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When
working at the Holiday Inn, again for Nagwa
Fouad, (while she made a film for two months), Tahia Carrioca
came back stage to compliment her on her show. Tahia said
it was nice to see a dancer using the classical technique, and
Asmahan told her the American dancers were big fans of her films.
The next opportunity was a two month contract at the Hayatt
El Salem, for Aisa Sheriffe. There was
one agency that was representing the dancers to the five star
hotels and they would call Asmahan to work for the stars because
her show was always successful. The hotel was responsible to
provide a show that the clientele liked and a guest could refuse
to pay the bill if the dancer was not the star or if they took
exception to the substitute.
The
Nile Hilton had a dancer, Mervat Badri,
who they wanted to replace. Asmahan was booked to substitute
and this was the first opportunity to secure a contract. All
the musicians know the working situations at all the hotels,
they know all the other musicians who are working with every
other dancer and they meet in the Mohammed Ali coffee shops and
share all the news and gossip every night. It is like a communication
center and everything good and bad gets passed on everynight,
all the news of the dancers experiences gets back to the other
dancers through the musicians. They are very loyal to the dancer
they work for if they like her. It is the most fantastic feeling
in the world to dance to the music of musicians who are playing
with their hearts and souls as well as their technique. The musicians
wanted Asmahan to get the contract and they had a rehearsal and
brought in some new musicians bringing the group up to twenty.
This was the best show she had ever produced.
After
working for two months at the Nile Hilton, the
call came from the empressario that the management had been coming
to the show and were so impressed they wanted to offer her a
contract. At the meeting in the office, the manager of the hotel,
Hassan Humza, was astonished that Asmahan was not Egyptian. He
was clearly upset that he would have to withdraw the offer of
a contract and admit that he was doing so because "she was
not Egyptian". A long and polite conversation followed where
her empressario said that if she could dance and look good enough
to impress the management and the audiences were all happy with
the show there should be no problem. But the management at this
time in 1981 would not accept a "Foreign Dancer". So
she danced another month at the hotel until they found someone
else. Then she decided to take a holiday job and took a two month
contract at the Sheraton Hurgada, which was on
the dead sea and a lovely, relaxing venue to take stock of the
situation. While there she met the Area Manager for Hilton Middle
East, and he offered her the star postion in a new hotel he was
building in the future the the Ramses Hilton.
Asmahan
had been the first foreign dancer to ever work the five star
hotels and after two years of dancing at least two shows a night
for seven nights a week she was exhausted and disenchanted. As
there was not a possibility of a contract at that time she decided
to return to London. This was 1982 and London was a fabulous
place to work. All the famous stars were performing, most of
them were Egyptian, but there were more international Arabic
performers from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and the Gulf. Beriut was
still in civil war, so the Middle Eastern tourists, businessmen
and diplomats used London as their city of choice for holidays,
shopping, business, finance, and political alliances. A few were
going to Geneva or Paris but London was by far the top city in
the world displaying Arabic music and dance after Cairo.
Many
new venues had opened including the Empress and
Elf Leila Wah Leila, which was the next
club where Asmahan was a feature dancer. Now she could do a costume
change and perform the sword dance as she had danced in Cairo
and had "a name". The vidette was Mona Said who
had returned from Cairo as well, the singers included Layla
Abdel Aziz, Fareg Abdel Karim, Salah Hassan,
and Mohamed Gamal. Magdi Houseini played his organ
solo. In the orchestra was Ibrahim el Minyawi (who had
been Asmahan's tabla player in Cairo), Ahmed Mouad, Shariffe
Zaki, Mamoud Rahsad and Ahmed el Hafauwi were
two musicians who had worked with Om Kalsum. Another beautiful
night club called Cave du Rois opened across
the street from the Ritz Hotel in Mayfair. Asmahan
was contacted by their agent to perform for a year. This club
was frequented by celebrities, and Omar Sharif was a customer.
The Star singer was Sabah the most famous Lebanese diva
of all time. Other singers included Fahed Bahlen, Isam
Raja, Tony Hana, Souad Mohamad, George Wsouf,
Ahmed Dowal, Naga Salem and Wadia Safie. The
videttes were Zizi Moustafa and Louisa. In the
orchestra was Abdel Aziz on kanoon, Emile Basali on
violin (who worked with Om Kalsum), Bashir Abdel Al on
nai, Sukar el Ghouri on accordian, and Ali Abdou Salem
on tabla. She did her costume change and the flute player
Sayed played mismar for her sword dance show. The scene
in London was very sophisticated and this program brought elegant
customers.
Next
Asmahan was contacted by the owner of many clubs internationally
to dance for a six month contract at Paradis du Liban
in Tunis. She had just comissioned Mohammed Salem
to write new music for her and he had composed a beautiful piece.
This would be the first time it would be peformed. The orchestra
was the National Radio Orchestra of Tunis and it was composed
of the best musicians in the country. The show was a great success
and they extended her contract by another two months.
Over
the next few years Asmahan produced a film in Cairo and London,
making all the costumes, having music recorded, scouting locations,
organizing props, and co-ordinating all the aspects of the project.
It was a personal project made on a modest budget with everything
done very resourcefully. It took several years to complete and
was shelved for years until the post production money could be
found. She designed and made costumes for other dancers and movie
stars. The most famous movie star in the Middle East, Nabila
Ebeid, had seen her photos at the studio of Bastet.
She asked to be introduced and ordered costumes for her upcoming
film: Al Raqassa wal Slyassi, where she played the role
of a dancer. While in Cairo working on the costumes for Nabila,
Asmahan was asked to dance at the Ramses Hilton Hotel.
She signed a contract and began producing a show for the summer
season. She was training with Madame Raqia Hassan who
choreographed her show. The music by Mohammed Salem was
used for the magencie. Mohammed Abdel Wahab had just written
Mein Ghere Lei, and it was included in the show. The sword dance
was of course for the finale. Asmahan made the costumes and Samasen
helped as creative consultant. The musicians included: Said
Saudi on tabla, Said Askar on accordian, Mohsen
Chairi on nai, Amar Abdel Salem on organ, and Hassan
Ein on mismar. The band leader was Hamada Abou Zara and
Safaa Farid was the singer. The show was very successful,
the other artists in the show were Alla Abdel Khallek and
Hendia. Now the hotels had booked singers into the five
star hotel shows, there were no show ballets. The singers brought
a different atmosphere into the shows, and people danced on the
stage like they did in night clubs. The year was 1990 and in
August Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. Business was not affected
and Cairo was very exciting, with George Bush coming for diplomatic
talks and then every Arab leader. But finally a few days before
the Jan 15th deadline for war to start, Asmahan left. The Gulf
War had begun.
Back
in London there was a serious recession, the Middle Eastern art
scene was at its all time low. Asmahan worked in Sagghi,
an elegant Persian club, and at GoGoush, another
Persian club. She sold some of her costumes and made the Pharoahic
costume for Nabila Ebeid for her film L'Auture.
Again
in 1995 Asmahan was signed to the Ramses Hilton Hotel.
She again made a new collection of costumes and worked with
Raqia Hassan for the choreography. There were two singers,
Amr el Ougami and Heba Hamid. The band leader was
Hamada Abou Zara and the musicians were: Sukar Artiste
on tabla, Mohamed Shedid on accordian, Wahed Asfour
on violin, Magdi Saber on organ, Samer Ibrihim
on kanoon, Fadil Morsi on nai and kalwah, Attia Abdel
Aziz on saxaphone, and Hassan Ein on mizmar. This
was a difficult atmosphere in Cairo with alot of problems with
Muslim Fundamentalists putting pressure on hotels, artists, musicians,
and government officials to stop all entertainment. There were
fewer customers and not the elegent, sophisticated, and classy
types like before. There were only ten hotel shows working on
the weekends, whereas in the past there were a least fifteen
hotels working seven nights a week. Many dancers were stopping
their work and taking the veil. There were poor prospects for
the future and after a year Asmahan decided to return to London.
Recently
she has performed for the Conservative Party, the British Egyptian
Society, British Museum, Egyptian Ministry of Tourism, Turkish
Ministry of Tourism, The British Red Cross, Alabina at the Shepherds
Bush Empire, Vitality Exhibition, and at society weddings at
the major hotels. |
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