Nelly Mazloum (; 9 June 1929 – 21 February 2003), an Egyptian of Italian and Greek origin, was an actress, choreographer, dancer, and teacher of ballet, modern dance, Egyptian folkloric dance, traditional oriental dance and the creator of the oriental dance technique. She was a pioneer, in that she was the first to apply Egypt's traditional legacy of Folkloric Dances into a dramatised artistic form. Known for her sense of humour, she was known in Egypt in the 1930s as a child prodigy and from the 1940s to the 1960s for her many appearances in Egyptian films, her folkloric shows on Egyptian TV, and her company the "Nelly Mazloum Arabic Troupe of Dancer".
The early years
Nelly-Catherine Mazloum-Calvo was born in Alexandria, Egypt to wealthy Italian-Greek parents. Her father, who created jewellery, was an Italian from Naples and her mother, who was an able pianist, was Greek, from Asia Minor. They owned a hotel across the street from the Alhambra theatre. Mazloum suffered from paralysis of the legs (poliomyelitis) at the age of two, and walked again after years of care by a paediatrician and his wife who was a ballet dance teacher. For this reason, dance became her passion.
At the age of five, she started a dance career as a solo dancer and was called by the media the prodigy child. In fact she was a child star from 1939–1945, she performed daily watched by her mother, who was her manager, working in Alexandria in the summer and in Cairo during the winter. The 10-year-old Mazloum appeared in her first film, I prosfygopoula ("The refugee girl", 1939), which was made in the Greek language and starred Sophia Vembo with a screenplay by D. Bogris. As a child she danced at the famous Casino Opera, run by Badia Masabni, where great Raqa Sharki dancers started their careers; there were two shows every day, a matinee for the whole family and an evening performance during which alcohol could be reserved. While Nelly was engaged as a child in the matinee shows and danced modern dance and classical ballet, once her own dancing was over, she stayed on to watch the evening show of belly dancers like Samia Gamal and Tahiya Karioka. On many occasions she appeared in front of King Farouk, in the same show as Samia Gamal and Umm Kulthum. In 1948 Nelly Mazloum became the prima Ballerina of the Royal Opera House in Cairo (Dar Al Opera) from 1959 to 1964 she was the choreographer of Al Masrah al Kaoumy (National Theatre), Koumeya troupe. For many years she gave innumerable Folkloric performance in local theatres and in various television shows in Egypt.
The golden years
In the 1940s and 1950s the strikingly beautiful and talented young performer danced and acted in the best Egyptian theatres, creating her own choreographies; she also performed/acted in about 17 films. Of those, she performed oriental dance only in a few. One is Shahrazad (1941) starring Hussein Sedky, Elham Hussein and Samia Gamal, the other one was Soliman's Ring (1946), directed by Hassan Ramzy (the uncle of percussionist Hossam Ramzy).
Her daughter Marianna said during a lecture on Mazloum's life and career in CID, UNESCO (International Dance Council) "My mother's performance was in demand, as she had the privilege of being the only modern dancer in Egypt at that time."
Starting in 1947 she established a successful ballet school in Cairo for the girls of the elite society; she also taught and trained young artists for the National Opera House in Cairo (Dar Al Opera.)
Mazloum liked the luxuries in life, and she enjoyed life to the full. She was married six times. She met her first husband A. Roussos in 1949, and this union produced a son, Emanuel and two years later a daughter, Marianna.
During the early fifties, whenever the opportunity and time permitted, Mazloum travelled the whole country, observing and studying people's dances in their original surroundings, from desert Bedouins to the Ghawazi (Gagar), in the villages, souks and cities, always looking for new dance movements. Marianna also mentioned during her lecture, "My mother met and talked with remarkable human beings: teachers, musicians, writers, poets and archaeologists, who knew a lot about the culture and tradition of Egypt she was also an avid reader and researcher who studied books in the National Egyptian Museum, looking for descriptions of dances and costumes from ancient times; the director gave her special permission, provided she handled the fragile manuscripts with white gloves on. When attending private family parties of the elite, she would observe their dancing, which had a more refined style than the balady (Native) or the shaabi (Popular) – she called that refined style: 'hawanem'"