Thread: Souhair Zaki Quiz

This is a quiz I made up for my students, based mostly on information available online. When you are done, you can find the answer key here:

Souhair Zaki Quiz - Answer Key « Shems’s Belly Dance Class Blog

Have Fun

Select all answers that apply, you can choose more than one answer per question.

1. Souhair Zaki was born in

a) 1965

b) 1932

c) 1944

d) 1976



2. Souhair Zaki performed in

a) weddings

b) circus acts

c) movies

d) nightclubs



3. Souhair Zaki

a) started dancing as a young teen in the Greek nightclubs of Alexandria

b) started dancing in her twenties at Badia's club in Cairo

c) never got an opportunity to dance on television



4. True or False: Souhair Zaki's father opposed her career in dance.


5. Souhair gained accolades and compliments from individuals of note, including the

a) Shah of Iran

b) Tunisian President

c) Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser

d) US President Nixon



6. Souhair Zaki was famed to be the first Oriental dancer to:

a) have her photos on cassette tape covers

b) use a wide variety of props for theatrical effect

c) dance in America

d) dance to the music of Um Koulthum



7. Souhair Zaki was contemporaries with Nagua Fouad and they were

a) great friends

b) very competitive

c) very similar in style and costuming

d) both featured together in a duet



8. Who said "As she sings with her voice, you sing with your body" comparing Souhair Zaki to Um Kolthoum?

a) Egyptian President Mohammed Anwal Al Sadat

b) Composer Mohamed Abdel Wahab

c) US President Nixon

d) Um Koulthum herself, worded a little differently



9. Souhair Zaki was in

a) over 100 films

b) many starring roles as an actress & dancer

c) only a few films

d) the film "Beauty and the Scoundrel"



10. True or False: Souhair Zaki indirectly assisted the Egyptian government in acquiring arms from the Soviet Union.



11. In 1986 Souhair Zaki

a) began touring more internationally

b) began to teach workshops for the first time

c) had her first and only son

d) decided to take the hijab (the veil) and retire from dance



12. Souhair Zaki

a) recently passed away

b) is currently in retirement from all dance activities

c) teaches and performs every year at the Ahlan We Sahlan festival in Cairo, Egypt



13. Name 3 or more attributes of Souhair Zaki's dance style and whether you think they are positive or negative:





14. Name 3 pieces of music that Souhair Zaki danced to and albums you can find them each on:

ooooh, fun! I didn't realize I could choose more than one answer to a question, I got a little confused trying to pick just one sometimes.

This is the second quiz you've posted isn't it? I'd love to teach units on famous dancers, have discussions, show clips... I teach in 6 week sessions and I'd love to dedicate a session to a famous dancer or two... but what do you do with the dancing portion of the class? Is it unrelated to the dancer being studied? Or do you teach her signature moves, or a choreo in her style?

Fun quiz! I enjoyed it!

However, I was puzzled by your answer to question 12. Since 2003, I've gone to every Ahlan wa Sahlan festival every June except 2007 and she has not taught at any of those. I heard she taught at one before I started going, but to my knowledge it has been a long time since she has.

Originally Posted by *Shira*

Fun quiz! I enjoyed it!

However, I was puzzled by your answer to question 12. Since 2003, I've gone to every Ahlan wa Sahlan festival every June except 2007 and she has not taught at any of those. I heard she taught at one before I started going, but to my knowledge it has been a long time since she has.

That's good to know. I read she was teaching there every year. I guess that was bad information. I haven't had a chance to go to AwS.

Originally Posted by Lauren_

ooooh, fun! I didn't realize I could choose more than one answer to a question, I got a little confused trying to pick just one sometimes.

This is the second quiz you've posted isn't it? I'd love to teach units on famous dancers, have discussions, show clips... I teach in 6 week sessions and I'd love to dedicate a session to a famous dancer or two... but what do you do with the dancing portion of the class? Is it unrelated to the dancer being studied? Or do you teach her signature moves, or a choreo in her style?

yep, I posted one on Samia Gamal earlier. I teach in 6 week sessions too. What we did for the dancing portion of the class was just like you suggested, we learn signature moves, which we then put in the context of a choreography in the dancers style, then we identify other qualities and nuances from that dancer and explore some of those, and finally we prepare our own solos drawing inspiration from our famous dancer.

Originally Posted by shems

yep, I posted one on Samia Gamal earlier. I teach in 6 week sessions too. What we did for the dancing portion of the class was just like you suggested, we learn signature moves, which we then put in the context of a choreography in the dancers style, then we identify other qualities and nuances from that dancer and explore some of those, and finally we prepare our own solos drawing inspiration from our famous dancer.

This is brilliant! I'm always looking for new ways to give a cohesive theme to studying technique, I hope you don't mind if I 'borrow' some of your ideas.

Originally Posted by Lauren_

This is brilliant! I'm always looking for new ways to give a cohesive theme to studying technique, I hope you don't mind if I 'borrow' some of your ideas.

be my guest.

Originally Posted by *Shira*

Fun quiz! I enjoyed it!

However, I was puzzled by your answer to question 12. Since 2003, I've gone to every Ahlan wa Sahlan festival every June except 2007 and she has not taught at any of those. I heard she taught at one before I started going, but to my knowledge it has been a long time since she has.

She taught at AWS the previous two years which I attended both times. The classes were wonderful for the opportunity to see her dance/move in person.

I'm a S.Z. fan and actually did pretty well on the quiz.(it was fun) and learned more about her. Thanks for posting