Egyptian Modern Dance Theatre Company
Being the only one of its kind in the Arab world, the Egyptian Modern Dance Theatre Company was established at the Cairo Opera House in 1993. Its first performance, “The Fall of Icarus”, directed by Walid Aouni was presented at the opening ceremony of 4th International Festival of Experimental Theatre. Having a vast experience in this field, Walid Aouni was appointed its artistic director and choreographer.
“Contradiction”, the first performance staged by Walid Aouni in 1992 was awarded the critics’ prize at the International Festival of Experimental Theatre and as a result, the Modern Dance Theatre Company was established. Under its director Walid Aouni, it has since performed eighteen major works: “The Fall of Icarus” (1993), “Excavation of Agatha” (1994), “Coma” (1st part of a trilogy, 1995), “The Last Interview” (2nd part of a trilogy 1996), “The Desert of Shady Abdel Salam” (3rd part of a trilogy 1997), “Elephants Hide to Die” (1995 – 2005), “At the Beginning... There was Dance” (1997), “Song of Whales” (1998), “Scarecrow” (1999), “Scheherazade, Korsakov” (2000), “The Secrets of Samarkand” (2001), “Live Vest Under Your Seat I” ( 2001), “Underground” (2002), “Sculpture Dream” (2003), “Live Vest Under Your Seat II” (2003), “Moving Sands” (2004), “Between Dusk and Dawn” (2005), “Banat Bahary” (2005), “Fairouz Did You Ever Cry” (2006), “Smell of Ice” (2007), “If Clouds Could Speak” (2007), and “Scheherazade, Mona Lisa” (2008).
The Egyptian Modern Dance Theatre Company has made tours worldwide: Germany (Weimar Opera - Munich, 1996/ Reckling Hausen Festival, 2000 – 2003/ Frankfurt Opera - International Book Exhibition, 2004), Korea (Tchang Mu Festival, 1996), Belgium (Brugge Festival Opera, 1997), Tunisia (Rencontre de la Méditérrannée, 1997, Festival International de Théâtre de Carthage, 2000), Morocco (International Festival of Rabat, 1999 / Modern Dance Festival of Casablanca, 2000), Syria (Egyptian Cultural Week, 2001), Switzerland (Arena of Genève – Opera Aida, 2001), France (Festival Corps à Coeur in Aix-en-Provence, 2001), Italy (Roma Theatre Quirino, 2003), China (Tour in Beijing - Sogo – Tiangine, 2004), and USA (ADF - American Dance Festival 2007).
Artistic Director
Walid Aouni
Walid Aouni started his career in Belgium with the rise of the Modern Dance Theatre Movement in the beginning of the 80s of the last century. He studied graphic art at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels. Then, he worked as a scenographer with the international designer Maurice Béjart from 1981 till 1990.
In 1980, he founded his first company in Brussels (Tanit Dance Theatre Company). Later, in 1988, his company was chosen to stage the inaugural performance for the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris. He was recognized by the Belgian Ministry of Culture as a choreographer of Egyptian modern theatre. During this period, Aouni directed ten leading performances: “Gobran Khalil Gobran”, “Mary Haskell”, “Sigmund Freud’s Ideas”, “Rabia Al-Adawiyya”, “The Seven Doors”, etc.
In 1993, he was commissioned by the Egyptian Ministry of Culture to establish the first dance theatre company in the Arab world at the Cairo Opera House. He also founded the Egyptian Modern Dance Theatre School at the Artistic Creativity Centre Theatre, the first international festival of Egyptian Modern Dance Theatre and Forsan El Sharq Heritage Company.
During the period from 1993 till 2020, Aouni directed more than 30 performances with the Egyptian Modern Dance Theatre Company in addition to celebrations of the Ministry of Culture, the Egyptian Armed Forces and other national events like the Opening Ceremony of the Great Sphinx’s Restoration, the Opening Ceremony of Bibliotheca Alexandrina, the Opening Ceremony of the Pan Arab Games, etc.
He directed several operas like Donizetti’s “Don Pasquale” and Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” for the Cairo Opera Company, “Antar Wa Abla” for Beirut Opera House and “The Firebird” for the Cairo Opera Ballet Company.
He was awarded the Japanese Order of Arts in 1988, Knight Order from the Republic of Lebanon, and the French Order of Art and Literature.
His name was mentioned in the Global Arabic Encyclopedia of Arab Artists, and in 2020, his name was mentioned in the International Encyclopedia of Dance Arts as one of the founders of the Contemporary Dance Movement in Egypt and the Arab world with Mahmoud Reda (folklore) and Abdel Moneim Kamel (ballet).
