Aziza Sa'id's FAQ - Dancers in TV Series A-B

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Movie Title	Dancer	Description
ABC's Race Around the World series		One of the short films featured footage of a young male dancer (performing as a female) in a marketplace in Marrakesh. It was for less than a minute. It included a tiny amount of interview, where he talked about his father not knowing that he dances as a female, he does it for the money, etc. It was a shame that it did not focus on him more, as it went off on a another, less interesting tangent for the next few minutes. ABC will probably repeat all of these shows at some stage later in the year. If you want to catch it then, the film was done by Sheona (can't remember last name).
Academy Awards, The	Veena and Neena Bidasha
Adam-12 - "Northeast Division"	Laurie Rose (aka Mesmera)	(1968) playing "Ellen" (episode #6.11)
Adventures of Brisco County Jr., The - "Broklyn Dodgers"	Atlantis	[U.S. TV-Series: 1993-1994] starring Bruce Campbell. "There were a group of dancers which included Atlantis." -- Sherrezzeh
Adventures of Sinbad, The		TV shows Hercules, Xena, and The Adventures of Sinbad often feature snippets of ethnic, pseudo-, and maybe even real ME dance with interesting/colorful costuming. The snippets, though short, add nice touches of ethnicity, dance and color to the shows. ... How often does one hear ME music on TV? Not too often in my neck of the woods. The costuming is 'fantasy' but fun to look at anyway." --Joya
Alexander the Great (BBC has been showing a series)		If it comes your way, you might enjoy it. Michael Wood retraces Alexander's steps today over the 20,000 miles he conquered. Along the way you catch sight of scenery all along the Silk Road, learn quite a bit of history about the entire Middle East, and catch occasional tantalizing bits of music and dance--in Istanbul, the Siwa Oasis in Egypt, Uzbeckistan, and others. Quite fascinating.
Alice	Linda Lavin & Beth Howland	Alice and Vera get dressed up in cabaret costumes and infiltrate the harem of the sheik Flo is about to marry. - Paul B
American Experience, The - PBS Series	Little Egypt	My husband and I were watching PBS's American Experience last night -- this time the subject was Harry Houdini. Very interesting show about him, but what I wanted to let folks know about was maybe a 30 second bit of the show. Houdini had one of his big breaks at the 1893 World Exposition (sound familiar?)... View: New York Harbor, looking at the Statue of Liberty from above and behind VoiceOver (paraphrased): Organizers were hoping the Exposition would draw the crowds with their views of the world and the future. But what drew the largest crowds was the Midway, with its varied entertainments. View: Cut to trapeze artists, male & female (10 - 15 seconds of film) View: Cut to Little Egypt (or another dancer in the group) dancing (10 - 15 seconds of film) View: Cut to magician/escape artist for another 10 - 15 seconds of film VoiceOver starts again about Houdini I was very impressed by a couple of things: 1) No mention about the "exotic" entertainment, just "entertainment", and no voice-over at all during the various pieces. 2) The dancer had a FANTASTIC shimmy! (That's pretty much what the clip contained.) Just a heads-up for those that are PBS junkies like myself! -- Sabeehah
American Music Awards	Veena and Neena Bidasha
Andy Williams Show, The	Tania Lemani
Angel - "Dead End"		Did you all check out Cordiela's (Charisma Carpenter) Costless costumes on "Angel" Tuesday night. No dancing, she was being a princess, but they did deck her out in a happening silver/holographic foil costume and a gold coin costume. There are some pictures on the WB's Angel site and I think she'll still be in at least one of those costumes for part of next week's show. I wonder how many fashionistas are going to be calling on Costless trying to look like Cordelia. -- Shanna One of the characters, Cordelia, lost in a really silly barbarian dimension (think every bad sword 'n' sorcery flick ever made) was made a princess and was dressed in a really wicked hot belly dance outfit. (Think Princess Ardala here from the old '70s TV show Buck Rogers ;) Long gray skirts, a tonnage of brassage on her cleavage and hipage. ;) Plus hip wrist bands and a head band and a few other jewelry accoutrements to match. Later she changed into a similar outfit, with white skirts and a gold motif and she looked great! I don't know who supplied the outfits but they were pretty cool-looking and pure belly dance garb through and through. Too bad she can't dance. ;) -- Frenchy
Arabian Nights mini series		(2000) Speaking of Arabian Nights mini series............I have been so enchanted by these tales since childhood. My favorite favorite absolute favorite story is the tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, because of Morgiana, his servant who saves him in the end, by dancing the most beautiful of a dances, mesmerizing all the guests, and for her finale, pulls a dagger and lunges it into the Chief of the thieves who is in disguise (waiting for his chance for revenge against Ali Baba), and she saves the love of her life. The best scene in the movie, and frankly the only reason I would watch it again, was where Scheherazade tells the scene of Morgiana dancing, and they do a flash back and forth between Morgiana in the tale and Scheherazade doing the same dance for the Shahriar. It WAS authentic ME dance and music and it WAS MESMERIZING. No flashy, fleshy outfits here (the costumes seemed well researched) no seduction. Intrigue and mystery all the way (Scheherazade's wit at work) and I WAS IMPRESSED! After seeing so much crudity (is that a word?) on TV presenting belly dancers, this was refreshing. Maybe I just watch too much late night Cinemax (or Skinemax). - Katayoun
Are You Being Served?	Melody or Melanie Barker or Melody Urquhart	If you have reruns of the British TV comedy in your area (they were made in the late seventies and early eighties), there is one episode in which a rather good dancer has a one-minute dance. - Cartesio "Are You Being Served, the British sitcom, featured a belly dance by a Melody or Melanie Barker, I believe. She played an Arab's wife whom he tried to exchange for harem pants for the rest of his wives. She'd been in her abaya until the Arab had her perform, at which point she shed the black garment to reveal a pink harem outfit with a dark bauble in her navel. She did some nice hip and belly work, and even some floor work on her back! " --William Yes, this dancer jumped up and landed on the floor doing the splits on a tape measure so that they could get her inseam measurement without touching her. That was before she disrobed for the belly dance. -- magdhur Last night I was watching "Are You Being Served?" and I caught the episode on your TV list, except the name I wrote down for the dancer ("Head Wife" in the credits) is a bit different than what others have sent in: Melody Urquhart -- Sabeehah
Avengers, The "Honey for the Prince"	Diana Rigg	[British TV-series, 1961-'67] starring Diana Rigg as Emma Peel (1965-'67), and featuring her belly dancing in one B&W episode. There's an episode of the original "Avengers" entitled "Honey for the Prince" which has Diana Rigg at her youngest and loveliest doing what can only be termed The dance of the Seven Hankies. - Gwyn
Banacek	Little Egypt (Lorraine Shalhoub)	"...another dancer sighting. On the '70s TV series 'Banacek', the Polish-American detective attends a Greek party which includes a lively belly dance performance by a Mediterranean-looking woman. Also in attendance is Cesar Romero, playing a Greek-American (!), who enthusiastically shouts 'Opa!' at the performance. The credits list her as simply 'Little Egypt.' (...at Greek party, go figure...)" --Paul "In 1960, one of the women who also worked at the first club I ever danced Oriental in (such as I could at that time!) for a couple of weeks, was Lorraine Shalhoub, a Lebanese-American beauty, who used the name 'Little Egypt' & later had her name officially changed to Lorraine Egypt. You can see her photo (big safety pins in the costume & all!) on the cover of the 1963 Roulette Records album: 'How to Belly Dance For Your Husband' (!). Warning: DON'T listen to the music in the album - it'll produce extreme puking! (& is a prime indication as to what the American public thought b. dance was in the early '60s, if you didn't believe me before this....) She disappeared from the E. Coast area in the mid to late '60s. I heard she'd moved to the W. Coast, but I can't be sure. Liked her, hated him [her manager / boyfriend] for the way he treated her." --Morocco "There is a dancer who actually changed her name to Little Egypt (born Lorraine Shaloub.) She also appeared in a broadcast of Chayefsky's GIDEON (and was thereupon profiled in a TV GUIDE piece about her 'ancient art'. I would assume that this is the same.)" --W. Linden "Regarding the 'Little Egypt' sighting on the tv re-run Banacek, I can confirm Morocco's post that this was the dancer known as Little Lorraine Egypt, who often performed as 'Little Egypt', and that she moved to the West Coast. I believe that she is now divorced from her manager/husband. When I spoke with Lorraine several years ago regarding her career, she mentioned her tv appearances (also incl. Batman) but seemed most proud of her performances that benefited charities including St. Jude's Children's Hospital." --Donna Carlton "Yes, it was a red outfit [that she wore], might have had some white as well. Also, it was a fast Turkish dance, with quite a few spins; it fact, it ended with a spin. Romero's Greek character shouts an enthusiastic 'Opa!' in approval. If I didn't know he was Cuban, I would have thought him Greek myself." --Paul Popowitz
Barbara Streisand		Barbara Streisand special that was on television earlier this week? They were showing clips of her in the movies she had made and I saw a "blip" of her doing hip work with a large coin scarf on her head and I think she had zills on too. It was gone before I even realized what I had seen!! --Shayndel Ramia
Barnaby Jones		[U.S. TV series, 1973-'80] starring Buddy Ebsen, featuring belly dancers in at least two episodes
Batman	Little Egypt (Lorraine Shalhoub)	"Regarding the 'Little Egypt' sighting on the tv re-run Banacek, I can confirm Morocco's post that this was the dancer known as Little Lorraine Egypt, who often performed as 'Little Egypt', and that she moved to the West Coast. I believe that she is now divorced from her manager/husband. When I spoke with Lorraine several years ago regarding her career, she mentioned her tv appearances (also incl. Batman) but seemed most proud of her performances that benefited charities including St. Jude's Children's Hospital." --Donna Carlton "Yes, I remember her dancing on 'Batman', in an episode with Burgess Meredith as the 'Penguin' running for mayor of Gotham City. Sounds as if Ms. Shaloub's had an interesting career." --Paul I think my favorite appearance of belly dance in prime time tv had to be the episode from the 1960's incarnation of Batman where the Penguin ran for mayor, and a belly dancer did a very energetic performance to music played by Paul Revere and the Raiders at the Penguin's campaign party. --Shira
Batman		During the episodes when Liberace (!) plays a villain, "haremgirls" lure Batman & Robin into a trap. The boys have to work around them during the ensuing fight scene with Liberace's henchmen. The "haremgirls" are strictly Hollywood, but are fun to watch. -- Paul B
Beans Baxter		two bellydancers try to seduce a spy for information
Beauty & The Beast
Benny Hill		During a James Bond-spoof sequence, a dancer mostly bumps and grinds for Benny And Jackie Wright. - Paul B
Benny Hill	Dianna Darvey	One of Benny's singers, a pneumatic blonde named Dianna Darvey did a medley: "Valentina", "It's Oh Nice (To Go Traveling)" and the Arabian-flavored "Climb Up The Wall". For each song she donned different costumes: for "Climb Up The Wall" she wore a skimpy harem costume, and did a couple of Med related steps. -- Paul B
Beverly Hillbillies, The	Ruth Ko	[U.S. TV-Series: 1962-1971] "Another dancer sighting: a rerun of a 1970 "Beverly Hillbillies" episode with the Clampetts' guest "Shorty" from the Ozarks visiting for a spell, and being treated as a sheik in a harem by Mr. Drysdale. The "harem" included silly costumes, decor, and a belly dance performed by an actress (dancer?) named Ruth Ko. She did a decent job with hip lifts and shimmies for the minute or show she danced (to the music of the ubiquitous Beverly Hillibilly electric guitarist!) The scene was so campy, it looked as though legendary cult director Ed Wood could have filmed it. Unfortunately, Ms. Ko was billed in the credits as an "exotic dancer." --Paul The "Beverly Hillbillies" also had another ep featuring bellydancing. Ruth Ko again starred as a dancer, this time as one of the "gifts" an oil sheik gives Jed Clampett in "return" for Elly Mae. Dopey, dopey, dopey, but a hoot for "BH" fans. - Paul B
Bionic Woman, The	Lindsey Wagner	[U.S. TV-series, 1976-'78] starring Lindsay Wagner as Jaime Summers, and featuring her belly dancing in one episode! Actress Lindsey Wagner performs some sort of improv veil routine/dance when she's caught in some middle eastern setting. "Speaking of TV Belly Dancer sightings, Lindsay Wagner's character on "The Bionic Woman" performed one for a fictional Arab ruler on that program in 1978 (?). Wagner's character (Jaimie, I believe) was undercover as an Arab woman and had to dance for the guy so as not to blow her cover. Since the scene was shot from the dancer's back and you never saw her face, it was obvious that a real dancer performed the scene." --Paul
Black Scorpion	Carrie Stevens	[U.S. TV series, 1998] starring Carrie Stevens as a belly dancer named Celeste
Bold and The Beautiful, The	Hunter Tylo Veena and Neena Bidasha	(US tv soap opera) Hunter Tylo (actress) performs, "it was pretty obvious she hadn't had any lessons". She admited not long after that dance in a interview that she often danced for husband in private. One dance on valentine's day, she said wasn't somethng that could be shown on tv!! She has also has a life long interest in snakes and performed with her own on b&b -- Michael
Breaker High	Sarita	Hello, my name is Sarita Mileta and my dance name is "Sarita". I live in Vancouver BC Canada and have been dancing for over 25 years. I would like to add some more info about the depiction of dancers on film and TV page on your site. I am the dancer featured in "Hit Man" and I was also featured [with a speaking part too] in one of a TV series called "Breaker High".

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