Thread: Bellydance: The deadly art?

Last week a movie titled 'Imtithal' was shown on tv here in Qatar. The film's based on the life and death of Egyptian bellydancer Imtithal Fawzi.
One evening in May 1936 Imtithal Fawzi, a popular bellydancer and singer of the time, was performing her regular act in the Bosphorus Nightclub (Casino al-Busfur) in Cairo when the lights in the nightclub suddenly went out. Confusion reigned in the darkness and when the lights were turned back on club goers were shocked to see Imtithal Fawzi lying on stage dying from stab wounds. Later investigation showed that she had been killed by a gang for failing to meet their demands for protection money. A full description of the events can be found at http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/compara...24.1lopez.html
'Imtithal' was released in 1972 and starred Magda al Kahtib, Adel Adham and Nour al Sherif.
Here are the dance scenes from the movie including in Part 3 a 'teeth dance' that I'd only ever seen done in Greek nightclubs, I didn't know that some Egyptian dancers had this in their repertoire.
Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Wow. Thank you for sharing. So much in these clips, need to digest for a bit!

Fascinating . Thanks for that!

Originally Posted by TheCaroVan

Here are the dance scenes from the movie including in Part 3 a 'teeth dance' that I'd only ever seen done in Greek nightclubs, I didn't know that some Egyptian dancers had this in their repertoire.

Princess Rajah does a similar dance in that 1904 clip Princess Rajah dance / American Mutoscope and Biograph Company. It's not clear what nationality she was, though.

That was interesting, even though it's apparent no expense was spared to accurately recreate 1936...

Epic!

Yes I have seen the chair dance of princess Raja, perhaps that is where they picked it up?
It was said this was just for Victorian tourists and that it was not traditionally done.

Anyone hear more on that?

Very interesting! Thanks so much for sharing!

Is it just me or do the women in these scenes look "trashier" than usual? Not that they aren't talented, especially the singer, I thought. But somehow they do come across as hooker-ish more than in many other clips I've seen. Is the scene meant to represent the lower-class "cabarets" of Egypt that we hear about?