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Born on the 7th of October 1932
in Tanta on the Nile Delta to the Akef family. A famous circus
where the whole family participated whether in performance or
preparation, young and
old alike. The Akef Circus was famous with it's animal training
and taming of the wild ones and cunning tricks with the not so
tame, as well as amazing dance performances and acrobatic extravaganza
shows.
This is the family atmosphere in which Naima Akef was born and
raised, indicating a unique star being developed in this appropriate
and ideal surroundings to be brought up in.
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The Akef family were based in
Cairo in the Bab El Khalq district however they travelled across
the whole country as well as most of the world on their tours
especially Russia in 1957 where Naima presented her dancing in
a and international youth festival there and won the first prize
for best dancer in the whole festival in which dancers from over
50 countries performed. A photo commemorating that prise winning
exists on the walls of the Bolshoi Theatre's Hall Of Fame.
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Naima's grandfather, Ismail Akef
who was the gymnasium teacher and trainer in the Egyptian Police
Academy created the Akef circus after his retirement. Ismail took
Naima under his wings, having recognized her talent as a dancer
and performer since a very young age and helped her shape her
uniqueness into a historic artist who rose the heights of stardom
within the Egyptian cinema. Naima was first discovered for the
cinema by the director Abbas Fawzy who presented her to his brother
the also director Hessein Fawzy who realised Naima's natural talent
for the screen and gave her a leading role the first time she
ever appeared on the screen in the film "El Eish Wel Malh"
(The Bread and Salt {{ in Egypt once people have broken bread
together, i.e. eaten together it is considered sacrilege to digress
against the unspoken oath of loyalty, El Eish Wel Malh, the bread
and salt}} ). Naima starred in that film with the singer Saad
Abdel Wahab, the cousin of the legendary singer and composer Mohammed
Abdel Wahab. the film was a great hit and it was also a big success
for Nahhas Film Studios where it was filmed as the very first
production there. This was a brilliant start for the young Naima
who had various dance routines in the film which she was very
careful to present in all her future films side by side to her
leading acting and singing role.
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After her first film, Naima's
success in her films came one after the other like "Lahalibo"
[how does one translate that] (The one who is so hot that he is
the fiery equivalent of Speedy Gonzales), "Baladi We Kheffa"
(Baladi and light hearted), "Baba Aaris" (My dad is
the Bride's Groom), "Noor Oyouni" (The Light Of My Eyes).
This one came after Naima presented a dance sketch with legendary
Dr. Mahmoud Reda, creator and dancer of the Reda Troupe. The sketch
was called "Leil We Ein" (Instead of saying Leil Ya
Ein as they sing in the Egyptian Mawwals [Laments]. Leil, being
the night, and Ein being the eyes that are spending the night
without a wink, thinking of the beloved. The sketch was done or
the Egyptian Arts Council.
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Naima's film credits extended
further than that to appear in the following films "Forigat"
(At last it eased off), "Fataah Wel Sirk" (A Girl and
the Circus), "El Nemr" (The Tiger), "Halawet El
Hob" (The sweetness of love), "Gannah We Nar" (A
heaven and a hell), "Melyon Geneih" (A million pounds),
"Arbaa Banat We Zabet" (4 girls and an officer), "Madraset
El Banat" (The Girl's School), "Tamr Henna" this
is the name of an Egyptian flower, which was Naima's name in the
film, "Aziza" and "Ahebbak Ya Hassan" (I love
you Hassan).
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Egyptian dancing ran wild in the
blood veins of Naima. It was her first love and best way of self
expression and she used her circus life and performance as a launching
platform for her dancing as well as trying and presenting new
ideas, choreographies and music. She never cut short any corners
as far as expenses, training or costuming for herself or for her
chorus dancers or singers and performers who accompanied her in
her shows. She was very conscious about her weight and kept under
strict control so that she maintained her young and supple figure
and looks. Naima even sacrificed the motherly pleasures of having
her own children until she gave birth just before her departure
from our world.
The experts of Egyptian dance are certain that Naima was not affected
by the styles of other dancers, but created her own unique style
and had her personal feel of dance interpretation to Egyptian
music to the point of creating THE NEW on stage and in rehearsals.
Very often, Naima choreographed her own routines, but was very
famous for being a very obedient to her trainers and technical
advisers and choreographers.
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In the world of art, of that era
in Egypt, Naima was very famous for her friendliness, kindness
and helpfulness to all her close friends and associates as well
as her film crew and members of the same film set. Never selfish,
and would always put others before herself. There is a famous
story of one day on a film set, after a very exhausting morning
of filming on a lunch and rest break, Naima noticed that a fellow
dancer in the film was struggling with an acrobatic move that
she had to make and was clearly having difficulty executing that
move, which had to be filmed straight after the break. Instead
of taking her lunch an her very needed rest, Naima went to the
girl, showed her how the step should be really done with ease,
and did it for her many times and trained and coached her until
she did it successfully to the delight of the girl and the massive
almost none stop applause of all the film crew, actors and director
alike.
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Naima rarely ever danced in nightclubs
but more through her films and theatre dance tableaux's which
she regularly organised in Egypt as well as abroad. Those were
not purely Egyptian dance performances, but more of a free expression
and more of a music and dance extravaganza. She used movement
to express emotion and feelings, gestures, direct or indirect,
with bodily expression which was a witness of Naima's wide range
of artistic talent and body suppleness agility and physique.
Naima was very proud of her success which she achieved on her
own merit and without having to slug it in the night clubs for
a long time. She recalls how when her mother and father split
up, she formed an acrobatic and clown act that performed in many
clubs until she got the chance to work in Badeia Masabny's famous
nightclub, in which, the young Naima shined like a star and was
one of the very few who danced and sang.
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Naima also recalls how being favoured by Badeia caused major
jealousy in the hearts of other chorus dancers in the club until
one day they ganged up on her and beat her up but because of her
strength and agility she managed to defend herself and beat them
up instead. But as those dancers were the source of good income
for Badeia, Naima was fired from the club and went to work in
the other famous night spot, The KIT KAT Club, where she met the
film director Abbas Kamel, who introduced her to his brother,
who was also a film director, Hessein Fawzy, famous for his musicals
show films. This partnership was a big success for them both and
hey got married for nine years, but without any children. A few
years after that divorce, Naima married her accountant to whom
she gave a son who worked in the field of music.
As Naima entered the history books of Egyptian dance as one of
it's innovative, creative and renewing dancers, she also entered
the history book of Egyptian cinema as the first woman to star
in the very first full colour film in Egypt "Baba Aaris"
(My father is the bride's groom) directed by her first husband
Hessein Fawzy in 1951.
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