Nelly Mazloum

Nelly Mazloum , 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 Egypts 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 1940syo the 1960s for her many appearances in Egyptian films, her folkloric shows on Egyptian TV, and her company the Nelly Mazloum Arabic Troupe of Dancers. She was not the mother of singer Demis Roussos how often is written in the net. Nelly Mazloum married a man whose surname was Roussos hence the mistake of believing mother of Demis Roussos , whose mothers name is actually Olga and she is of Greek origin although born in Egypt.

NellyCatherine MazloumCalvo was born in Alexandria, Egypt to wealthy ItalianGreek 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 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.

Source: Wikipedia