze]

The most comprehensive biography about Samia at Internet can be found here. It mentions that she danced in Lebanon and Syria (and USA) but there is nothing about Iran or teaching dance but that does not necessarily rule them out either...

 

[sstacy123]

If we discover Ms. Gamal never lived in Iran, let alone taught there, then we may have a case of an imposter who passed herself off as the legend to your teacher and others.

sounds quite dubious to me but I suppose crazier things have happened!

 

[gisela]

maybe it's the same mysterious "Samia Gamal" that also went to Finland... (see other thread) A belly dance mystery:shok:

 

[Kharmine]

sounds quite dubious to me but I suppose crazier things have happened!

Yep, think about it. Back in the day -- no computers. No Internet. No cheap, long-distance phone calls (and who would you know to call?). And in the Middle East, there would have been then even more limited television and newspaper coverage than there is now.

All you'd really need is a decent resemblance to the person you're pretending to be, a passport obtained with a false birth certificate (or whatever was required), a plausible story, and the ability to lie, lie, lie like a dead armadillo.

If you're lucky and have some help, and if nobody who really knows the real person discovers what you're up to, you could get away with the imposture for some time.

 

[Simone min al Akariyah]

I don't follow your reasoning here. How does the fact that you and your mates had not heard of Samia Gamal have any bearing on whether or not your teacher was telling the truth?

Sedonia

I have known Samia Gamal since the mid-nineties. My other mates do not know her. So, when my teacher mentioned Samia Gamal as her teacher no one took notice except for me.
May be you get it now: sometimes, people even more oriental, mediterranian, Balkan people, they might say things in a very convincing way - but it is not like that at all. I often got the feeling they just tell you fairy tales to see another person's reaction and especially emotions - for example: how impressed or embarrassed is the other one about that story. -
I noticed that my teacher did not seem to tell us a fairy tale about her training as she knows her students better than I do and she knew she cannot impress her class.

Anyway, I checked the Web for Samia Gamal's detailed biography but could not find any location where she lived outside Egypt. I was wondering whether she had a longer working-contract in that area or may be she was (time)married with a guy from that area. Or whatever else. That's why I adressed to you all.
The reason why I wrote Persia is: In Germany Schah Rezai was called 'Schah of Persia'. Until 1979 everything about this country was called persian in Germany. Woman-magazines were crowded with Soraya and Farah Diba - always persian never Iranian. It stopped immediately with Khomeni. So, for me until 1979 - Persia (ignoring 1935).

 

[Simone min al Akariyah]

Hi Kiraze, thank you very much for the link with Samia's biography.


I will take one of Samia's younger photo showing it to my teacher asking her whether it was her teacher. I was asked earlier why I do not ask my teacher for details. That's the point: My teacher doesn't remember years, concrete situations etc. and many oriental people are irritated when we Westerners strive to explore things in detail asking for additionate evidence and sources and so on. We are getting on their nerves with that. My Ex-lebanese boy-friend let me know it more than once. And not only him.

 

[Simone min al Akariyah]

Hi Simone,i think the best person to ask is Morroco i am almost sure she knows....the problem is she is not realy posting here but she is a member so just mail her privatly to make sure she read,s it,cheers Lydia

Gorgeous idea, I will do that. Thank you very much.

 

[Maria_Aya]

Hi there
A very good biography or the Stars of Egypt can be found at Hossam Ramzy - The Stars of Egypt ®

and as I recall she moved to States (and married for a short time) after her split with Farid el Atrash, but i cant see anything about Persia/Iran....

(but as Hossam knows everything about that era, i'm gonna ask him in privite also)

Maria Aya

 

[chryssanthi sahar]

Hi ladies.

Can it be, that it is just a synonymic? Maybe there was a famous belly dancer in Persia back to the 60ies with the name Samia Gamal. Both names are not so seldom in the Islamic world.
Or that she meant the Lebanese belly dance star Nadja Gamal?
Simone, why don't you try to ask her more about it, even if you would "nerve" her? I also used to "nerve" my Egyptian teacher quite some times with uncommon questions, but it was worth it

 

[Madeline]

“Thinking the opportunity to work as a doctor's secretary was a great, Madiha's mother hugged and kissed the agent and signed the necessary papers. Her family thought she was going to Beirut, but her agent actually took her to Persia as a replacement for her idol, Samia Gamal, who had cancelled her engagement there. Madiha couldn't even walk correctly on stage, but she was young and beautiful. She was an instant success. From Persia, Madiha went on a tour to Pakistan and Calcutta, India, where she worked with mostly American bands.”

(From About Madiha)
I wonder if Samia ever actually did perform there?