[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZXZ2a_lsZA&feature=BFa&list=PL6102E1C3107BCAD6&lf=mh_lolz[/youtube]

I thought I had been doing my belly dancer of the month for almost a year and I was going to pick my anniversary one. But going through past posts, I realise it has been well over a year now. Too bad. It will have to wait until the two-year mark. Anyhow, here is my choice to brighten up your October: the lovely Na’ima ‘Akef, who looks like Barbara Stanwyck. No bad thing for Hollywood on the Nile which is what Egyptian cinema was at the time. The films were often an Arab version of Hollywood ones, complete with musical numbers, high melodrama or whatever. Occasionally, it was a two-way thing as you can see from this silly trailer for Beau Geste where belly dancers are wriggling their hips on Sunset Boulevard — love the cars! But the Hollywood dancers don’t hold a candle to the gorgeous Na’ima who moves so much better and who avoids being vulgar despite her provocative closeness to the musicians. She also avoids the silly expression of so many other dancers and her smile seems genuine. My only reservation is her belly which sticks out a little too much. I have been accused on twitter recently of being fat phobic. Perhaps I am. I would have preferred her to be a few kilos lighter. Not too many though. She needs some flesh on her to enhance those mesmerizing hip shakes!