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PHOTO CREDIT: Above photo by John Rickman Photography, San Jose, California. |
Belly Dancers in the Movies
Maria's List, Part 3 of 3: Others
This page is based on a list compiled by Maria in Boulder, Colorado. See the bottom of the page for a profile of her. It originally appeared on her former web site, which was titled "Boulder Bellygrams". After she discontinued that web site, she granted permission for her list to be published here on Shira.net.
The column titled "To Buy" links to pages on Amazon.com (U.S.), Amazon.ca (Canada), and Amazon.co.uk (U.K.) that sell the movie on DVD. By using these links to purchase the DVD's, you will cause a small commission to be paid to Shira, which helps her cover the costs of providing Shira.net.
On this page:
- Movies from the Middle East and North Africa
- Movies from Other Parts of the World
- Alleged to Contain "Middle Eastern" Dance, But Don't
- Need Further Research
Elsewhere on Shira.net:
- Maria's List, Parts 2 & 3
- Maria's List, Part 1. U.S. Movies.
- Maria's List, Part 2. British & European Movies.
- Egyptian Movies with Dance Scenes. By Shira and Maria.
- Cartoons with "Middle Eastern Dance" Scenes. By Shira.
- Mini-Reviews of Movies with "Middle Eastern" Themes. By Shira.
- Full-Length Reviews of Movies with "Middle Eastern" Themes. By Shira.
Middle Eastern
& North African Movies
This section lists movies made in countries of the Middle East and North Africa other than Egypt.
Movie Title |
Year |
Dancer |
To Buy |
Comments |
| Ah Ya Leil Ya Zaman (Ah! Night Time) | 1977 |
Azza Sherif, Safaa Yusri, Liza | Egyptian. Directed by Ali Reda (Mahmoud Reda's brother) | |
| Alf Bouss wa Boussa (Thousand and One Kisses) | 1977 |
Nagwa Fouad and Yousra | Egyptian. Stars Nagwa Fouad and Hussein Fahmy. | |
| Assefa ala Petraa (Storm Over Petra) | Jordanian | |||
| Azab Fouk Shefah Tabtism, al- (Suffering on Smiling Lips) | 1974 |
Egyptian. Stars Nagwa Ibrahim and Mahmoud Yassin. | ||
| Darga al-Talta, Al- (Third Class) | 1988 |
Egyptian. Stars Soad Hosny and Ahmed Zaki. | ||
| Entkheb Dr. Soliman (Vote for Dr. Suleiman) | 1978 |
Egyptian. Candelabrum scene. Stars Adel Emam and Madiha Kamel. | ||
| Maan Yhoutfi'a al Nar (Who Will Put Out the Fire?) | 1983 |
Lebanese | ||
| Mill, The | Turkish | |||
| Millianara, al- (Millionairess, The) | 1965 |
Lebanese movie | ||
| Ngham fi Hayati (Melody in my Life) | 1975 |
Lebanese. Stars Farid al-Atrache and Mervat Amin. | ||
| Noor Ey Eini | Fifi Abdo | Egyptian | ||
| Orchard of Love | Lebanese | |||
| Paris wa-l-Hob (Paris and Love) | 1972 |
Lebanese | ||
| Poor But Happy | Egyptian | |||
| Sah al Nom | Syrian | |||
| Samt el Qusur (Silences of the Palace) | 1994 |
Tunisian film. | ||
| Satin Rouge (Red Satin) | 2002 |
Hiam Abbass | Tunisian & French | |
| Shafiqa wa Metwal (Shafiqa and Metwal) | 1979 | Might have been Azza Sharif, needs confirmation | Egyptian movie, stars Soad Hosni and Ahmed Zaki | |
| Tahyatii Le Ostazzi al Aziz (Regards to My Dear Professor) | 1980 |
Egyptian | ||
| Thieves | Egyptian | |||
| Wake Up Happy | Syrian | |||
| Words of Love | Lebanese |
Movies From Other Parts of the World
Movie Title |
Year |
Dancer |
To Buy |
Comments |
| Accidental Spy, The | 2001 |
Hong Kong movie, original title in Chinese is Dak Miu Mai Shing. No belly dancing, but a scene with Turkish-style whirling dervishes | ||
| My Mother Is a Belly Dancer | 2006 |
Hong Kong movie, original title in Chinese is Seelai Ng Yi Cho. | ||
| Prem Rog | 1982 |
Movie from India. 1 1/2-minute belly dance scene |
Movies That Some People Claim
Contain Belly Dance
The movies listed below have appeared on some other people's lists as allegedly containing "belly dance" scenes. However, they don't.
Movie Title |
Year |
To Buy |
Comments |
| After the Fox | 1966 | Italian movie, originally titled Caccia Alla Volpe. Stars Peter Sellers. sister of thief stands out in desert with underwear on, but wearing a veil. No dancing. Maria included it on her list because she is a great fan of the movie, and one of her web site visitors recommended adding it. Thanks Steve! | |
| Glass Bottom Boat | 1966 |
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Rod Taylor's character fantasizes for 5-10 seconds about Doris Day's character being Mata Hari. Some people have called this a "belly dance" scene because the Mata Hari costume vaguely resembles a belly dance bra/belt costume. However, the fantasy scene involves no dancing at all, and Mata Hari had nothing to do with belly dancing. |
| Samson & Delilah | 1949 |
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The only dance scene in this movie is a pair of men dancing with swords and shields. However, in one scene Delilah wears a fabulous dress made of Egyptian tulle bi telli (assuit) fabric. Read Shira's mini-review or vote in the opinion poll. |
Needing Further Research
The movies in this section appeared in Maria's original list, but Shira encountered difficulties in verifying this information against the movie listings in The Internet Movie Database at www.imdb.com.
Title on Maria's Original List |
Comments |
| Crimson Pirate, The | Maria's original list mentioned Maureen O'Hara in connection with this movie. However, the entry in imdb does not show Maureen O'Hara as being in the cast of this movie. |
| Jungle Book, The | Maria's original list said there was a belly dancer at the beginning of the 1985 version. However, Shira was not able to find a version of The Jungle Book on imdb that would have been released around that time. |
| Music In Your Heart | Imdb does not contain a movie by this title, but there is a movie titled Music in My Heart from 1940. Unclear whether these are the same movie. |
| Penny Arcade | Maria's original list included the comments "the original movie of The Projectionist - dancers Morocco and Zafrana". The only entry by this title in imdb is for a movie that was released in 1942, which was long before Morocco's dance career began. Therefore, it is unclear whether this movie has dancing, and if so, who did it. |
| Return of the Exile | Maria's original list included this title with the comment "Cirocco/Shelley Schlueter". However, Shira has not been able to find this movie title listed in imdb. |
| Three Stooges Join the Foreign Legion, The | Imdb does not list a movie by this title. It may be that the person who told Maria about this movie was referring to Wee Wee Monsieur, which is a Three Stooges short subject about them joining the Foreign Legion. |
About Maria
The list of movies on this page was compiled by Maria over the course of several years, and used to reside on her own web site. After she discontinued her web site, she granted permission to Shira to place it here on Shira.net so that it wouldn't be lost to the dance community.
Maria is a retired professional belly dancer and flamenco dancer from the Boulder, Colorado area. She was one of the main dancers at the House of Marrakesh in LODO Denver and the former Mataam Fez in Boulder. Maria taught bellydance to hundreds of students in the Boulder area. She was also Director of World Dance at former dance studio "Dance West". As former Event Manager for Boulder Creek Events, she coordinated and scheduled high profile Boulder events such as the "Boulder Community Dance Stage" at the Boulder Creek Festiva for nine years. Maria was previously owner of Boulder BellyGrams by Maria, a successful entertainment company. Maria also co-founded a storytelling/musican/dance troupe called "Ziva Dunya" ("bright world"), developing a program "Tales & Rhythms from the Middle East" which they brought to schools, multicultural festivals, senior centers, etc., to great acclaim. To contact Maria, visit her "tribe" on the Tribe.net web site. PHOTO CREDIT: This dramatic skirt photo was taken by Fritz Penning. |
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Maria has also worked with Broomfield Heights Middle School from 2000 to 2008, as a choreographer for the after school Dance Club Program. Maria has also been invited as a guest speaker/performer for the "Art Café" which had its premier at the Colorado Art Expo 2003. Maria has also been invited as guest dancer/teacher at women’s retreats, women’s events, and other cultural events in and around the country. Maria has now retired from dance in order to pursue her education to become a Registered Nurse (RN). She is diligently studying and working as a nurse assistant while she pursues her degree. Click on either of these two photos of Maria to see the image in more detail. |
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