Ayse Nana shook Istanbul in the end of the 50's by adding striptease to her dance. Sema Yildiz and Inci Birol were legendary throughout the Middle East and were the stars of the 60's and 70's. Sema retired in 1991 with many accolades. Other dancers who hit Turkish fame during this time were Ozcan Tekgul, Leyla Sayar, Birsen Ayda, Aysel Tanju, Necla Ateş, and Zennube. They starred in movies and had songs dedicated to them. [*]
"Nana gitti Parise / Kaldık Semiramis’e / Semiramis yine hamile / Düştük Türkan Şamil’e | nana went to paris. We are left with Semiramis. Semiramis is pregnant again. We down graded to Türkan Şamil "
[*]Top Turkish Talent by Jasmin Jahal, January 200
Mavi Boncuk |
Ayşe Nana (78) had been battling with cancer in Rome for the past months. Originally an Istanbulite Armenian, Ayşe Nana followed a career as oriental dancer from 1950s to 1980s in Istanbul, Roma and Paris. Later in the 1980s, she opened up theater and dance schools.
On November 5, 1958, she stirred controversy both in Italy and Turkey with her dance performance in Rome’s Rugantino Night Club. L'Espresso published her nude topless photos by Tazio Secchiaroli[1] at party, a photo shoot that caused criticism amid Italy’s Catholics. Following that, she was detained for “undocumented labor” and “performing obscene shows”. An undisclosed millionaire reportedly bailed her out, saving her from deportation. The event inspired Fellini for his masterpiece La Dolce Vita and Nadia Grey re created Nana's performance.
Ayşe Nana was once engaged to Saro Balsamo[2].
Pictured 'La Dolce Vita'
[1]Tazio Secchiaroli (1925 - 24 July 1998) was an Italian photographer known as one of the original paparazzi. He founded the agency Roma Press Photo in 1955.
Secchiaroli was the inspiration for the Paparazzo character in Fellini's film La Dolce Vita. Much of Fellini's research into the profession of tabloid journalism was simply buying dinner for Secchiaroli and his friends, and listening to their exploits.
Mr. Secchiaroli was a paparazzo in all but name when Fellini spotted him in the late 1950's. He and his fellow photographers, Sergio Spinelli, Velio Cioni and Elio Sorci, would chase celebrities on their Vespas and try to photograph them unawares.
Ironically, by the time the term 'paparazzi' was coined, Secchiaroli had become more of an insider in the Italian film industry and had left the paparazzi-style attack photography behind. He became well known for informal candid portraits of film stars, both at the studio and at their homes.
There are a number of theories about the name Paparazzo. Some say it is a contraction of the Italian words papagallo (parrot) and ragazzo (guy). Fellini was quoted as saying he chose it because it was the name of a childhood friend of his ''who liked to imitate the buzzing sounds of pesky insects.'' In any case, from that name an infamous word was born.
[2] In 1966, the Italian publisher Saro Balsamo launched the magazine Men, which showed women in bikinis. Other two magazines published by Balsamo, "Relax" and "Le Ore", were also mainly for adult male readers. "Cronaca italiana" was directed: to whoever is interested to chronicle Italy in all its aspects, with a massive use of photos. His wife Adelina Tattilo is acknowledged to be a pioneer in the Italian erotic magazine publishing sector, who contributed to change the social customs Italy from the second half the 1960s. By launching Playmen, Tattilo engaged publishers like Hugh Hefner and Larry Flynt in an ideological battle to liberate sexual attitudes and free them from bigotry and false moralisms. In the 1960s, Tattilo launched Menelik, a successful weekly magazine of erotic comic strips, featuring the character 'Bernarda'. In 1965 Tattilio and her husband, later separated, broke into publishing with a weekly called Big, a magazine for teenage boys. Playmen was founded in 1967, and looked similar to Playboy, which was then banned in Italy. She died after a brief illness in Rome, February 1, 2007 at the age of 78.