Classical Egyptian Music and Dance in the 20

th
century
The 20
th
century was a defining period in the history of Egyptian dance. Egyptian culture
came under the influence of Hollywood and Europe at the start of the century. This, and
political turbulence have made their mark on the music and dance. As will be clear below,
many of the now famous dancers combined classical Egyptian song and dance with film
acting and with the study of Western dance styles. The 0s and !0s, and the "econd World
War especially, were a period of economic affluence in Egypt. The Egyptian cinema industry
and nightlife were flourishing and #Egyptian cinema in particular$ grew to a golden age.
%any now famous dancers earned their renown around this period and the dance culture
was ine&tricably involved with nightlife entertainment and film. Among the influential
people who contributed to this environment and proved important for dance culture in
particular, is %adame 'adeia.
'adeia %asabny
The single(most influential person in Egyptian nightlife in )airo, her orchestra and dancers
were always the best of the best. "he if sometimes called the founder of modern *riental
dance. "he moved to )airo from +ebanon at age ,- in pursuit of an artistic career and
started working in nightclubs. "he performed traditional +ebanese and "yrian style songs
and dances herself, especially at weddings. After a brief marriage with a +ebanese actor, she
opened her own show and dance company. "he put on various forms of dance, song, and
comedy and used to end the night with a show of various styles of Egyptian dance . now
known as /A0" "HA/01. The 'adeia %asabny dance hall presented and gave the world the
legendary dancers whom we know today as the 2"tars of Egypt3, such as Taheyya 4arioka,
"amya 5amal, 6aima Akef, 6aima 5amal, 'eiba E77 Eddin, 'eiba 1brahim, 8u7u %ohammed
and 9uliet who was adopted by 'adeia and gave her the name of +ayla Al "ha:raa #'londe
+ayla$ and 6adia "alama. 'adeia;s dance troupe was also the bouncing board and take off
runway for other famous stars such as "oraya Helmy and 1smail <assin #two of the greatest
comedians of Egypt$. All these names dominated the cinema, theatre and nightclub scenes
during the 0;s and a large chapter of the !0;s, when 'adeia fled back to +ebanon after the
2=rd of 9uly ,>!2 revolution in Egypt in fear of having all her fortune confiscated by the new
republican regime.
Among the mayor contributions to oriental dance attributed to her, or to the increasing
Western influence visible during this period, were increased arm movement and stage
dancing. Where before the belly dancer had a limited repertoire of arm movements, 'adeia
is said to have encouraged her dancers to lift them higher above the head and to use more
flowing gestures later known as snake arms. "he also encouraged her dancers to use more
space on the stage, to use props such as veils, and to use choreography. 1n addition, she
added trained classical musicians to the traditional line up of ri::, derboukka and ney or
7urna, thus influencing the style of music played. The influence of Hollywood in the ,>=0;s
certainly changed the look of the dance too? the distinctive two piece costume was born.
Encrusted with glitter, se:uins and beads, the costume e&posed the @belly@ giving more of a
sensual and alluring look.

"tars of the 20
th
century
,. 6aima Akef #born in Tanta, 6ile Aelta, ,>2>(,>BB$
'orn into a circus family, 6aima was accustomed to performance
from a young age. "he was trained and taught by her
grandfather, 1smail, who founded the circus. "he briefly worked
in 'adeia %asabny;s famous nightclub, in which she was one of
the very few who danced and sang and was therefore the obCect of Cealousy and eventually
had to leave. "he was then DdiscoveredE for film by the Faw7y brothers, one of whom she
married, and subse:uently appeared in numerous films. "he is said to have never cut
corners as far as e&penses for costuming went, and to have been rigorously disciplined
regarding her own training and weight. "he is lauded for her choreographies and her own
uni:ue dance style.
2. Taheyya 4arioka #1smaileya, Egypt, ,>,>(,>>>$
"he moved to )airo as a teenager, where, despite her aunt3s best
intentions, she was enrolled into %adam 'adeia3s club. "he was
originally called Taheyya %ohamed, but she e&celled so much at the
newly(imported 'rasilian dance the 4arioka that she was named after it.
Taheyya was in constant demand for films during the war years. "he is
lauded for bringing Egyptian dance to a new level and for her emotional
e&pression.
=. "amya 5amal #born 8einab 4halil, ,>2(,>>$
"he moved to )airo in the 0s and was discovered #again$ by
%adam 'adeia, who sent her to a dance teacher named 9ac:ue. He
trained her in ballet, tap, contemporary dance as well as her own
baladi style, and she is famous for introducing these elements into
her own style. 1n %adam 'adeia3s she was taken under Taheyya3s
wing, whom she befriended. "he also started a relationship Farid Al Atrash, then an
unknown singer, who later became a film producer and made a number of films with "amya.
He, however, refused to marry her, and she became a recluse for a number of years, before
dancing in Europe for a while. #"he was briefly married to an American, but it didn3t work
out and she returned to Egypt. "he later met and married the film star /oshdy Aba7a.$ 1n
,>>, Egypt;s 4ing Farouk proclaimed "amia 5amal @The 6ational Aancer of Egypt@.
A number of fashions of dancing are attributed to "amya? she is said to have been the first
#professional$ dancer to dance barefoot . a fashion resulting from her dancing a show
barefoot after one of her shoes broke . but e:ually to have been the first to perform with
high(heeled shoes on stage. "he also introduced an e&pansive use of space and her own
lyrical embellishments in her interpretation of the music.
. Hager Hamdy
"he came out of nowhere, but suddenly appeared at Taheyya3s side, and
made her debut as a solo dancer, instead of a 2chorus line3 dancer. Her
style is credited as very authentically Egyptian, playful and fresh. "he too
trained in other dance styles, such as ballet, tap, flamenco, samba and
othersG and she too married into the film industry.
!. 6agwa Fouad #born ,>=B$
6agwa Fouad was very popular the -0;s and H0;s. "he originally moved to
)airo to dance, starting out in nightclubs, and was :uickly noticed for her
interpretative skill and romantic feel for the dance. "he trained with
various retired dancers, choreographers and top class musicians, loved
sports such as tennis, aerobics and swimming, and #likewise$ studied
other dance forms such as ballet, Ca77 and tap. Her husband of si& years,
Ahmed Fouad Hassan, the talented violin player, composer and
conductor, is said to have had a great influence on her development.
"he became famous for her natural representation of 2common3 Egyptian dance in the
movie 2"harei El Hob3. "he often performed in concerts with Abel Halim 2the dark grape3
#%asseya orchestra$, a heart(throb singer famous for his sweet dark voice. 1n her own band
she Ahmed Hammouda, the first master table player to play a live recorded tabla solo. His
style included many folkloric elements, such as the Haggala and 'edouin rythms. "he was
known for her e&cellent orchestra and lavish shows and for the e&perimentation she was
able to do as a direct result of her great understanding of the music. "he studied all types of
Egyptian, Arabic, north African dance style as well as many Western dance styles. The
famous composer %ohammed Abdel Wahab composed the piece 2Amar Arbaatasher3
especially for her.
B. Fifi Abdou #)airo, ,>!=$
"he Coined her first baladi troupe at age ,2 and subse:uently did modelling and danced at
various venues. "he reputed was e&tremely well(paid and and has been described as
@synonymous with belly dancing in the years she was performing.@

1n her acting career, she
is known as the woman(empowering type. 1n real life, she is both famous and controversial,
having been accused of violating the rules of 1slam and having been imprisoned for
2depraved movements3.
%usic, %usicians and "ingers
Egyptian dance and music have had a close link and a rich relationship throughout
history. %uch Egyptian music consists of DaghaniE, or songs, which are constructed on
strong rhythmic patterns, and lend themselves easily to dance. The DTakhtE ensemble,
comprising *ud, 0anun, 6ay, 4amanga, and /e: plays pure classical music, often referred to
as DTarabE, or enchantment. %usic in this category is either purely instrumental, or
encompasses the art song. Today Tarab music has e&panded into the "har:i orchestra
which uses modern as well as traditional instruments. For Egyptians, sensitivity to the
DcolourE and feel of the music and to the meaning of the lyrics, even when they are not
vocalised, is of the essence, and this sensitivity is e&pected of a dancer. The dancer thus
becomes another instrument in the orchestra. As dance has many forms and e&pressions, it
is more appropriate to talk about the traditional dance language of Egypt, rather than
Egyptian dance.
%usic and dance is also an important part of everyday life. Aance traditionally accompanies
all important stages of life in Egypt, and Egypt has inherited many different kinds of dance.
Aances in Egypt are performed to celebrate many things, such as work, combat, or life, as
well as accommodating death in rituals, processions and ceremonies that accompany
Egyptians throughout their lives. They include the tahtib, an ancient form of Egyptian
martial art, the dances and songs of the fellahin, as well as the bambutia danced by the
fisherman in the %editerranean areas to protect them during their sea Courneys. *ther
songs and dances include those to protect the child in the sebu celebration, the wedding
songs and dances of the awalem and the gawa7ee, the working songs and dances of the
fishermen, the songs, rhythms and movements of the kudCat al(7ar to free people from bad
spirits in the 7ar rituals, the songs, gestures and steps of the muaddida to mourn the dead at
funerals, and the devoted songs and movements of the maddah, who induces the 7ikhr, a
trance(like state enabling the believers to merge with the divine in the inshad. Ierformances
in the past were very different from those that we see today. %any dances were performed
in small rooms, in yards, on the streets, or in market places, on moulids, in the harbours, on
ships, in the gardens and palaces of the Arab Aynasties and the houses of the noble and the
rich, and in the cafJs and cabarets in the cities. 1n later years, they became grand
entertainment events. 6otably, since the ,>!0s, it has been illegal in Egypt for belly dancers
to perform publicly with their midriff uncovered or with e&cessive display of skin. 1n
addition, in contrast to the stars of the golden days, professional belly dancers in Egypt are
not well regarded.
The Egyptian urban music tradition, baladi music, was born out of Egyptian city life at the
turn of the last century #,>20s$. 1t has been influenced by European instruments like the
accordion but follows the musical structures of the Egyptian shaabi music. This music form
is also called Egyptian Ca77 and reached its creative clima& in the ,>-0s. +ike the shaabi
music traditions, this particular form of music has not been documented much in Egypt in
the past because it belonged to and derived from the lower social classes. ArabKEgyptian art
music and Egypt3s film music are well documented in recordings and films as Egypt was the
centre of the Arab film and music industry for many decades #,>0s L ,>!0s$.
,. Farid Al Atrash #,>,0(,>-$
The famous "yrian(Egyptian composer, singer, virtuoso oud player, and actor Farid Al Atrash
is one who successfully synthesised Western influences with the Tarab and art song
tradition. He worked with the much loved dancer "amia 5amal in many popular films
during the golden age of Egyptian cinema. His career spanned over four decades and
included diverse styles. *ne of Farid Elattrache;s most unusual and distinguishable traits was
his voice. High and mellow at the start of his career, it evolved into a wider, deeper sound. A
person not familiar with his work would find it hard to believe the singer in @<a /eitni Tir@
#,>=0s$ and @Adnaytani 'il HaCr@ #,>B0s$ were the same singer. His singing style was deeply
passionate. 1n many of his songs, and nearly all of his concerts, he would sing a mawal,
which is a slow voice improvisation of a few poetic lines. These improvisations sometimes
lasted up to ,! minutes. The mawal was a favorite of his fans. "ome of the most famous
songs include @/abeeh@ #"pring$, @Awal Hamsa@ #first whisper$, @Hekayat 5harami@ #story of
my love$, @Albi Wa %oftaho@ #my heart and its key$, @5amil 5amal@, @Wayak@, @<a 8ahratan
Fi 4hayali@ #.'_ - -- ' ( @Flower of my imagination$, @'isat 1r /ih@ #flying carpet$.
2. %ohammed Abdul Wahab #,>0-(,>>,$
1n the late ,>20s Abdel Wahab wrote traditional melodies, but as European rule replaced
*ttoman rule, Western influences affected local music. He is credited with introducing large
European(inspired orchestra3s and with inventing the Arabic film musical. His films
portrayed a Westerni7ed social elite and featured music that broke from tradition. Fellow
composers criticised his innovations, saying that the music was simplistic compared with
Abdel Wahab;s previous work, and Abdel Wahab used lip(synching rather than the
improvisation on which Arabic music had traditionally relied.
=. Mm 4oulthum #ob. ,>-!$
The art song reached a high point during the life of the legendary singer Mm 4oulthum. was
an internationally famous Egyptian singer, songwriter, and film actress of the ,>=0s to the
,>-0s. "he is known as 4awkab al("har: .' -== #@"tar of the East@$ in Arabic. 1n ,>,
4ing Farouk 1 of Egypt decorated her with the highest level of orders #nishan el kamal$, a
decoration reserved e&clusively to members of the royal family and politicians. The famous
poet Ahmad /ami wrote ,=- songs for her. "he is praised for her control of her voice and
her emotive impact. Her songs deal mostly with the universal themes of love, longing and
loss. They are nothing short of epic in scale, often based on poems, and with durations
measured in hours rather than minutes. A typical Mmm 4ulthum concert consisted of the
performance of two or three songs over a period of three to four hours. An improvisatory
techni:ue, which was typical of old classical Arabic singing, and which she e&ecuted for as
long as she could, was to repeat a single line or stance over and over, subtly altering the
emotive emphasis and intensity and e&ploring one or various musical modal scales #ma:Nm$
each time to bring her audiences into a euphoric and ecstatic state known in Arabic as
@tarab@ .-=Around ,>B!, Mmm 4ulthum started cooperating with composer %ohammed
Abdel Wahab. Her first song composed by Abdel Wahab, @Enta *mri@ #<ou are my +ife@$,
was considered the @summit meeting@. %ore than three decades after her death in ,>-!,
she is still widely regarded as the greatest female Arabic singer in history.
. Abdel Halim Ali "habanaKHafe7 #,>2>(,>--$
"inger, actor, conductor, business man, music teacher and movie producer. He is considered
to be one of the 5reat Four of Arabic music and was known as el(Andaleeb el(Asmar #The
Aark("kinned 6ightingale$ and the 24ing of Arabic %usic3. He was born son to a "heikh but
him and his siblings were made orphans when he was five and lived in a poor orphanage
after that. His talent for singing was discovered early on and he went to study music in )airo
at the age of ,. He worked with %ohammed Abdul Wahab and took the latter3s first name,
2Hafe73 as a stage name. He is credited with becoming Egypt;s first romantic singer. He
worked almost e&clusively live and rarely recorded an album. He was known for his deep
passion in his songs and his highly uni:ue and rare voice.
!. Warda #,>=>(20,2$
Warda was born on 9uly 22, ,>=>, in Iuteau&, France, to a +ebanese
mother and an Algerian father. Her mother taught her how to sing as a
child. "he started singing publicly at the age of eleven in ,>!,. "he
became well known for her singing of patriotic Algerian songs during
the Algerian 1ndependence movement, and composers fascinated with
her voice began to write for her almost immediately. "he is praised for
her engaging voice, perfect intonation and rhythm, e&traordinary command of nuances,
giving a many(sided singing, her never(ending inventiveness and her outstanding
personality.