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

NARRATOR: [As clips of her films are shown] "Taheya Carioca was the first leading lady of the opening screening of 'CineClub' that opened in Garden City recently, a committee established by intellectuals and journalists for the purpose of screening documentary films and discussing them in a different way."

"This was very clear from the beginning, given their choice of invitees, the ideas that were discussed, their choice of screening the film 'Carioca' by the Lebanese director Nabeha Lotfi."

NABIHA LOFTI: [the film's director (wearing a black dress] "The reason I thought of doing a film about Taheya Carioca, of course has to do with her being an exemplary and incredible dancer and also an exemplary actress. And I think as an actress, perhaps she was even more exemplary than as a dancer, but in both she was really gifted. But what really drew me to making this film about Taheya Carioca was Taheya Carioca the human being, the one who did all these things, danced, acted, and had a role. even a role in the history of Egypt, a big national role, her relationship with others, her love of people. There were so many factors that made me love to do a film about Taheya Carioca."

NARRATOR: "The discussions that were inspired by the film were very timely, especially with the announcement by a number of directors that Taheya Carioca will be the star of the forthcoming Ramadan in series either based on her life or in series taken from her famous films."

MOHAMED EL ADL: [a film producer] "My wish is that this movie is screened far and wide so that we can give direction to the people writing about her life and making the drama serials about Taheya Carioca, because i think my personal view is not just to write about her as a dancer because to do so is like a crime against Egypt's history."

RAJAA GEDAWWY [Taheya's niece] "For this reason, I want to say to those who want to write her biography that they should approach the matter carefully."

NARRATOR: "Without introductions, the writer and director of the documentary recalled that there was a major artist in Egypt known as Taheya Carioca who filled the artistic scene with many works over a span of long years, as the film 'Carioca' tells us."

MOHAMED AMIN AL ALEM: "In my opinion, her dancing involved more beauty than arousal, and had more meaning than show. I used to feel it was not just her body dancing, it's her personality and feelings that are dancing as if she was telling us a story with her body, a human story that has harshness, softness and elegance as if she were an actress [acting it] Our feelings towards her weren't sexual ones."

RAGAA GEDAWWY: "She used to dance without arousing base instincts."

MOHAMED AMIN AL ALEM: "She used to arouse, but she aroused imagination, admiration, and a sense of a human that is full of mirth."

RAGAA GEDAWWY: "She used to dance without looking towards the audience, but looking down, as if she were dancing for something inside her."

MOHAMED AL ADEL: "Taheya Carioca wasn't just an actress who danced, or a dancer who acted, but a person who had embodied a phase of Egyptian history."

GAMAL ZAYDA: "Taheya Carioca played a role in the national events of 1952 and had her political views. She was not simply a dancer, it was more complex than that. She personified a cross-section of Egyptians during the 20th century."

KHAWLA MATAR: "Sometimes a strong woman is seen as perhaps intimidating, but in this case we saw the beautfiul strong woman, beautiful in her strength, able to express her thoughts, her personality. Even her political stances that were related to Egypt and Arab nationalism and the Palestinian issue, were ones that she felt a part of her character — not stances that she was taught or fed, it was her character, her personality. The young revolutionaries who were working with the Feda'eeyeen, the guerillas, used to hide their weapons in the trunk of Taheya's car and she used to meet them down at Ismailia to deliver their weapons."

SALAH ISSA: "One of the more interesting chapters in Taheya's life was her interrogation in 1954 in the National Front case. Interesting and strange, the issue related to the Wafd Front and a communist organization that was known at the time as 'The Democratic Movement for National Liberation'. From what I saw of her case files, it wasn't attached to her files and there was no crime or accusation in the file I read. She had been jailed pending an investigation and she went voluntarily to prison but there was no charge or accusation leveled against her. Taheya Carioca stayed in jail for around three months, until Abdel Nasser found it too excessive. Iit had gone too far, particularly as other artists could not stomach this matter."

SUN'ALLAH IBRAHIM: "She wasn't a member of anything, but she was a sympathizer and I imagine that if she took any actions, it was out of a feeling of gallantry. Suspicions about Taheya's involvement in the case were linked to her participation in a Youth Conference in Bucharest and Egyptian groups and artists were participating. Among them was Tahia Carioca, and Mustafa Sidqi was one of the supporters. Taheya went and danced at the conference, and bewitched everyone."

NARRATOR: "The documentary includes rare footage and clips of the late Taheya as well as anecdotes and stories."

NABIHA LOTFI [Director]: "There are pictures that were of her from the Youth Conference in Bucharest that are riveting, pictures I think from 1952 or 1953. These pictures were taken by Ahmed El Hadari, the intellectual and cinema analyst. He was in London and travelled to Bucharest where he took a great deal of film footage of the festival. Taheya was present there and she did a wonderful thing over there. People really were impressed and taken by her dancing. What was special about these clips is that they were taken on 8mm film, and when he heard that I was doing this movie he told me, "I have this footage," and we had to really look to find an 8mm projector. We were able to transfer this to the film, a really excellent sample of archival footage."

NARRATOR: "Taheya Carioca remains the premiere Egyptian dancer, and perhaps the last. She is the name that comes first to mind as a reference about Egyptian dancing in the 20th century and she possessed a personal charisma also in addition to her exemplary artistry that sparkled as much as her imprints on arts and politics."

AUDIENCE MEMBER: "She combined so many traits that are rarely found in one person. She was very beautiful and had such a light and witty spirit and was talented in everything she did. She was honest, whether in her acting or personal actions. In tune with herself. One never got the sense that she did anything out of hypocrisy or anything hypocritical or as an act, unless she was acting. She was a strong fearless woman, a gallant noble lady".

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.