Farida Fahmy - letter from an Egyptian fan

Letter to Farida from Mr George Mickhail

This letter really touched my heart, so I asked George if he would kindly grant permission for me to reprint it for the website, to share his sentiments with others. - Farida -

Dear Madame Farida Fahmy,

Greetings from Sydney, Australia!

I am an avid and a loyal fan of your art and the Reda Troupe since my childhood in Heliopolis, Cairo. I have always been fascinated with the dance and the music which brought to life a sense of pride in our history. Over the years, I collected whatever I could get my hands on from newspapers’ clippings or multimedia clips about you and the Reda troupe.

As a matter of fact, I always play a movie clip or a dance clip from your Reda troupe (especially on youtube.com) whenever I feel a bit down and homesick. I miss Egypt as I knew it in the 1960s and 1970s though I must admit that I did not like what become of Egypt in the 1980s, which was the main reason for me to emigrate.

You and the Reda Troupe, especially in the movie “Gharam Fi El Karnak” were amazingly brilliant in that movie! This movie is a timeless classic and it brings great pride to me as an Egyptian and it is my happy thought that brings always a smile to my face, and many happy memories of my childhood in Cairo. It reminds me of my roots (my father was from Luxor and my mother was Greek) and my earlier years in Cairo, which unfortunately are fading slowly from my memory.

Tonight, I was a bit “under the weather” (the Australian way of describing oneself as being down) so I watched a number of your dances on “youtube.com” which were so full of your wonderful energy and a great passion for your art. Your generous and positive spirit flows in those dances and that truly uplifts one’s spirit to transcend the physical world and one truly feels that there is a much higher meaning than what one knows.




		Letter to Farida from Mr George Mickhail This letter really touched my heart, so I asked George if he would kindly grant permission for me to reprint it for the website, to share his sentiments with others. - Farida - Dear Madame Farida Fahmy, Greetings from Sydney, Australia! I am an avid and a loyal fan of your art and the Reda Troupe since my childhood in Heliopolis, Cairo. I have always been fascinated with the dance and the music which brought to life a sense of pride in our history. Over the years, I collected whatever I could get my hands on from newspapers’ clippings or multimedia clips about you and the Reda troupe. As a matter of fact, I always play a movie clip or a dance clip from your Reda troupe (especially on youtube.com) whenever I feel a bit down and homesick. I miss Egypt as I knew it in the 1960s and 1970s though I must admit that I did not like what become of Egypt in the 1980s, which was the main reason for me to emigrate. You and the Reda Troupe, especially in the movie “Gharam Fi El Karnak” were amazingly brilliant in that movie! This movie is a timeless classic and it brings great pride to me as an Egyptian and it is my happy thought that brings always a smile to my face, and many happy memories of my childhood in Cairo. It reminds me of my roots (my father was from Luxor and my mother was Greek) and my earlier years in Cairo, which unfortunately are fading slowly from my memory. Tonight, I was a bit “under the weather” (the Australian way of describing oneself as being down) so I watched a number of your dances on “youtube.com” which were so full of your wonderful energy and a great passion for your art. Your generous and positive spirit flows in those dances and that truly uplifts one’s spirit to transcend the physical world and one truly feels that there is a much higher meaning than what one knows.
	I am most thankful and appreciative of your art and the Reda troupe for what they have done for us, Egyptians. Your art has revived much of the traditional culture that was almost forgotten and transformed it into a contemporary form but nevertheless retained the spirit of our culture. And this makes your contribution and art form timeless, and many generations to come will always appreciate it for it does not only uplift their spirit but bring much pride in our Egyptian culture. Tonight, I decided to write to you to express my sincere gratitude for being such a wonderful and a most dedicated artist, whose passion for her art is unmatched and indeed had transformed so many lives, including mine. I have searched the internet with the hope that I may find a reference to you or Mr Mahmoud Reda (whom I truly admire for his positive enthusiasm and creativity), and I was so happy to find your website. I was also very happy to find a reference to a book published about your life, so I contacted the author to buy the book because I would love to read your story for it matters to me and I want to be able to recount it, as you would like it told. I also hope that I will be able to read your Master’s thesis when it becomes available as an e-book to complete the picture for me about the Reda Troupe and the genius behind them. I am very excited that I will finally be reading your (and the Reda Troupe) true story beyond the petty bureaucrats and their red-tape which had stifled and destroyed the Reda Troupe. Finally, I hope that you will forgive me for this long email. Also, I would like to wish you the very best for your 50th Jubilee in December, which I would have hoped to make it, but I have to be in Australia to finalise examination results and end of year graduations. However, I will be in Paris at the end of December for work until the end of February, and I usually pop into Cairo for weekends, so I will keep checking your calendar of events on your website for any public appearances around that time (as it has been a childhood dream to meet you in person). God bless you and my best wishes to Mr Mahmoud Reda. Respectfully Yours, George -- George Mickhail Professeur des Universites Invite' Faculte` Droit Economie et Gestion, Universite` d'Orleans, France Senior Lecturer, School of Accounting & Finance at the Faculty of Commerce

	Go to Articles Page or to September Newsletter

	IMPORTANT NOTE: Permisssion for reprinting this article must be sought to legally obtain Farida's personal permission - sent to you in writing, to use the article and include the appropriate credit details. Please feel free to contact office@farifafahmy.com we are happy to help.



Official website of Farida Fahmy. Contact the Office of Farida Fahmy in Egypt office@faridafahmy.com Web designer Keti Sharif Contents copyright 2009 (c)