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Taheyya Karioka (Badaweya Mohamed Kareem Al Nirani) Born in Ismaileya,
Egypt, to a good and respected family.
As a teenager, and due to family differences that could not be
settled with her brothers, she moved to Cairo to stay with an
old neighbour from her home town by the name of Mrs. Suad Mahasen,
who was a night club owner and an artist in her own right. She
knocked on her door to ask her for help finding employment in
her nightclub, never imagining that she would put her to an artistic
job, as she had never known what art was and had never seen an
artistic performance in her life previously. Suad Mahasen refused
to put the young pretty girl from her hometown to that kind of
nightlife and kept her as her guest at her house however, she
was seen by many of Sound's artistic friends who advised her to
add her as a chorus girl in her band, but once again, she refused.
The news of the young girl from Ismaileya were brought to the
club attention of Madam Badeia Masabny, the owner of the biggest
night club in Cairo and she requested to meet her. Several musical
agents approached the young Taheyya and introduced her to Madam
Masabny, who offered her a job in the club right away. Taheyya
asked permission from her, now auntie Souad Mahasen, to join the
Masabny troupe, and what a better opportunity to work with the
Dean Of Egyptian Dance. The young Taheyya was originally given
the stage name of Taheyya Mohamed, but as she grew more popular
in the club and was given various solo spots, she attracted many
regular admiring clients, particularly after she excelled at the
newly imported Brasilian dance of Carmen Miranda ( The KARIOKA),
after which dance she was named.
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The name Taheyya Karioka became very famous and attracted a
high level of attention to this growing beautiful dancer, who
was humorous, pretty, had a good singing voice, a charming character
and personality, and was becoming one of the formidable dancers
in the team of Badeia Masabny, And the gates to the heavenly success
were opened to the young girl from Ismaileya.
This all took place in the early 1940's, during the Second World
War. This used to be a period of economic affluence in the Egyptian
cinema industry, were the nightlife was flourishing and the cinema
industry grew to a golden age never been equalled in the history
of the Egyptian cinema.
And despite all the air raids and the siren warnings, the people
knew that whatever happens, it can't harm them, and so they lived
it up.
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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 after which she was asked to sing and dance, then
sing, dance and act, and before too long she was performing many
leading roles in the top films. During which time Taheyya was
very cautious to keep her work at Badiea's night club and various
other night clubs that became famous in that period of time and
the applause grew louder, and the Audience admiration grew bigger
and Taheyya was getting more and more addicted to the drug of
fame and fortune, something that only a performing artist can
understand the delightful joy of taking the applause from an enthralled
audience.
An offer from three famous colleagues in the cinema industry,
the director Hessein Fawzy and the two film stars Hessein Sedqui
and Anwar Wagdy, to form a production company using their own
finances.
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The company was formed under the name of (Sharikat Al Shabab
meaning The Youth Company) and they produced two films: 1. Aheb
El Ghalat (I love Being Wrong) & Aheb El Baladi (I Love the Baladi)
after which the company was disbanded and they each, except Taheyya
started his own production company. But when the director Hessein
Fawzy made his new film (NADOUGA) (a Tarzan / like story that
took place in a jungle), he invited his friend from their previous
company to star in it, something that guaranteed box office sales.
But this was not the only film that Taheyya acted in that had
the Tarzan story in it, another film by the name of "Princess
Of The Island" in which she shared the leading role with the heart
throb of that era, Kamal El Shennawy, and was directed By the
late Hassan Ramzy who later on became the head of the cinema industry's
Chamber of Commerce and the producer and director of many famous
Egyptian Films and the uncle of yours truly (Hossam Ramzy).
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Before we get too carried away with Taheyya's success as a cinema
and theatre actress as well as a high society lady, we must return
to her artistry in dance. By the approval of all the people in
the music and dance industry who absolutely all agree and confirm
that Taheyya had refined the dance of Egypt to a previously never
matched artistic level to be compared to those arts admired by
the highest level of society, and those who are considered to
be the creators of Egyptian music as we know it today, have all
confirmed that Taheyya has added to this ancient art form, in
which she believed in to be not only a dance of expression, deeply
felt emotions and refined spiritual feelings.
Taheyya has been known to have commented on the fact that in
ancient Egyptian time, as proven by the writings on the walls
of the temples, that our dance was used as a form of worship to
the gods.
Taheyya's acclaimed fame made her the centre of attraction in
the social parties of the high royal society of Egypt and prior
to the Egyptian revolution on the 23rd of July 1952; she used
to be the speaking hostess of the national official celebrations
as well as the private royal parties. Helped by her fluent command
of both the English and French languages, she used to be very
able to hold her position amongst the foreign invited dignitary,
helped by her comprehensive library, which she read and educated
herself to be a very eloquent and cultured artist that she was.
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It is impossible to list the names of the hundreds of dancers
who learned either directly or indirectly from either working
with, or by absorbing the amazing artistic style of Taheyya.
A personal and sad touch to Taheyya's life was the fact that despite
her various marriages to various top star actors and business
men, she was unable to conceive and become a mother, something
which saddened her to her final days, but this made her very involved
with the children of her brothers and the rest of the family as
well as the supporting and sponsoring of various children's charities
and orphans houses.
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Taheyya was awarded numerous awards in the cinema industry as
well as in the field of theatre and by the new government of Egypt,
but the best award she has ever received was the love and appreciation,
respect and dedication of her loving audience worldwide, even
after her sad departure, here I am writing about her and here
you are reading it…
With Lots Of Rhythm
Hossam Ramzy
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