The Reda Folkloric Dance Troupe and Egyptian State Support During the Nasser Period

After the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, much of the cultural production coming out of Egypt took on an increasingly nationalist tone. In this context, Mahmoud Reda's recently founded Egyptian folkloric dance troupe, the Reda Troupe, achieved great success beginning in 1958, so much so that by the beginning of 1961, the Troupe had acquired government financial support. By distancing his choreographies from raqs sharqi (Eastern dance, or "belly dance"), the most common and contested form of Egyptian dance, Reda was able to obtain public and state support for his work. His innovative choreographies during the Nasser period (1954–1970) were the unique product of an aspiration to self-representation in cultural practice in the context of a newly independent Egypt. Reda's choreographies demonstrated both the effects of colonization and active resistance to it. His vision of Egyptian dance for the stage was welcomed by the Egyptian public. Subsequently, his style has also become popular with performers of Egyptian raqs sharqi globally. The early Reda Troupe's successful articulation of Egyptian dance, combined with staged folk dance's growing international popularity during the Cold War, prompted the Nasser Regime to overcome cultural unease with professional dance in order to utilize the Troupe in the service of nationalism. The 1952 Egyptian Revolution and the following rise of Nasserist ideology created an environment that allowed Egyptian folkloric dance to become respectable stage performance invested with new nationalist significance.

Historical Context: The Egyptian 1952 Revolution and Nasserism

Seeking an end to corruption and colonial complicity in the Egyptian government, Muhammad Naguib and Gamal Abdel Nasser headed the Free Officers in their overthrow of British-backed King Farouk in Egypt's July 1952 Revolution. By 1953, the Free Officers had taken control of government offices, declared Egypt a republic, and had completely abolished the constitutional monarchy. Nasser took formal control of the State as Prime Minister in 1954, and as President in 1956. He inaugurated a period of authoritarian, secular, leftist-leaning, anti-colonial government. One of his goals was the creation and presentation of a strong, colonizer-free nation (Daly 2008, 302; Kassem 2004, 50; Rosefsky Wickham 2005, 21). During these early years, Nasser's dedication to Arab socialism and non-alignment was very popular with large sections of the Egyptian public. His move to nationalize the Suez Canal in 1956 and his success in the wake of the Tripartite Aggression that followed cemented him as a popular hero (Gordon 2000, 175; Jankowski 2000, 143; Mellon 2002, 4–5; Prashad 2010, 41, 52). Like other newly independent nations of this period, Nasser's government took a specific interest in strengthening the image of a powerful nation-state, now free of Western control.

Nasser's Arab-socialist government sought a complete historical break with the previous constitutional monarchy and its ties to Western power. While various historical processes continued beyond the flash point of revolution in 1952, Nasser's ascent to power marked a point of sharp change in the articulation and orientation of cultural ideals (Armbrust 2012, 1). Nasser's idealization of workers and farmers, for example, represented a break from the constitutional monarchy's Western-liberal political and elitist cultural orientation (Botman 1999, 285). The Western-oriented effendi¹ (bureaucracy) and aristocracy were no longer venerated. Egypt's new heroes were the hard-working fellahin (peasants/farmers) and the awalad/banat al-balad (literally meaning sons/daughters of the country, a description most often applied to Egypt's urban middle and lower classes).²

The awalad/banat al-balad were often typified as having essential qualities, which included having an independent, strong, direct nature, being jovial, and finally, being committed to tradition. The awalad/banat al-balad, in the government's post-revolution social rhetoric, were the ideal and authentic Egyptians. Nasser himself was said to be an ibn al-balad, as his origins were in Cairo's middle class (El-Messiri 1978, 5–6). Under Nasser's leadership, these groups and their essentialized characteristics were presented in arts and culture as Egypt's heart. This stress on the importance of the...