The Egyptian Modern Dance Theatre Company

Walid Aouni

Walid Aouni is the founder and director of the Cairo Opera House's Modern Dance Theatre Group and he can look back at over 20 years of success in the world of dance theatre

Featured in more than 1,200 articles and interviews, Aouni is characterised as one of the most controversial directors and choreographers, forever seeking the unusual and enigmatic, forever turning the expected into the unexpected. Although many of his interpretations are shrouded in mystery they are never devoid of genuine feelings. His career began in Brussels where he founded the Tanit Dance Theatre in 1980. His first performance dealt with philosopher Gobran Khalil Gobran, followed by his own interpretation of such varied concepts as Sigmund Freud's ideas, or classic works like Romeo & Juliet. Other productions were Correspondents, Flashback, Number 9, Raba'a El-Adaweya, Souf, Republic of ISME and The Second Day of Hiroshima

In 1988, Tanit Dance Theatre was chosen to stage the inaugural performance for the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris which it did with Abdel Wahab El-Bayatti and The Seven Doors.

Between 1983 and 1990, Aouni worked as a scenographer, set and costume designer with Maurice Béjart, the famous choreographer and director. Performances included A Soldier’s Story, Mass from the Future, Béjart's creation on the songs of Edith Piaf, Paris-Tokyo, Haraguru, and Pyramid-Al Nour which was also staged at the Cairo Opera House in 1990.

Apart from dance performances Aouni directed several plays by Belgian playwrights including Philippe Panier’s Golden Beaches, Thorax, Sagress, and Sophocles by Night.

Between 1990 and 1991, Aouni directed and choreographed for the Cairo Opera Ballet the works Rhythm of Generations and The Three Nights of the Sphinx. He also produced Zanket Al-Namouss in Tunis. 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. The newly established group gave its first performances with Contradictions and The Fall of Icarus.

In 1994, the group staged Excavations of Agatha, and Elephants Hide to Die in 1995. The latter won Best Scenography at the Seventh Cairo International Experimental Theatre Awards.

Between 1994 and 1997, Aouni produced his famous trilogy Coma on Naguib Mahfouz, The Last Interview on Tahia Halim and The Desert of Shady Abdel-Salam, a tribute to he late unique cinematographer. Other famous productions include At the Beginning … there was Dance (1998), Prova 98, The Song of the Whales, Scarecrow (1999), and Shahrazad-Korsakov (2000).

Aouni also directed several performances for the Ministry of Culture including Nights of Thebes which took place in Luxor, and a special performance for the opening ceremony of the Nubian Museum in Aswan. Another internationally televised performance by Aouni was the gala show on the Giza plateau celebrating the completed restoration of the Sphinx. Likewise, Aouni was commissioned to create pomp and ceremony shows for the 6th of October celebrations among them Peace Message, which were performed on the banks of the Suez Canal, Markeb El-Watan, and Volcano.

He produced his own modern interpretation of Donizetti’s Don Pasquale for the American University in Cairo, and to rouse the interest of the youngest he produced his version of Jungle Book, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Titanic and the Little Prince. Aouni received numerous international awards and decorations from France, Belgium as well as the Honorary Knight Order from the Republic of Lebanon and a Distinguished Shield of Honour from the Egyptian army. In 1997, Aouni was chosen Best Theatre Director of the year by Al-Akhbar newspaper.

Among the many stage and cinema directors Walid Aouni collaborated with in his 20 years of art performances are such international celebrities as Maurice Béjart, Jacques Lasalle, Vittorio Rossi, Youssef Shahin and Joe Malkonian. He is currently director of the Festival of Modern Dance Theatre founded in 1998 by the Ministry of Culture and the Cairo Opera House.