TransDance 2012- Egypt Dances

Event Details

Dr. Magda Saleh’s anthropologic film classic Egypt Dances revisits Egyptian dance history from quasi-animist rituals to religious dances and traditional or modern forms of movement. The film was produced in the 1970’s and since then has been regarded as an important document of a country’s movement heritage. Dr. Saleh presents parts of the film, with discussions on the different dance forms the film presents.

Dr. Magda Saleh
studied as a Classic Ballet dancer in Cairo under teachers and choreographers from the England, Egypt and Russia, and became the prima-Ballerina to the Khedevian Opera House in Cairo, and danced with the Bolshoi in Russia. After the tragic destruction of the Opera House in 1971, Dr. Saleh moved to the States, where she studied at UCLA, and later moved to New York City where she focused on dance anthropology and history. With the New Cairo Opera House Establishment, she returned to Egypt as Director of the Opera House, and returned to  New York City to research historical practices around dance.

TransDance is Egypt’s only international festival for contemporary dance, choreography and performance. It is set within transdisciplinary contexts and invites artists to question the mobility of practice and medium. TransDance is produced by HaRaKa for Dance Development and Research. The festival is curated by Adham Hafez, in collaboration with dramaturge Ismail Fayed and managed by Ahmad Moez, the festival takes place in theatres, galleries, lecture halls, public buses, gardens, work studios and kitchens between three continents. It curated by Adham Hafez, celebrates its fifth edition this year with its largest program ever in Cairo, and includes satellite events in Alexandria,  Marseilles, Minia and New York City. The festival hosts an international program of performances, talks, workshops, panels, installations and film screenings

This program is presented as part of the New York edition of TransDance and in collaboration with ArteEast, HaRaKa, and in collaboration with Residency Unlimited and Center for Performance Research.