Last year, Egypt's Reda Troupe for Folk Dancing celebrated its golden jubilee. For those who witnessed the heyday of the troupe, the name Reda conjures up qualities like determination, creativity, diligence and, above all, respect. The troupe, named after its founder, choreographer and first dancer Mahmoud Reda, has changed the image and concept of folk art in the minds of the Egyptian audience. Prompted by a great fondness for dancing, which he cultivated as a professional dancer with an Argentinean troupe that took him to Paris and Rome, and his educational background in ballet, Mahmoud Reda founded his own troupe in 1959. Mahmoud did not do it all on his own: his brother, Ali, directed the shows and there was also Farida Fahmi, the star of the troupe. Farida, an English-language scholar from an upper-middle class Egyptian family, was to marry Ali later on. Farida's father, a university professor, was the godfather of the troupe. With his encouragement, technical advice and complete confidence in the abilities of the young performers, he gave an incredible push to the troupe. Reda Troupe was unique in setting new standards for folk dancing, transforming its status from something 'shabby' to something commendable. Mahmoud, Ali and other members of the troupe toured the width and breadth of the country to get inspiration and first-hand information about provincial folk dances and costumes. This resulted in magnificent choreography that bore distinctive features of many parts of Egypt. The most famous of their 300-dance repertoire was perhaps the hagala, a Bedouin folk dance from Mersa Matrouh on the Mediterranean, northwest Egypt. The costumes which Farida designed reflected the characteristics of the people of Port Said, Matruh, Alexandria and other cities. The Reda family's sensitivities to the cultural nature of the work, coupled by their personal love of and belief in their message enabled them to offer something different. At the outset they fought hard to establish themselves in the entertainment business, to win recognition and gain the support of the Ministry of Culture. If it weren't for the backing of enlightened intellectual heavyweights like Ihsan Abdel-Qodous, Yehia Haqi and Ragaa el-Naqqash, the Ministry would never have allowed the troupe to rent the downtown Ezbekia Theatre for ten days Then, because the troupe were so successful in their first two years, the Ministry let them use the Balloon Theatre on a permanent basis. From then on, the troupe became affiliated to the Ministry, which meant that Mahmoud became a governmental employee. However, as he once said in a press interview, he never realised he'd been a civil servant until he reached the age of retirement.
