Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Ballet Dancers: We Have Learned Lot from Mahmoud Reda


Mon 12 Oct 2020 | 12:04 PM
Nour El-Hoda Fouad

The heroes of the show honoring the late artist Mahmoud Reda expressed their great happiness in embodying the characters of the great movie Gharam in Karnak, screened last week at the Cairo Opera House.

The film, which is considered one of the icons of Egyptian cinema, focuses on the tourist areas in Luxor Governorate.

[caption id="attachment_158227" align="alignright" width="300"]Hani Hassan, who played Mahmoud Reda role Hani Hassan, who played Mahmoud Reda role[/caption]

Hani Hassan, who played Mahmoud Reda role, said: "It is risky for ballet dancers to make popular exhibitions.

I had to learn from Rida’s group “The Hathaib Dance” and how to hold the stick, it required a great effort to catch the style of Mahmoud Reda."

"It is not the first time that I have performed folk dancing, as the late Abdel Moneim Kamel, spiritual father of ballet in Egypt, hosted the late artist Mahmoud Reda in a workshop, and he trained us and  we learned a lot from him, therefore the members of the Reda troupe should not refuse our embodiment of him."

As for the ballerina Sahar Helmy, who played the role of Farida Fahmy, she said: "The difference is big between the performance of the Reda Folklore Band, which dances with spontaneity and simplicity closer to folk dance, and the performance of the Cairo ballet troupe that performs professionally and decency."

[caption id="attachment_158229" align="alignright" width="300"]ballerina Sahar Helmy with the editor ballerina Sahar Helmy with the editor[/caption]

She added: "We were worried about the difficulty of adding something new after Reda's band showed the same movie, but we succeeded and I hope that the experience will be repeated."

"We have transformed cinema theater to show a show theater and I think that his soul of Mahmoud Reda attended the show with us ."

Last Monday, the Cairo Opera House held a new tribute, which featured the performance of Cairo Opera Ballet, and an honoring ceremony, amid the attendee of Fahmy and Reda, who both received special shields.

 Reda Folklore Troupe paid tribute to its late founder, Egyptian folkloric dance icon Mahmoud Reda, who passed away in July at the age of 89.

during the honoring ceremony of Mahmoud reda and Farida fahmy

The show, which was played again on Wednesday, achieved great success over the good performance and professionalism of the Reda Folklore Troupe.

It included the brief screening of the 1965 movie, “Gharam fi al Karnak” (Love in Karnak), starring Reda and Fahmy, along with the performance of the Cairo Opera Orchestra, led by Maestro Hisham Gabr, and dancing performances from the movie.

The troupe’s director, Armenia Kamel, trained the dancers on the choreography.

Mind-blown by the efforts made, Shereen Reda, took to Facebook to thank Dr. Inas Abdel Dayem, Minister of Culture for the ceremony.

She expressed her happiness and noted that this proves that her father has not passed away and that his influence will last forever.

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