Cairo Opera Ballet Company

The Cairo Opera Ballet Company is the resident ballet company of the Cairo Opera House and a ballet school affiliated to Egypt's Higher Institute of Ballet. Its foundation began in 1958 during the presidency of Gamal Abdel Nasser through the efforts of Tharwat Okasha, Egypt's culture minister at the time, and Leonid Lavrovsky, the former artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet, who took a group of Egyptian dancers to Russia for two years of training.[1] At the time of its founding, it was the only Arab resident classical ballet company in the Middle East.[2] The Company director was Enayat Azmi.[1]

Cairo Opera Ballet Company
General information
Name	Cairo Opera Ballet Company
Year founded	1958
Founders	Tharwat Okasha, Leonid Lavrovsky
Principal venue	Cairo Opera House
Senior staff
Chief Executive	Erminia Gambarelli Kamel

With a ballet school established, the company staged its first ballet production, The Fountain of Bakhshisarai, at the Khedivial Opera House 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 classical ballet repertoire including Don Quixote, Paquita, Giselle, Swan Lake, Le Corsaire and Scheherazade. In 1969 the Company hosted the Royal Ballet for a performance of Swan Lake at pyramids in Giza.[1]

The destruction of the Khedivial Opera House by fire in 1971, followed by President Anwar Sadat 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.[2]

Since 2004, Erminia Gambarelli Kamel has been the company's artistic director. Trained at the La Scala Theatre Ballet School, Kamel joined the Cairo Opera Ballet Company as a principal dancer in 1982.[3]

References

Snodgrass, Mary Ellen (2015-06-08). The Encyclopedia of World Ballet. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-4422-4526-6.
Abouissa, Mona (2 February 2013). "Ballet in Egypt enjoying an unexpected resurgence". The National. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
Shawkat, Nabil (10 August). Costume gallery". The National. Retrieved 6 May 2015.

External links

Official website
Bar'el, Zvi (4 June 2013). "Cairo Opera presents: The rite of the Arab Spring". Haaretz
ElDin, Dina Salah (16 June 2013). "Burning Down The House: Artistic Freedom Under Fire In Egypt". NPR
Metwaly, Ati (14 March 2013). "Requiem for a danseur noble: Abdel-Moneim Kamel". Al-Ahram

Ballet companies
Africa	Cairo Opera Ballet Company Cape Town City Ballet
Asia	Ballet Manila Ballet Philippines Guangzhou Ballet Hong Kong Ballet Iranian National Ballet Company Israel Ballet K-ballet Korea National Ballet National Ballet of China New National Theatre Tokyo Philippine Ballet Theatre Shanghai Ballet Company Singapore Dance Theatre State Ballet of Georgia Tokyo Ballet Universal Ballet
Europe	Ballet Cymru Ballet Romand Ballet Zürich Les Ballets Persans Ballets Russes Barcelona Ballet Bayerisches Staatsballett Béjart Ballet Berlin State Ballet Birmingham Royal Ballet Bolshoi Ballet Cork City Ballet Royal Danish Ballet Donetsk Ballet Dutch National Ballet Eifman Ballet English National Ballet Finnish National Ballet Sukhishvili Georgian National Ballet Greek National Opera Hamburg Ballet Hungarian National Ballet Kiev Ballet La Scala Theatre Ballet Mariinsky Ballet Mikhailovsky Theatre Ballet National Opera and Ballet Theatre of Moldova The Monte-Carlo Ballet National Opera and Ballet of Bulgaria Northern Ballet Norwegian National Opera and Ballet Novosibirsk Theatre Ballet Original Ballet Russe Paris Opera Ballet Perm Theatre Ballet Polish National Ballet National Ballet of Portugal The Royal Ballet Rambert Dance Company Russian State Ballet of Siberia Saint Petersburg Ballet Theatre Scottish Ballet Spanish National Dance Company Stanislavski Ballet Stuttgart Ballet Royal Swedish Ballet Théâtre du Silence Turkish State Opera and Ballet Vienna State Ballet
North America	Alabama Ballet Alameda Civic Ballet Alberta Ballet Company Alexandra Ballet Alonzo King LINES Ballet American Ballet Theatre American Midwest Ballet American Repertory Ballet Anaheim Ballet Aspen Santa Fe Ballet Atlanta Ballet Atlanta Festival Ballet Ballet Arizona Ballet Austin Ballet BC Ballet Des Moines Ballet Fantastique Ballet Hispanico Ballet Magnificat! Ballet Memphis BalletMet Ballet Minnesota Ballet Nouveau Colorado Ballet Quad Cities Ballet San Jose Ballet Theatre of Maryland Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo Ballet West Ballez Bay Pointe Ballet Boston Ballet Les Grands Ballets Canadiens California Riverside Ballet Carolina Ballet Charlotte Ballet Chicago Ballet Chicago Festival Ballet Cincinnati Ballet Cleveland Ballet Colorado Ballet Complexions Contemporary Ballet Cuban National Ballet Dance Theatre of Harlem Dayton Ballet Greensboro Ballet Houston Ballet Joffrey Ballet Kansas City Ballet Los Angeles Ballet Louisville Ballet Moscow Ballet (United States) National Ballet of Canada National Ballet Theater of Puerto Rico New Jersey Ballet New York City Ballet Oklahoma City Ballet Oregon Ballet Theatre Pacific Northwest Ballet Pennsylvania Ballet Pittsburgh Ballet Royal Winnipeg Ballet San Francisco Ballet The Washington Ballet Tulsa Ballet
Oceania	The Australian Ballet Ballet Theatre of Queensland Queensland Ballet Melbourne City Ballet Royal New Zealand Ballet West Australian Ballet
South America	Ballet Municipal de Lima Chilean National Ballet Colon Theater Ballet National Ballet of Uruguay

Schools of professional ballet
Europe	Académie Royale de Danse Central School of Ballet Royal Danish Ballet school Elmhurst Ballet School English National Ballet School John Cranko Schule La Scala Theatre Ballet School Lviv State Choreographic School Moscow State Academy of Choreography The National Ballet Academy of Amsterdam Perm State Choreographic College Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance Royal Ballet School Royal Swedish Ballet School Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet
Americas	Canada's National Ballet School Cuban National Ballet School Goh Ballet Academy Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School Kirov Academy of Ballet Pacific Northwest Ballet School The Rock School for Dance Education Royal Winnipeg Ballet School San Francisco Ballet School School of American Ballet
Other	Tokyo Ballet K-ballet Cairo Opera Ballet Company Higher Institute of Ballet Australian Ballet School Beijing Dance Academy Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts The Music and Ballet School of Baghdad

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