PHOTO CREDIT: Above photo by John Rickman Photography, San Jose, California.

Editor's Note: The source where this advertisement was found did not identify the publication where it appeared or the date. It probably appeared sometime between 1932 and 1936.

For the 1930 and 1931 summer seasons, Badia Masabni's ads for her summer nightclub identified the location as being near "The Blind Bridge", which is shown in the photo to the right. Starting in 1932, Badia started referring to the location by one of the bridge's other names, "The English Bridge." The ad translated on this page refers to the bridge as "The English Bridge", which suggests that it was published sometime after 1931.

Because this ad mentions that Imtithal Fawzy was in the cast, it must have appeared before June, 1936. Imtihal Fawzy was murdered on May 22, 1936.

ABOUT THE PHOTO: The photo shows a closeup of Badia Masabni's face.

Click on the image below to see the advertisement in more detail.

Badia's Garden

At the English Bridge Casino in Giza

Singing by the famous Singers

Play: Zaghrouta Ya Habaiab
A Comedy Written by El Oustaz Saleh Effendi Saudi

Carnival NICE a great show with special Costumes

Madame Badia Masabni,
El Oustaz Beshara Wakim,
Miss Negma,
Fahmi Aman,
Hussein Ibrahim,
Ezat el Gahli,
Mezay Troupe with 18 dancers

Zozo Labeb,
Imtithal Fawzy,
Karima Ahmed,
Hekmet Fahmy,
Mimi Martins,
Fathya Ismail

Dance: Marrakesh Houriyat [heavenly creatures from Marrakesh]

Daily Performances:
Tuesdays for Women,
Sunday and Friday for Everyone at 7:00 pm

Caption Under the Picture:

Madame Badia Masabni

• About the English Bridge. Background information about the English Bridge and the Cairo tradition of moving the theater groups to different locations for the summer.
• Imtithal Fawzy, the Murder of a Beautiful Dancer. By Priscilla Adum. Background about one of the dancers, Imtithal Fawzy, who was mentioned in this ad.

• Hekmet Fahmy: Profile of a Spy. By Priscilla Adum. Background about one of the dancers, Hekmet Fahmy, who was mentioned in this ad.
• Articles and Advertisements Featuring Badia Masabni and Her Businesses. An index to other resources on this web site.

Priscilla is a dancer of Lebanese heritage who enjoys researching the Golden Era of Egyptian dance. She owns a collection of more than one hundred classic black and white Egyptian films which is continually expanding.

Priscilla has also gathered a large library of dance related articles and clippings from Middle Eastern magazines and newspapers, many of which she has translated from the original Arabic to both English and Spanish.

Priscilla currently resides in Central America where she is a dance instructor.