RANDA KAMEL was born in Mansoura, Egypt. When she was a kid, she had many problems with her family because she used to dance in her friends and neighbours weddings and in scholar festivals. In that traditionalist city, her family disapproved her pleasure of dancing.
At the age of 15, she began studying egyptian folklore with the famous group Reda. She took part of it during 7 years. Nevertheless, she never attended to oriental dance courses, she always developed her own style.
After studying to be a psychologist (which is a discipline that helps her to be a dancer), Randa began her career as a professional dancer at the age of 21, in Alexandria. She lived there fore two years.
Afterwards, she moved on to El Cairo and worked in restaurants and cabarets during four months until she began to work in Meridien hotel. There, she shared the stage during a week with the famous dancer Fifi Abdou.
Randa danced as soloist in the hotel´s night show for two years, and later she began to work in Nile Maxim, a luxury cruiser that sails through the Nile river.
She likes working in El Cairo because she loves live music, but she also likes traveling and teaching oriental dance. “When I dance abroad, I feel as my country and my culture´s messenger”. She also tells us about the belly dance prejudices in her country that: “In Egypt, we believe that the oriental dance is a representation of the women’s beauty in order to seduce men. But I don’t agree with this. This is a millenary dance, and one of the most difficult ways of dancing. That’s why I don’t dance in a seductive way”.
About her own style, Randa says that she puts together ballet steps, the folklore style of Suheir Zaki or Samia Gamal and her own invention steps.
For her: “dance must be energy and power, constant movement. I don’t like soft movements. I like to show different expressions, feelings; every single part of my body must move. I want that anyone that looks at me, feels my movements. It’s the only way to catch the spectator’s attention, to surprise them”.
Even if she enjoys dancing baladi and modern oriental, her favourite music is Um Kulthum, because “everything in these songs is beautiful, the music, the lyrics; there are so many feelings that they catch my heart”
Sources:
Randa Kamel (by Yasmina for Gilded Serpent.com)
Fotos:
About Randa Kamel:
- Interview with Randa Kamel (by Orientallimelight)
Randa dacing to Al Eih Besalouni at Oriental Passion Festival, 2011
Enjoy!!
xx K.
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Favourites of the Fourties/Fifties:
- Badia Masabni
- Tahiya Karioka
- Samia Gamal
- Naima Akef
- Katie Fotsaty
- Nadia Gamal
- Zeinat Olwi
- Hind Rostom
- Mahmoud Reda & Farida Fahmy
Stars of the Sixties/Seventies:
Modern Legends:
