"All the things that portray us as a nation"

[shiradotnet]

I posted this link in another thread, but because the thread was rather long, it occurred to me that some people might have dropped out of it and might not see the link. I find the article to be well-written and offering some good food for thought, so it seems worthy of having its own thread:

http://studentorgs.utexas.edu/tpp/tpp4/siebert.pdf

The article title is "All the Things that Portray Us as Individuals and as a Nation”: Reda Troupe and Egyptian National Identity in the Twentieth Century".

 

[karena]

Thanks for this Shira. Just got 'round to reading it. It was interesting from a finding out more about Reda perspective, but I didn't really feel like it engaged enough with the imagined communities stuff. It seemed to me like the two things were side by side rather than the links really being made. But I'm not sure I can articulate why :think:

 

[Maria_Aya]

Thank you Shira so much for posting !!
Its very interesting, gave it a quick read, but printed it to read it in depth later.
Thanks again !!!
you are a treasure !

Maria Aya

 

[Caroline_afifi]

In Aswan, we met with a number of Nubian youths who
presented a dance from which we were able to adapt many
movement configurations. As for the ‘Twist’ that they
proudly performed for us, we just closed our eyes to it, as if
it had never happened. A researcher of folk arts should differentiate
between what is authentic and what is foreign, as
he is bound to come across it often in his field trips. (quoted
in Fahmy 1987:46)

This sort of related to the discussion we have been having with regrds to Egyptian dancers incorperating different elements into the dance. An Egyptian will know mostly know when this is happening but an outsider may not... which is why it maybe Ok for Randa and Dina to do it but not an outsider?

Yet Mahmoud Reda, the
founder and artistic director of the troupe, viewed these indigenous
dances as purely inspirational and never intended to perform them on
stage. Rather, the process of adapting indigenous dances into stageworthy
choreographies generated new forms that Reda himself recognized
as being something other than accurate reproductions (Fahmy
1987:48). How did these newly created choreographies inspire such a
vocabulary of ownership in the review above? How was an affluent,
modern, and educated Cairene made into an icon of working-class traditionalism?
Explaining these processes and their implications is the subject of this article.

A few years ago, farida fahmy was a guest artist at the Liverpool Arab Arts estival in Liverpool.
She gave a presentaion about her life work with the Reda Troupe.

It was fascinating to hear what she had to say on the subject.
I cannot remeber everythings as it was a few years ago and it was about an hours and a half long. What stood out was this..

Farida taked about the 'authenticity' of their dances and clearly expressed that during thr firld trips etc. they were looking for inspiration in movement (similar to the way contemporary dancers do).

One of the sources of inspiration was a women in black buying meat from a butcher, the way she moved and talked became the influence for melaya lef.

She stated clearly that it was an invention and not an indigenous dance.

She also stated that whilst people are keen to learn and develop Reda Troupe style 'folkloric', it is not belly dance and should not be comfused as such. She was very clear that it wa a stylised interpretation and was not aimed at being authentic as in exactly like the original form.

It was theatre and adpated for such purposes.
It was created with heritage and culture in mind but it was aimed at being fun, accessible and modern.

Things became more complicated for the troupe once they become a nationalised Troupe with government funding.

With regards to the article, I am not so sure that all of the dancers in the Reda troupe were from Middle Class homes?

 

[shiradotnet]

With regards to the article, I am not so sure that all of the dancers in the Reda troupe were from Middle Class homes?

I think all the original members back in 1959 were from middle class homes. I know that some of the men had been fellows Reda knew from his time on Egypt's gymnastics team.

However, I can't say whether every dancer they've had over the years was from middle class homes. In half a century's time, it's reasonable to believe there could have been some people from other social classes.

 

[Caroline_afifi]

I think all the original members back in 1959 were from middle class homes. I know that some of the men had been fellows Reda knew from his time on Egypt's gymnastics team.

However, I can't say whether every dancer they've had over the years was from middle class homes. In half a century's time, it's reasonable to believe there could have been some people from other social classes.

Does that include Raqia? :think: