Cairo, the 15th July, 2009

“Readings of DELIGHT”

*** Right now I am immersing myself into two marvellous books I recommend everyone, no matter your own personal interests:

Agatha Christie, an autobiography , by the author herself.
I am not even a fan of Agatha Christie. I never read anything from her and yet my intuiton led me to this book and I was not disappointed. Beautifully written, honest and so endearing in the way she describes the process of writing and LIVING in order to be able to write.
This particular notion of the absolute need to LIVE in order to write came to me for the first time when I entered the Superior Acting School and one of the boys auditioning (with me) was refused due to his age (17 years old).
I was eighteen (would a year of difference matter?) and couldn´t understand why they would refuse the boy to audition under the pretext that he was too young and, therefore, he hadn´t lived enough to be an actor. I can still see the one who ended up being my favourite teacher of all times (João Mota, founder of the “Comuna” theatre and one of the biggest names of all times in Portuguese performing arts circuit):
“ACTORS need memories, sensations they gather from their own personal experience, life with a rich palette of all its joys, sadness and particular turning points. With 17 years old, he knows nothing about life. How can he act?! “

I remember this wise sentence from my teacher while reading Agatha Christie´s life story written by her own hands. It reminds me that artists and their fuel is, indeed, LIFE itself. Thanks to all the pains, joys and tears I´ve shared in my life, I can dance Om Kolthoum so all the men that hurt me and/or loved me were, in some wicked way, my masters.


I loved you for your voice, Sélim Nassib
Oh…What a pleasure… This is the ultimate book about my beloved Om Kolthoum. Her life written in fictional style and told by the voice of Ahmed Rami, the poet-librettist who wrote so many of her songs and loved her in vain (he was never corresponded in his love).
A MUST READ for all those who love arabic music and are curious to know about the clever peasant girl who came from the countryside to make the world fall in love with the eternal “tarab”.
As a living artist in Cairo, this book inspires me much more than it could do to any Government employee. The competition, the envy between singers/composers/artists, the dirty games to defeat rivals and the absolute thirst Om Kolthoum seemed to have for her art remind me of my own passion for dance and the kind of life we still lead here, so long after her death (1974)!
It´s still a dirty world as it was in Om Kolthoum´s times and she was no saint or dumb girl. Her incredible ambition, as well as her gift, took her to the place I totally agree it´s hers and no other: the TOP..
Through her life´s story, you read about all the great composers, poets and artists who worked with/for her, inspired her or teased her (she was a devil on her own right!). Mohamed Abdul Wahab is one of the recurrent names in the book not only due to the turbulent, fertile relationship they had with each other but also because he was, by her side, the biggest star of the Orient in those days. Contemporary divas, I must say.
I am in love with this book and the fact that the book makes you aware of Om Kolthoum´s human flaws, that doesn´t erase her divine talent and how much I adore all her repertoire.
It also reminds me, in the end, that Om Kolthoum (like all the rest of us) may have been born with a divine gift (her voice, her soul, her ability to insert honest life into each word she pronounced and touch people´s hearts ) but she was, in reality, a simple human being with many flaws and dark spots.
Her humanity is clear in this book. She´s still my diva, anyway…