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

An interesting thing about this advertisement is that it shows Houriya Mohamed was still dancing at Badia's club in 1935. As of July 1936, Houriya had formed her own entertainment company and left Badia's troupe.

Houriya Mohamed and Taheya Carioca didn't like each other. Several articles have reported that Taheya Carioca learned quite a bit about dance by watching Houriya Mohamed, who was one of Badia's main dancers when Taheya arrived in 1933.

When Badia began to show special kindness towards Taheya, Houriya became infuriated and reportedly cut up Taheya's first and brand new belly dance costume. When confronted with the act of vandalism, Houriya claimed it had been her mother who cut the costume, and she sent her mother back to her village. But most people believed it was Houriya herself who did it. 

ABOUT THE PHOTO: Houriya Mohamed poses with Emad Hamdi for famous Armenian-Egyptian photographer Van Leo.

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

Photo Caption

Madame Badia Masabni

The Descriptive Text

Badia Masabni Troupe

The Greatest Egyptian Show Troupe

60 Actors, Actresses and Singers

Casino Badia at Emad El Din Street Telephone 45312

Beginning on Thursday February 7 and the following Days 

Presents:

Play:

He Who Forgives Is Kind
One Act,
Written by El Oustaz Bade3 Khayri

Sketch:

Apis The Calf
A Historical Pharaonic Show with Egyptian Sets and Costumes,
Written by El Oustaz Abou El Se3oud El Ebiary
Composed by the Maestro El Oustaz Farid Ghosn

Sketch:

The National Taxi
A Comedy Show With Humorous Comedy Situations And Surprises,
Written by El Oustaz Mahmoud El Touni

Play:

The Firemen Squad
A Musical Dance Skit With Deluxe Sets and Costumes
Written by El Oustaz Abou el Se3oud El Ebiary
Composed by the Maestro Farid Ghosn

Humorous Monologues by the Sha'abi Monologist Fathya Mahmoud

Humorous Monologues by the Beloved Monologist Sayed Suleiman

Participating In All The Plays, The Leading Innovator Of The East:

Madame Badia Masabni

Mohamed Kamal El Masri,
Fahmi Aman,
Mahmoud El Touni,
Fouad el Gazayrley,
Mohamed Abdel Moutaleb,
Sayed Fawzy,
Farid El Atrash,
Mahmoud Kamel,
Hekmet Fahmy,
Houriya Mohamed,
The Blonde Layla,
Karima Ahmed,
Khayria Sadki,
Hekmet Kamel,
Soad Fahmy,
Kawsar Farid,
Gina Markisian,
Adina Glory,
Gamalat Hassan,
Mimi El Saghiera,
Noussa Ahmed

NOTA BENE: Every Tuesday a Daytime Performance For Women and Every Sunday and Friday a Daytime Performance for the General Public at 6:30 pm

• 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.