Thread: Farida Fahmy's Thesis

Who has read it?

I have an electronic copy recently purchased via Keti Sharif but I am mid-assignment and don't have time to read it just yet... Wah!

I did a quick scan though (I always check the references/bibliography first for cool stuff I haven't yet got on my wish lists) and noticed an appendix table outlining how he modified movements for his choreography ie: Traditional effect> Item modified> Item introduced> New Effect/Horizontal quality> 2 flat feet> Releve> Vertical quality.

And joy of joys Farida breaks down the 'modes' by which Reda developed his choreography. I have a short article where she mentions these modes; called "fancy footwork" so I am over joyed to find chapters and chapters on the topic.

Anyways... I know it's a bit old but it's new to me and just wanted to see what others thought...

Want it? Order: Farida Fahmy's Official Dance Site - Egypt

Ooh, that looks exciting!

On another note:

I didn't know she had that website (is it fairly new?) but its awesome that someone who was actually there is promoting the history.

I wish when I spent a weekend with Farida in 2005 that I had known as much as I do now, the questions I could have asked . . sigh.

Z

It's quite valuable as a cultural resource, but 85 pages (with images!) is a pretty small MA thesis...

I took a workshop with her in Germany a while back and tried so hard to remember everything she did/say. Maybe this will help me fill in the blanks!

I'm curious about the thesis. I read Daughter of Egypt, it includes part of her thesis here and there.

Originally Posted by ANA_bellydancer

It's quite valuable as a cultural resource, but 85 pages (with images!) is a pretty small MA thesis...

I guess it depends on your thesis advisor or committee - my friend is getting her PhD in Spanish Literature, and her thesis is less than 80 pages. And I didn't even do a thesis for either of my Master's degrees.

(Just wanted to comment, it struck me as odd too until I thought about it more.)

Finally! I've been waiting for it to be available for a while now. thanks for posting this Nanda. I got my copy today :) YAY!

Originally Posted by phillyraqs

I guess it depends on your thesis advisor or committee - my friend is getting her PhD in Spanish Literature, and her thesis is less than 80 pages. And I didn't even do a thesis for either of my Master's degrees.

(Just wanted to comment, it struck me as odd too until I thought about it more.)

*nods* A lot depends on what school and discipline, and the time at which it's done. There seems to be a push for shorter ones these days. Mine is rendered fatter by question lists, contact letters and other human ethics-related stuff. And physically thinner by being double sided, which never used to happen back in the day of typewriters. But these days it's quite normal to double side your thesis, for binding.

I am totally buying this thesis when I get paid! I think these sorts of documents are valuable. The copy of Paul Monty's PhD thesis that I *koff* somehow managed to get is very dated and very different to theses of today, but chock-full of excellent historical data.

My MS thesis in physics is about 80 pages, and it contains a lot of graphics. Mine is one of the heavier ones.

Originally Posted by zafirah

I didn't know she had that website (is it fairly new?) but its awesome that someone who was actually there is promoting the history.

Z

I think Keti is doing alot of promoting for her and Reda these days and that website is built and run her. It has been up a while but only slowly populated with content.

I would be interested in the costuming e-book too, in 2008 Kazafy brought over Farida's collection of Reda troupe costume sketches (wonderful artist!) to show us and we had a slide seminar where he told us the history of each costume... I took heaps of notes but we couldn't reproduce/photograph the sketches so re-reading the notes them doesn't really make a whole lot of sense...lol

Thanks for this. I not only bought it, but it reminded me to buy "Daughter of Egypt", and after finally sussing out what's wrong with the email address on the site (the "!" is wrong), I'm ordering it now!

Originally Posted by phillyraqs

I guess it depends on your thesis advisor or committee - my friend is getting her PhD in Spanish Literature, and her thesis is less than 80 pages. And I didn't even do a thesis for either of my Master's degrees.

(Just wanted to comment, it struck me as odd too until I thought about it more.)

Well, degrees must be very different from here or correspond to something else... My MA thesis (in Comparative Literature - medieval) had almost 200 pages and my PhD thesis had 750 pages. An 80 pages work is a regular written work asked for any subject during the degree.

Originally Posted by NandaDncer

I would be interested in the costuming e-book too, in 2008 Kazafy brought over Farida's collection of Reda troupe costume sketches (wonderful artist!) to show us and we had a slide seminar where he told us the history of each costume... I took heaps of notes but we couldn't reproduce/photograph the sketches so re-reading the notes them doesn't really make a whole lot of sense...lol

I took private classes with Farida in May, and got to sit down with her and look through her costume sketches - they are amazing! She is so creative and some of the designs are so gorgeous.

She seemed surprised that anyone would be interested in the e-book of her sketches, to her, it was something she does now to relax at night before sleeping! At the time, she was hoping to divide up the sketches into themes (Saidi, Hagalla, etc) and you could buy the e-book for whatever theme you wanted.

I hope the designs come out soon, and how wonderful if there could be some description/history with each one...

Originally Posted by ANA_bellydancer

Well, degrees must be very different from here or correspond to something else... My MA thesis (in Comparative Literature - medieval) had almost 200 pages and my PhD thesis had 750 pages. An 80 pages work is a regular written work asked for any subject during the degree.

I don't think it's a point of country differences -- Farida went to UCLA for her degree, it seems.

Originally Posted by Asim

I don't think it's a point of country differences -- Farida went to UCLA for her degree, it seems.

Yep. She and Sahra were classmates.

Many times it is a case of a difference in discipline. My first Masters in Liberal Arts (it was cross discipline) was around 250 pages with illustrations. This last one I did (Spiritual Psychology) was basically 45 pages. Although it wasn't a traditional thesis.

{{{HUGS}}}

Originally Posted by Asim

I don't think it's a point of country differences -- Farida went to UCLA for her degree, it seems.

Also, Ana appears to be from Portugal, from what her screen avatar says, so it may be a country difference between USA and EU/Portugal?

Either way, that's awesome that your thesis is 750 pages Ana! It must be a labor of love!

Originally Posted by phillyraqs

Also, Ana appears to be from Portugal, from what her screen avatar says, so it may be a country difference between USA and EU/Portugal?

Either way, that's awesome that your thesis is 750 pages Ana! It must be a labor of love!

,r:; Yes, I'm from Portugal and that's what I was refering to.
..l;, Oh, yes, a great love for Arthurian Literature (I'm a specialist in all the Goddess stuff! ). MA and PhD degrees (together) took 10 years to achieve.

Anyway, anyone knows why Farida choosed that university?

I'm gonna order the Thesis and Daughter of Egypt. Why haven't I heard of this before?

Thanks for sharing this info. Farida's thesis is incredible!!
And yes she got her Master's degree in Dance Ethnology from UCLA along with Sahra (who was in her class). This is where they met and became friends!!
You should also read Sahra's thesis on the Zeffa!

Is Sahra's thesis published yet? I talked to her about it when I met her in England, but she didn't say the work was available for reading...

Sahra's thesis is published, and copies are in the libraries at UCLA and Stanford. However, I don't think she ever received a final copy of her thesis - I recently spoke to some of the UCLA librarians on her behalf to try to get a copy of it for her. It would be wonderful if she could disseminate it as well.

At the time, in the mid 1990's, UCLA had one of the best dance ethnology programs, from what I recall. Since then, I understand the program has changed but I don't know details.


Parts of her thesis are used in an anthology of performing arts in the Middle East called Images of Enchantment. The essay is with a co-author and called A Procession through Time: The Zaffat al-cArusa in Three Views in - IPM/AUC - Images of Enchantment: Visual and Performing Arts of the Middle East

This sounds fascinating! Thanks for posting this - can't wait to check it out! ;)

I have not started reading the book yet, but there is a book about her life.I ordered it from amazon

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Farida-Fahmy/dp/0931539242/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252953111&sr=8-1]Amazon.com: Farida Fahmy (9780931539244): Books[/ame]

Originally Posted by turkishdancer

I have not started reading the book yet, but there is a book about her life.I ordered it from amazon

Amazon.com: Farida Fahmy (9780931539244): Books

Its a fabulous book and has great educational value.

I ordered the book about her life too. I just started reading the thesis now. It's very interesting.

UCLA did have one of the best and only Dance Ethnology departments in the country. With budget cuts and so forth the department has been absorbed into the World Arts and Cultures (WAC) dept.