Tahia Carioca

Biography:

Tahiya was born in Ismaileya in Egypt in 1915, but after falling out with her father as a young teenager she moved to Cairo.  It was here that she met Badia Masabni, the owner of the Casino Opera, the biggest nightclub in town.
When she started dancing, Tahiya was originally given the stage name of Tahiya Mohamed.  She became famous for dancing the South American dance of Carmen Miranda and her name was changed to Tahiya Carioca.

This all took place in the 1930’s and early 1940's, during the Second World War. This time was a period of economic affluence in the Egyptian cinema industry, were the nightlife was flourishing and the cinema industry grew to a golden age that has never been equalled in the history of the Egyptian cinema.  During that time there used to be no less than 150 film production companies in Egypt, each producing a minimum of three films per season, and the most popular theme at the time was the comedy dance musicals that really entertained the people and made them forget the heaviness of the ongoing war.

This created the ideal climate for Taheyya Karioka who was in constant demand to dance in these movies and before too long she was performing many leading roles in the top films. Taheyya was very cautious to keep her work at Badia's nightclub.

Tahia went on to form the production company Sharikat Al Shabab (meaning The Youth Company) with three collegues; the director Hessein Fawzy and the two film stars Hessein Sedqui and Anwar Wagdy.  They produced two films; “Aheb El Ghalat” (I love Being Wrong) and “Aheb El Baladi” (I Love the Baladi) after which the company disbanded.

Tahia continued to star in Egyptian movies, including “Nadouga”, a Tarzan like story directed by Hessein Fawzy.  She became the most famous dancer in Egypt and was a favourite of King Farouk prior to the revolution in 1952.  She was an intellectual woman who could speak fluent French and English and had an extensive library.  She became active in politics and as a result was arrested and jailed after the revolution.

Despite her many marriages to famous actors and successful business men, Tahia never had any children of her own.  She was instead very involved with her nieces and nephews and supported many children’s charities and orphanages.

Tahia Carioca died in 1999 of a heart attack after devoting her last years to Islam.

See Tahia Dance:

This is a clip from an Egyptian movie starring Tahia Carioca and Samia Gamal. In this clip, Tahia dances while Samia watches in the wings. Look out for the obligatory creepy man ogling Samia!

Resources:
http://www.hossamramzy.com/stars/starsofegypt_taheyya.htm
http://www.gobellydance.com/TahiaCarioca.html
http://www.belly-dance.org/tahia-carioca.html

Videos & DVDs:
“The Legends Of Belly Dance (1947 - 1976)” Ref: FDDVD854 (www.aladdinscave.com)
“The Stars of Egypt – Volume 2” (http://www.hossamramzy.com/videos/stars-tk.htm)