Renowned Egypt ballet pair to perform Coppelia at International Dance Gala in Italy

Ahram Online , Tuesday 5 Apr 2016

Anja Ahcin and Ahmed Yehia will take part in the gala evening of the Interdanza project that brings international ballet dancers to Italy's port city Livorno

Coppelia
Anja Ahcin (Swanhilde) and Ahmed Yehia (Franz) perform on the first night of Coppélia ballet, on 20 October 2015. (Photo: courtesy of the Cairo Opera House)

Anja Ahcin and Ahmed Yehia, first dancers of the Cairo Opera Ballet Company, will perform during the 4th edition of Interdanza, an annual event organised by Italy's Arts4all Intercultural Association in Livorno, which runs throughout April and until 4 May.

Ahcin and Yehia will dance in leading roles in Coppelia, a ballet to music by L. Delibes and choreographed by Valentin Bartes.

Coppelia is part of the series of events planned for this year's Interdanza, a project which, according to its website, aims "to primarily promote the practice and knowledge of dance and its related arts (music, literature , visual and expressive arts) and culture at large, involving dance students of different nationalities led by well-known teachers and supported by international professional dancers."

The final gala concert will be held at Teatro Goldoni of Livorno as part of the celebration of International Dance Week.

Coppelia, performed by the professional dancers  and joined by the students will be performed in the second half of the evening, culminating the dance weeks.

The first half will include a series of performances staged by the various participating schools and choreography obtained as a result of work performed during the choreographic modern and contemporary laboratory.

In Coppelia, the Egyptian Yehia, in the role of Franz, and Egypt-based Serbian ballerina Anja Ahcin, in the role of his fiancée Swanhilda, will be accompanied by Romanian choreographer Valentin Bartes dancing Coppélius.

It is worth noting that Coppelia, which included Yehia, Ahcin and Bartes, was staged at the Cairo Opera House in October 2015 and was one of the most remarkable recent productions by the Egyptian company.

Yehia and Ahcin are probably the best-known ballet pair in Egypt. Both first dancers of the Cairo Opera Ballet Company, managed by artistic director Erminia Kamel, they have created many of iconic duets together.

Their skills took them onto international stages, most recently performing a segment of the Romeo and Juliet ballet during the closing gala of the International Ballet and Contemporary Dance Competition Domenico Modugno in Bari, Italy last March.

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