The Scandalous Bellydancer from Outer Space

This is the story of Özcan Tekgül; an unapologetic woman whose body curved and twisted, shaking and shimmering across - not only - stages around the world, but also in outer space.

I’d like to share a glimpse of her story with you, to remember her, to whisper her name after it was strangely forgotten.

In 1954, after graduating from high school, Özcan Tekgül was crowned the ‘Beach Beauty’ in a pageant organised by a newspaper. She then started her career in belly-dancing, a talent she inherited from her mother, Feriha. 

The following year, she graced the great theatre stages of Istanbul and the silver screens across the country. Following her debut film, Lost Youth, she went on to act and perform in over 30 films up to the ‘70s.  

As I picked up pieces of her story, something caught my eye. In 1955, she starred in a sci-fi comedy called Flying Saucers over Istanbul (but how had I not heard of this film?).

Poster of Flying Saucers over Istanbul, 1955

A journalist and photographer duo failing to impress their infuriated editor chase the story of mysterious UFO sightings in Istanbul and come across the mothership itself.
The aliens are like beauty pageant contestants clad in leotards and head pieces, lined up beside their dress-wearing cardboard-box robot to announce that they’ve come to our planet in search of human men to marry/enslave.
The film is bizarre, to say the least. But notably, it’s said to be the first scifi film made in Turkey.

Scene from Flying Saucers over Istanbul, 1955

As the belly-dancer who took her skills to space, Tekgül then landed a tour on Earth, dancing across the SWANA region for four and a half years. She then went from Cairo to New York, from Beirut to Paris, dancing all over the world. This time, not in search of men to enslave, but as a revered performer, dancing for princes, kings, emirs, sultans, and prime ministers.

Throughout the ’60s, she was often in the spotlight and tickets to see her famous 45 minute long Fire Dance were so sought after they existed in illegal markets. Her photographs were often printed in tabloid press and erotic magazines.

Back then in Turkey, women who had foreign heritage were allowed to work in night clubs but shame was amplified for Turkish woman who had the same ambition. Fighting double-standards on so many levels, Tekgül was even taken to court in 1956 for the crime of “having obscene photographs taken”.

She lived a life of contradictions; on the one hand she had people throwing their fortune at her in Istanbul’s most prestigious night clubs, and on the other, she had judges and government officials criminalise, marginalise and otherise her. But despite the police officers outside the stage doors, dragging her to stations and courts, she refused to stop performing.

Even after her heyday was over, she continued to be the center of scandals.

In 1980, her and a number of other artists, who had contributed to Turkish Cinema for 25 years or more, were presented a ‘certificate of honour’. Politicians sneered and asked what exactly Tekgül was being ‘honoured’ for. Surely that wasn’t a word to be associated with a woman like her? For a belly-dancer? The ‘queen of disgrace and scandal’? 

And so Tekgül managed to enter the political vocabulary, as “twisting like Özcan Tekgül” became an insult that was frequently thrown about in Turkey’s National Salvation Party (MSP) era - as if, they had a drop of her talent.

Newspaper with headline “On what part of the body will Özcan Tekgül wear her trophy?”

After all, it was Özcan Tekgül who challenged societies rules and double-standards that looked down on her. It was her, who had integrity, resilience and talent in abundance, not the critiques.

When Tekgül retired in late ‘80s and stopped appearing on stage, the applause disappeared but the judgement remained. She slowly became estranged from everyone and everything.

The woman who openly said she wanted to die on stage, died in a car crash in 2011, headlights being the last thing she saw, when she should’ve seen spotlights.

So as I look up to the stars in search of a flying saucer, and shake and twist with a little fire in my belly, I keep her fire burning by remembering her, and hope you will too.

Scene from Flying Saucers over Istanbul, 1955

References:
https://www.evrensel.net/yazi/87450/yesilcamin-oteki-kadinlari-1-ozcan-tekgul-zirveden-kimsesizlige
https://www.cnnturk.com/yasam/kralice-dansozun-hazin-sonu
https://archive.org/details/UcanDairelerIstanbuldaflyingSaucersOverIstanbul
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEfs5PsFHQc
https://www.instagram.com/p/CZEf9KHMZEK/
https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%96zcan_Tekg%C3%BCl
http://diedangerdiediekill.blogspot.com/2010/10/flying-saucers-over-istanbul-turkey.html