Introduction To The Forthcoming Articles

In the years I spent giving classes abroad, I discovered that amongst the dedicated dancers and teachers, there is much vagueness and disparity in what they were being told. Obviously, they were receiving wrong information that was conveyed to them, for a long time, by teachers who came from Egypt. In turn, foreign teachers, blamelessly, transmitted the information they received to their students. All believed and put their trust in the erroneous information they were receiving. The perpetuation of misinformation still continues.

Throughout my teaching years I have seen beautiful dancers from all the countries I have had the pleasure of visiting. Many, showed in our conversations, that they were intelligent educated and dedicated women. They sensed the lack of proper information, and were eager to understand and learn more about what they have been taught. They complained that they have been given different answers to the same questions.

Today, the vast majority of so called Egyptian teachers have come from every which way, picking up from here and there steps and movements that, with the passing of years, have become distorted remnants of the Reda dance vocabulary. However, countless talented dancers, from different parts of the world, have shown dedication and tenacity as they looked towards the originators of the genre that inspired them in the first place. They applied themselves to present as accurately as they could dances from the Reda repertoire, using as point of reference, videos or now, what little they could find on You Tube. What a great pleasure it is for me when I watch a well danced and a beautifully accurate presentation of one of our dances after so many years.

As years are passing, I realize that the time has come to clarify, the misperceptions that have inundated our world of dance for a long time, both in Egypt and abroad. I hope that dancers who really want to know now, and in the future, after I am gone, will find at least, some written documentation which would help them understand and on which they can depend.

The Forthcoming Articles

The following suite of seven articles should be read in their proper order. The aim is to fill in the gaps and to answer many lingering questions, and make sense of the scattered and vague information that has caused much confusion. Imparting information sequentially will allow readers to see the whole picture in a simple and straightforward fashion. Hopefully, the articles will answer briefly the lingering questions such as: Why and how the Reda Troupe achieved instant success in Egypt.

Mahmoud Reda’s aesthetics, inspirations and adaption for the stage, were significant components that made Egyptians believe, accept and relate to what was being presented to them. The development of the movement process will be discussed briefly. Elements such as Music, costuming etc. although played a vital role in our dance presentations, will not be discussed for the sake of brevity.

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Copyright 2017 Farida Fahmy