Mahmoud Reda

Nacido el 18 de marzo de 1930 en El Cairo, Egipto, Mahmoud Reda es un pionero de la danza teatro en Egipto. Solista, coreógrafo y director de cientos de producciones, Mahmoud Reda ha viajado en más de 60 países, realizando en el mundo de la más prestigiosa de las etapas. He has also been principal actor, dancer and choreographer in popular Egyptian films. Mahmoud Reda has been universally acclaimed for his dance with the strength of and appeal of a Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire. También ha sido actor principal, coreógrafo y bailarín en películas populares de Egipto. Mahmoud Reda ha sido universalmente aclamada por su danza con la fuerza y el atractivo de un Gene Kelly o Fred Astaire.
In 1959 he founded the first folk dance company, The Reda Band, which consisted only of 15 members , all dancers. En 1959 fundó la primera compañía de danza folclórica, El Reda Band, que consistía de sólo 15 miembros, todos los bailarines. Today,it has more than 150 talented members including dancers , musicians and technicians . The band has presented more than 300 shows including dances and folkloric songs , ballads , with different rhythm and different features creating an atmosphere of entertainment and happiness . Hoy en día, cuenta con más de 150 miembros, entre ellos talentosos bailarines, músicos y técnicos. La banda ha presentado más de 300 espectáculos incluidos los bailes folclóricos y canciones, baladas, con ritmo diferente y las diferentes características de la creación de una atmósfera de diversión y felicidad. The band also participated in two musical movies : " Mid year vacation " and " Love in Elkarnak". La banda también participó en dos películas musicales: "vacaciones de mitad de año" y "Amor en Elkarnak". Reda Band is endorsed by the Egyptian Government "as a band capable of representing the Egyptian Folklore both in music and dances." Reda banda está avalada por el Gobierno de Egipto "como una banda capaz de representar el folclore egipcio, tanto en la música y las danzas". The group traveled throughout Egypt collecting folk dances, and then toured the world, promoting those dances as fine art, worthy of respect. El grupo viajó por Egipto recogida de danzas folclóricas y, a continuación, recorrió el mundo, la promoción de las danzas como obras de arte, digna de respeto.
As a soloist, choreographer and director, Mahmoud Reda made four world tours to 58 countries with his troupe. Como solista, coreógrafo y director, Mahmoud Reda realizado cuatro giras mundiales a 58 países con su compañía. He performed on the world's most prestigious stages such as Carnegie Hall (NY, USA), Albert Hall (London, UK), Congress Hall (Berlin, Germany), Stanislavsky & Gorky Theaters (Moscow, USSR), Olympia (Paris, France) and the United Nations (NY & Geneva). Actuó en el mundo de las etapas más prestigiosas como el Carnegie Hall (NY, EE.UU.), Albert Hall (Londres, Reino Unido), Palacio de Congresos (Berlín, Alemania), Stanislavsky y Gorky Teatros (Moscú, URSS), Olympia (París, Francia) y las Naciones Unidas (Nueva York y Ginebra). The Reda Troupe has performed for many world leaders and Heads of states. El Reda Troupe ha realizado durante muchos líderes mundiales y jefes de los estados. Mr. Reda received Egypt's Order of Arts and Science in 1967, The Star of Jordan in 1965 and the Order of Tunisia in 1973. Sr Reda Egipto recibió la Orden de las Artes y las Ciencias en 1967, la estrella de Jordania en 1965 y la Orden de Túnez en 1973. In 1999, he was honored by the International Dance Committee/Unesco and by the International Conference on Middle Eastern Dance in May 2001. En 1999, fue honrado por el Comité Internacional de la Danza-Unesco y por la Conferencia Internacional sobre Oriente Medio de Danza en mayo de 2001.
Mahmoud Reda draws from techniques of jazz, ballet, Hindu dance and folkloric dance from the USSR. His work has shaped and influenced what is known today as Oriental Dance (Raks Sharki). Many former troupe members include master teachers Raqia Hassan, Momo Kadous, Mo Geddawi and Yosry Sherif. Mahmoud Reda se basa en técnicas de jazz, ballet, danza hindú y danza folklórica de la URSS. Su obra ha influido en forma y lo que se conoce hoy como la Danza Oriental (Sharki RAKS). Troupe Muchos ex miembros incluyen a profesores Raqia Hassan, Momo Kadous, Mo Geddawi y Yosry Sheriff.


Born on 18 March 1930 in Cairo, Egypt, Mahmoud Reda is a pioneer of dance theatre in Egypt. Soloist, choreographer and director of hundreds of productions, Mahmoud Reda has toured in more than 60 countries, performing on the world's most prestigious stages. He has also been principal actor, dancer and choreographer in popular Egyptian films. Mahmoud Reda has been universally acclaimed for his dance with the strength of and appeal of a Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire.


In 1959 he founded the first folk dance company, The Reda Band, which consisted only of 15 members , all dancers. Today,it has more than 150 talented members including dancers , musicians and technicians . The band has presented more than 300 shows including dances and folkloric songs , ballads , with different rhythm and different features creating an atmosphere of entertainment and happiness . The band also participated in two musical movies : " Mid year vacation " and " Love in Elkarnak". Reda Band is endorsed by the Egyptian Government "as a band capable of representing the Egyptian Folklore both in music and dances." The group traveled throughout Egypt collecting folk dances, and then toured the world, promoting those dances as fine art, worthy of respect.


As a soloist, choreographer and director, Mahmoud Reda made four world tours to 58 countries with his troupe. He performed on the world's most prestigious stages such as Carnegie Hall (NY, USA), Albert Hall (London, UK), Congress Hall (Berlin, Germany), Stanislavsky & Gorky Theaters (Moscow, USSR), Olympia (Paris, France) and the United Nations (NY & Geneva). The Reda Troupe has performed for many world leaders and Heads of states. Mr. Reda received 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.
Mahmoud Reda draws from techniques of jazz, ballet, Hindu dance and folkloric dance from the USSR. His work has shaped and influenced what is known today as Oriental Dance (Raks Sharki). Many former troupe members include master teachers Raqia Hassan, Momo Kadous, Mo Geddawi and Yosry Sherif.

::BELLYDANCE::. HAGALLA

Hagalla (Mahmoud Reda)

"I am not doing folklore. It is inspired by folklore." - Mahmoud Reda, July 31, 2006.
The Western Desert
The dance called the hagalla comes from the western desert region of Egypt. (See the shaded area on the map.) Hagalla is generally believed to be a Libyan dance tradition which was brought to Egypt by Libyan migrants.
In the course of researching Egyptian folk culture, Mahmoud Reda would approach the local governors with his request. They in turn would try to arrange opportunities for him to see local music and dance. For his research into the western desert folk culture, Reda decided to travel to Mersa Matrouh, which is very near the Libyan border.
Mersa Matrouh is along the Mediterranean coast, about halfway between Alexandria and the Libyan border. Today, a road which takes about 4 hours to travel one way connects Mersa Matrouh with Siwa. However, back when Reda was conducting his research, there was no such road. Traveling from Mersa Matrouh to Siwa took about 10 hours, allowing time to get lost along the way and double back.
Arranging to See It
When Reda arrived in Mersa Matrouh, he contacted the local officials to request their cooperation in helping him arrange to see local folk dance. Unfortunately, the General Secretary was sick, so Reda worked with his assistant. He was told that a wedding was scheduled for the coming Thursday, but it was early in the week and Reda's schedule did not allow him to stay that long. The official then said he would let that couple marry yet that same night. Of course, there was the difficulty of notifying all of the guests of the change in plans. The official handled this by sending his people out in the wee hours of the morning to fire guns in the street to wake people up. When they stuck their heads out the windows to investigate what the noise was about, they were told of the change in plans for scheduling the wedding.
Observing the Dance
In the environment observed by Reda, the hagalla dance was performed by a professional dancer at a wedding. The term "el hagalla" referred to the dancer herself. For this wedding, the dancer prepared herself inside the house, where the women were, while Reda waited with the men outdoors. Because he was a man, there was no opportunity for Reda to see what occurred inside the house while the dancer was still inside with the other women.
The gathered men were eager and began to clap in a simple, steady rhythm of one clap per count. The dancer waited, holding back, waiting for the claps to build in volume and intensity. Eventually she came outdoors to perform for them. The men were standing in little clumps - 3-4 in one place, 4-5 in another. The dancer headed for the group that was clapping the most loudly and danced for them. Another group became jealous and started clapping more loudly, to attract her over to dance for them. One man might go down on one knee to clap to show his excitement, another might lie on his side while continuing to clap. The men didn't actually dance, just clapped and acted enthusiastic to get the dancer's attention. This activity continued for about an hour, with the dancer moving from group to group to dance for them.
The movement by the dancer is very simple. Reda demonstrated it in the interview, and it is what many Americans call the ¾ shimmy, the version where the hip on the weighted leg goes down, up, down. He observed that the dancer lifted her feet, which made sense in the sandy desert where sliding motions with the feet would be impractical. During his visit to Mersa Matrouh, he also observed a fat woman walking normally and noticed that her hips too went up and down in this shimmy motion, without her consciously trying to dance.
Different people have reported different stories about the role of the female dancer. In the wedding celebration that Reda observed, the dancer was definitely not the bride, nor was she a young woman seeking to attract suitors. In Egypt, it was customary for marriages to be arranged. The dancer Reda witnessed was a professional entertainer, hired to provide entertainment for the occasion.
Bringing It to Stage
Theater audiences wouldn't have much patience for listening to an hour straight of simple clapping, nor would their attention be held for long by watching a dancer strut back and forth in front of a row of clapping men doing the same move continuously. Therefore, Reda made some modifications to the hagalla when using it in choreography.
This screen shot shows a scene from a Reda Troupe performance of the hagalla which appeared in the 1965 Egyptian movie Gharam fi al-Karnak (Love in Karnak). The woman dancing is Farida Fahmy.
One adaptation for stage involved adding music, rather than just the continuous clapping.
Another adaptation was addition of movement which was not traditional. Because the men in the village approached the dancer and tried to get her attention, it was plausible to place the men in the choreography in a circle around the dancer and choreograph moves for them to use in vying for her attention.
The original choreography Reda created that was based on this dance utilized 15 men and one woman. The men were arranged in three groups of five men each. Their efforts to draw the woman's attention were exaggerated for stage purposes. A later Reda choreography depicted the hagalla with the men doing flashy steps based on Russian folk dance moves in a circle around the women.
For the dancer, it was necessary to add all possible variations to the basic shimmy move - traveling forward, backward, sideways, in floor patterns, etc. It was necessary to use the imagination, but still to stay in character. Pirouettes, for example, wouldn't have been logical.
Costuming
The costumes Reda Troupe used for hagalla were influenced by the clothing of Libyan women. Just as the village dancer had a sort of peplum effect to her skirt around her hips, so did the woman in the troupe choreography. The women wore flat boots of soft leather.

Haggala (Shokry Mohamed)

Las Danzas Folklóricas en Egipto son todas marcadamente diferentes entre sí. Cada región tiene sus danzas, incluso hay regiones que tienen un tipo de canto propio, un dialecto y costumbres distintas de las demás regiones.Haggala es la danza típica de los Oasis del Desierto Occidental de Egipto y es común con la vecina Libia. La palabra Haggala viene de hagl, que significa salto. Hay otra palabra que probablemente se relaciona también con esta danza, hegel, que es una pulsera de plata que rodea la parte inferior del tobillo y que llevan las jóvenes egipcias del Alto Egipto.Todos sabemos de la costumbre en el mundo árabe de que el hombre elija a la mujer cuando quiere casarse, pero en los oasis de Siwa sucede exactamente al contrario, por extraño que parezca. El día de la boda se reúnen todos los jóvenes y hombres del pueblo a la intemperie, formando una larga fila. Todo comienza con el fuerte batir de palmas de los hombres, acompañado por los ritmos de los panderos. La novia sabe muy bien quién es su elegido, pero ningún joven sabe exactamente quién es el afortunado. La joven baila durante bastante tiempo con su cara tapada por un shall transparente desde donde puede ver a los hombres sin dejar que ellos la vean. Mientras el ritmo está en su plena fuerza, ella se va parando frente a uno de los jóvenes y le baila durante unos minutos, luego le deja y baila frente a otro, repitiéndolo con cada uno de ellos hasta llegar al final de la fila. Cuando esto sucede, se coloca frente al elegido y enlaza sus manos de una forma cruzada, bailando sólo para él, su futuro marido. Si éste tiene alguna joya o algún abalorio lo ofrece a su futura mujer. En este momento los demás hombres tocan las palmas de una forma continuada y los familiares de ambos se acercan, se saludan y se abrazan dándose la enhorabuena. La danza y los gritos continúan mientras los recién casados cruzan la fiesta para dirigirse juntos a su nuevo hogar