COLORS FROM EGYPT Reviving the Art of Egyptian Folklore

By definition, Folklore means “the traditional beliefs, customs, and stories of a community, passed through the generations by word of mouth”. There was a time when our stories were gracefully being told both locally and internationally by the founding pillars of Egyptian folklore; Mahmoud Reda, Ali Ismail, Farida Fahmy, Ali Reda and the original Reda Troupe. However, over the years the value of our folklore art started to fade and became only recognized in international circles/events.

Who we are
We are a team of highly diversified individuals in terms of age and career paths, yet unite with our passion for the Folklore Art. We grew aspiring to represent our culture and found a medium that allowed us to do so in AUC as students. Yet, upon graduation, that medium was lost, and the dancers drifted away until the Art was founded in 2013 by Pinky Selim.

The group brought together people from different walks of life who share the same passion to revive and preserve our folklore dance, being an integral part of our country’s heritage and identity. The group started with 6 dancers and grew to incorporate over 30 dancers that slowly but surely started to make an impact.

Mixing the Old with the New
”Mixing the old with the new” is one of the key elements in our performances. We strongly believe that just like words, Folklore changes with the times. Our dances maintain the authenticity of Egyptian stories and movements while incorporating modern elements that’s reflected in our choices of music, choreographies and costumes. By doing so, this leaves the audience with a sense of belongingness to the past and relevance to the present.

We “Reviving the Art” pride ourselves at being researchers, choreographers, creatives, dancers and storytellers that tell the story of the rich, diverse and deeply rooted traditions and cultures of Egypt. Egypt is known for its rich culture. We have several provinces with different stories, dances, songs, instruments, dialects, costumes, and traditions that we, members of the Reviving the Art aim to represent in our performances.

Our wide age range gives our performance a sense of grandiosity and relevance to our audience; where statements such as “you made me feel like I can be up there dancing with you…you remind us of the good old days and happy times” are among the main comments we happily receive in our shows. Our passion and love for this art is deeply felt amongst our audience.