The Cairo Opera Ballet Company is the resident ballet company of the

Cairo Opera House The Cairo Opera House ( ar, دار الأوبرا المصرية, ''Dār el-Opera el-Masreyya''; literally "Egyptian Opera House"), part of Cairo's National Cultural Centre, is the main performing arts venue in the Egyptian capital. Home to mos ...

and a ballet school affiliated to Egypt's

Higher Institute of Ballet The Higher Institute of Ballet is one of the institutes of art at the Academy of Arts in Giza, Egypt. Establishment Established in 1962, Higher Institute of Ballet is a technical institute affiliated with the Ministry of Culture, issued in that P ...

. Its foundation began in 1958 during the presidency of

Gamal Abdel Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein, . (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian politician who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 and introduced far-re ...

through the efforts of Tharwat Okasha, Egypt's culture minister at the time, and

Leonid Lavrovsky Leonid Mikhailovich Lavrovsky (1905–1967) was a Russian ballet choreographer, most famous for choreographing the first full version of Sergei Prokofiev's ''Romeo and Juliet''. Early life Lavrovsky was born in 1905 in St. Petersburg, the son ...

, the former artistic director of the

Bolshoi Ballet The Bolshoi Ballet is an internationally renowned classical ballet company based at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia. Founded in 1776, the Bolshoi is among the world's oldest ballet companies. In the early 20th century, it came to internatio ...

, who took a group of Egyptian dancers to Russia for two years of training. At the time of its founding, it was the only Arab resident

classical ballet Classical ballet is any of the traditional, formal styles of ballet that exclusively employ classical ballet technique. It is known for its aesthetics and rigorous technique (such as pointe work, turnout of the legs, and high extensions), its ...

company in the Middle East. The Company director was Enayat Azmi. With a ballet school established, the company staged its first ballet production, '' The Fountain of Bakhshisarai'', at the

Khedivial Opera House The Khedivial Opera House or Royal Opera House ( ar, دار الأوبرا الخديوية / ALA-LC: ''Dār Awbirā al-Khudaywī'') was an opera house in Cairo, Egypt, the oldest opera house in all of Africa. It was inaugurated on 1 November 1 ...

in 1966. Nasser himself attended the ballet and awards were presented to the company's management, lead dancers Abdel Moneim Kamel and Aleya Abdel Razek. The company performed a full range of ballets from the

repertoire including ''

Don Quixote is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of Wester ...

'', ''

Paquita ''Paquita'' is a ballet in two acts and three scenes originally choreographed by Joseph Mazilier to music by Édouard Deldevez and Ludwig Minkus. Paul Foucher received royalties as librettist. History ''Paquita'' is the creation of French compo ...

'', ''

Giselle ''Giselle'' (; ), originally titled ''Giselle, ou les Wilis'' (, ''Giselle, or The Wilis''), is a romantic ballet (" ballet-pantomime") in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam. Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance canon, ...

'', ''

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoye ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, link=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failur ...

'', '' Le Corsaire'' and ''

Scheherazade Scheherazade () is a major female character and the storyteller in the frame narrative of the Middle Eastern collection of tales known as the ''One Thousand and One Nights''. Name According to modern scholarship, the name ''Scheherazade'' deri ...

''. In 1969 the Company hosted the

Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in ...

for a performance of ''Swan Lake'' at

pyramids A pyramid (from el, πυραμίς ') is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single step at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilate ...

Giza Giza (; sometimes spelled ''Gizah'' arz, الجيزة ' ) is the second-largest city in Egypt after Cairo and fourth-largest city in Africa after Kinshasa, Lagos and Cairo. It is the capital of Giza Governorate with a total population of 9.2 ...

. The destruction of the Khedivial Opera House by fire in 1971, followed by President

Anwar Sadat Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat, (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 ...

severing Egypt's ties with Russia in 1972, led to a serious decline of the company. The company and its ballet school had a resurgence following the construction of the new Cairo Opera House in 1988.Abouissa, Mona (2 February 2013)
"Ballet in Egypt enjoying an unexpected resurgence"
'' The National''. Retrieved 6 May 2015. Since 2004, Erminia Gambarelli Kamel has been the company's artistic director. Trained at the

La Scala Theatre Ballet School La Scala Theatre Ballet School ( it, Scuola di Ballo del Teatro alla Scala) is one of the leading classical ballet schools in the world and is the associate school of La Scala Theatre Ballet, an international ballet company based at La Scala in Mi ...

, Kamel joined the Cairo Opera Ballet Company as a

principal dancer A principal dancer (often shortened to principal) is a dancer at the highest rank within a professional dance company, particularly a ballet company. A principal may be male or female. The position is similar to that of '' soloist''; however, p ...

in 1982.Shawkat, Nabil (10 August)
Costume gallery"
'' The National''. Retrieved 6 May 2015.

References

External links

Official website
*Bar'el, Zvi (4 June 2013)
"Cairo Opera presents: The rite of the Arab Spring"
''

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner f ...

'' *ElDin, Dina Salah (16 June 2013)
"Burning Down The House: Artistic Freedom Under Fire In Egypt"

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

*Metwaly, Ati (14 March 2013)
"Requiem for a danseur noble: Abdel-Moneim Kamel"
'' Al-Ahram'' {{authority control Ballet schools Ballet companies in Egypt Culture in Cairo