Photo: fragment from the performance promotional material's artwork
Qassem Amin is a new rendition of a dance performace staged by the Egyptian Modern Dance Theatre Company with director and choreograher Walid Aouni.
The performance was first staged back in 2010 when it carried the title The Women of Qassem Amin. Now scheduled to be performed on three evenings — 2, 3 and 5 February — Aouni returns to his older work naming it, Qasem Amin - The Emanciation of the Women.
"Who better than Qassem Amin embodies the history of the emancipation of women in the late 19th century?" states Lamia Al-Sadaty in her review of Aouni's work in French-language publication Al-Ahram Hebdo.
Amin (1863-1908) was an Egyptian jurist and one of the leaders of the modern Arab renaissance.
Al-Sadaty explains that Aouni captured with ease the complex socio-cultural references around Amin and transported them through dance onto the stage. "The choreographer has praised the female body; he uses it to express deep feelings."
Aouni is best known for his work over two decades with the Egyptian Modern Dance Theatre Company, during which time he served as its choreographer and artistic director. Since its founding in the early 1990s, the company has staged 26 performances designed by Aouni.
Though drawing on the 2010 performance, Qassem Amin - The Emanciation of the Women will include a number of modifications in the content of the performance.
After he stepped down from management of the troupe after the January 2011 revolution, Aouni returned with contributions to the “100 Years of Egyptian Art” celebration in June 2011, an event that filled the Cairo Opera House Main Hall with a range of shows, including Aouni’s “Egyptian Arts Centennial” show.
In November 2014, he choreographed and directed Stravinsky’s Firebird, with the Cairo Opera Ballet Company.
Programme:
2, 3, 5 February, 8pm
Cairo Opera House, Main Hall, Zamalek, Cairo
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