Stars of Dance Spotlight: Mahmoud Reda

 

Mahmoud Reda was born in 1930 in Cairo. He is famous for being a dancer, choreographer, and actor, as well as founding the world-famous Reda Troupe.

Through the influence of his older brother, Ali Reda, who was dancer, and the American stars Gene Kelley and Fred Astaire, Reda was drawn to dance and movement from an early age.  He originally trained as a gymnast, representing Egypt in the 1952 Summer Olympics. He also attended Cairo University and received a degree in Political Economics.  Shortly after graduating, he joined a South American dance troupe and began touring Europe with them.  Shortly thereafter, Reda hoped to start his own dance troupe, but due to lack of funds, he had to work as an accountant for Royal Dutch Shell.  As an accountant by day myself, I love this fact about Reda!  However, Reda's life was about to change.

Around 1957, Reda met Farida Fahmy, who become his dancing partner.  Reda was married to Fahmy's sister, Nadeeda.  Reda and Fahmy, along with Ali Reda, started the Reda Troupe in 1959. The troupe began with 12 dancers and 12 musicians and combined traditional Egyptian folk dances with Western dance styles, predominately ballet.  It was this fusion of styles that made the Reda Troupe, and Reda himself, famous.  As Reda described it in his own words, traditional Egyptian folk dances weren't made for the stage. Trying to put them on stage resulted in the outcome that "they look odd, they look strange".  But by adding in some Western stylizations from ballet and from Reda's idols Kelley and Astaire, Reda was able to infuse these traditional dances with the extra zing needed for success on the stage and big screen. 

Also aiding the troupe's success was the social standing of Fahmy and her family, which helped desensitize the public's reaction to the normally stigmatized profession of dance.  This fact, combined with the grace and elegance encompassed in the Reda dancers, made the troupe shows acceptable for both men and women to attend. In fact, the troupe was so widely accepted and acclaimed, that in 1961 the Egyptian Ministry of Culture decided to sponsor the troupe. In the same year, the troupe starred in its first movie, followed by subsequent movie roles in 1963, 1965, and 1970. 

Let's take a look, at some clips from these movies.  This first clip is Reda and Fahmy from the 1965 film Love in Karnak. You can strongly see the ballet influence in this dance through the carriage, arm movements, turns, and positioning of the feet.

 

This second clip highlights Fahmy, while also including Reda and the Reda Troupe. It's a scene from the 1963 film Mid-Year Holiday.

 

The third clip is also from Love in Karnak. The first minute showcases some of Reda's gymnastic ability.  Then if you want to skip ahead through some of the dialogue, the dancing begins again at the 4:00 minute mark, as Fahmy makes her entrance. All the dances in this movie were choreographed by Reda. 

In 1972, Reda stepped down as the principle dancer of the Reda Troupe, but continued to choreograph and direct performances.  By this time, the group had grown to upwards of 150 dancers, musicians, and stage crew members. The Troupe went onto tour the world, giving performances as far away as Carnegie Hall in New York and parts of China.  Reda has also received a vast number of awards for his work, including Egypt's Order of Arts and Science in 1967, The Star of Jordan in 1965, and the Order of Tunisia in 1973. In 1999, he was honored by the International Dance Committee/Unesco and by the International Conference on Middle Eastern Dance in May 2001.

In 1990, Reda retired as director of the Troupe.  He has however continued to teach workshops internationally.   I had the privilege of studying with Reda in 2010. I've included a picture of myself and the famous star below.

From this discussion, I think it can be seen that Reda has acted as a crucial cornerstone for furthering Egyptian dance, in terms of Egyptian folkloric dance, stage performance, and I would also add, modern belly dance.  While Reda and his troupe didn't focus directly on raqs sharqi per se, his influence has been dramatic in defining modern belly dance for future generations of dancers though his choreographies, movies, and training of belly dancers. His students and former troupe members include Dina and Randa Kamel.  Along with Badia Masabni, I believe he's been the most influential architect and creator of what movements, vocabulary, and technique have been encompassed into raqs sharqi.  Both Reda and Masabni's work blended in Western elements and added footwork and floor patterns, carrying the dancer across the stage, and ultimately making it the dance we know and recognize today.  Reda's work has also helped to foster interest in Egyptian folkloric dance among belly dancers, making folkloric dances like baladi and raqs assaya frequently common place within a belly dancer's set.

The Reda Troupe was a pioneer dance troupe, and Reda was truly the founder of a new genre of dance. Sadly, the Reda Troupe exists only in name today.  However, it has gone on to inspire countless other folkloric groups in universities and schools all over Eypt.  It can't be denied: Reda left a legacy in the realm of Egyptian dance.

Cross-Training for Belly Dance

Ready to take your dance to the next level? Do you have a desire to deepen your body awareness, strengthen your muscles, and shape your overall physique? Then mixing some cross-training into your weekly dance practice might be just the thing for you. What is cross-training?  Cross-training can be just about any other type of dance, sport, or movement.  But if you really want to sync up your exercise with direct benefits to your belly dance practice, you'll want to keep reading for my list of recommended forms of dance and exercise for belly dancers.

Ballet: There is a great deal of cross-over in movements and posture between belly dance and ballet.  Don't believe me? Read my last blog post on Badia Masabni to discover how she fused the two dance forms to create modern belly dance.  Ballet classes will lift your posture, promote grace and fluidity, increase flexibility, and tone major muscle groups. I take weekly ballet classes at the Pacific Northwest Ballet School and I recommend in-person instruction.  However, there are also two at-home DVD options from the Cheeky Girls DVD line, Ballet for Belly Dancers with Brianna and Ballet Blast with Sherena, that are tailored specifically for belly dancers.

Yoga: A big component of any dance style is flexibility. Want to slide down into the splits while balancing your shamadan? Then regular stretching needs to be on the menu. Yoga is a great low-impact way to enhance flexibility while building muscle tone.  Plus, there is also the added benefit of working on connecting movement to breath, a key component of performing.  These days yoga comes in a variety of forms: vinyasa, Bikram, hatha, heated, cardio-fusion, restorative, and kundalini to name a few. Just about anyone kind find the yoga class that appeals to them. If you can't find a yoga studio you like near you, I would recommend the DVDs Daily Energy - Vinyasa Flow Yoga by Shiva Rea for a more traditional approach to yoga, or Yoga Inferno by Jillian Michaels for a yoga-cardio fusion approach.

Barre: A fusion of ballet, pilates, and isometric strength training, the right barre class will have your muscles literally shaking before it's over. You will see and feel the difference.  I've tried most of the major chains and Pure Barre is my favorite.  Classes can be a bit pricey, so if you are looking for an at-home option, I like Xtend Barre: Lean and Chiseled with Andrea Rogers, which infuses a bit more ballet and cardio than most studio classes.

Other Forms of Dance: Ballet deserved it's own category because it's so fundamentally related to belly dance.  But that being said, just about any other style of dance will aid your belly dance, as it will increase your mind-body connection and promote the development of muscle control and emotional expression.  A few other styles in particular to consider delving into are jazz for rhythm and choreography, modern for level changes and extensions, lyrical for turns and emotional gravitas, burlesque for saucy and sassy stage presence, hip hop for intensifying pops and locks, and samba and other Latin dances for footwork and hip articulation.

Pilates: Is another fine-toning based movement approach that combines strengthening and stretching, and was developed predominately with dancers in mind.  Pilates can be done on a mat, or with the assistance of a reformer machine.  Another great option for preparing your body to execute belly dance technique.

Those are my top cross-training recommendations for belly dancers.  However, whether your personal cross-training choice is on this list or not ultimately doesn't matter. The most important thing is to love and move your body every day.  Dance and sweat it out goddesses!

Photo Credit: Unknown

Stars of Dance Spotlight: Badia Masabni

Badia Masabni was a dancer, actress, night club owner, and entertainment industry revolutionary.  She was born in Syria in 1892 (some records say 1894) and she is arguably one of the most important figures in the history of belly dance, as she is credited with being the matron of modern day belly dance. 

Badia's life got off to a rough and tragic start. At the age of seven, she was raped by a cafe owner.  This event made her prospects for marriage poor, due to a culture that marked her family with shame and herself as "damaged goods".  However, this meant that she instead turned to dance and theater. After a number of relocations, Badia ended up in Cairo in the early twentieth century, which at the time, was the center of the entertainment industry in the Middle East. Badia began working with various theater ensembles as an actress and dancer, at times traveling back to Syria and Lebanon to perform as well.  It was during one of these trips back to her home in Damascus, that she was attacked and almost killed by her brother who believed he was defending the family honor.

Badia didn't let these early tragedies stand in her way.  Instead, she forever changed dance history when she opened the first Egyptian music hall in 1926.  Badia's main music hall was officially known as Opera Casino, but was also informally referred to as Badia's Casino and Madame Badia's Cabaret.  The casino was modeled after European cabaret clubs, and featured a variety of entertainment, including singers, dancers, musicians, and occasionally comedians and magicians.  Badia's club quickly grew in popularity and became a well-frequented spot for upper-class Egyptians, as well as foreign stars and dignitaries. What many don't know, is that in addition to this club, Badia also owned up to five different clubs at different times: three in Cairo, one in Giza, and one in Alexandria. It was in Badia's nightclub that the famous dancers Samia Gamal and Tahia Carioca launched their careers, and made belly dancers common household names.

But really what made Badia and her nightclub important were the changes she implemented to what's currently known as modern day belly dance, or raqs sharqi or occasionally oriental dance.  Before Badia, the dance was a "shabbi" dance, a dance of the people, or more generally "popular dancing". Badia change this by elevating it to a true performance art and making it stage ready.  Before Badia, the only public performers of belly dance were the ghawazee and almeh.  Their dancing was characterized by standing primarily in one spot while performing hip accents, and they carried their arms in a deep bent "w" shape. Badia changed all this. She encouraged an uplifted carriage. She trained dancers to lift and open their arms, adding in flowing arm movements like snake arms.  She also taught her dancers to use more space on the stage, layering in more traveling steps and footwork.  In general, you can visualize the difference in how you might dance at a house party for a group of your friends, versus how would dance on a stage.  In the house party, you're more likely to keep your arms at your sides and dance in place. But if you were put on stage, you would fill up space, moving across the stage, elongating your limbs, extending your energy to the back of the room, and generally presenting yourself for the audience. Badia took popular local dancing and added style, flair, and drama to make it more suitable for a stage presentation.

Badia is also considered to have introduced the use of veil into belly dance.  Because audience members in the back of the club couldn't always see the fine movements of the dancers, she added in a veil to emphasis the movements.

And finally, Badia is credited with implementing musical change.  Badia began adding musicians who were classically trained on the violin, cello, oud, and accordion into the traditional Egyptian musical line-up of riqq, tabla (or derboukka), and ney (or zurna). These additions created more complex musical arrangements and more musical variety that ultimately came to shape the traditional belly dance set as we know now it, including the taqsim.

Badia's life as a night club owner wasn't without problems as well.  In the 1930s, Badia's nephew, Antoine, fell in love with a dancer in Badia's ensemble, Beba Azzadine.  Based on which account you go with, this pair either took over Badia's nightclub from her based on a power of attorney proxy, locking her from the club, or they alternatively left together, opening their own night club and stealing Badia's clientele.  Either way a low blow from trusted companions.  Later in the 1940s, after a parody skit of Hitler was performed at Badia's nightclub, Badia was placed on Hitler's list of people to be executed. Fortunately, Hitler never made it to Egypt!

There aren't too many videos of Badia performing, due to how long ago she was on stage.  Below is one of the few that is available. It's grainy, but still a gem of belly dance history.

Overall, Badia can easily be called the grandmother of modern day belly dance.  Her club established belly dance as a respected art form, even if sadly, some of that respect has been tarnished over the years.  Badia passed away in 1974.