Lahcen Zinoun
Lahcen Zinoun (born in 1944) is a Moroccan choreographer, dancer and filmmaker. He is considered the greatest contemporary Moroccan choreographer.[1]
Biography
Zinoun was born in 1944 in La Cité ouvrière Socica[1] of Hay Mohammadi, Casablanca. His father was a Berber, he worked as a railroad worker.[2] In 1958, he entered the Conservatory of Casablanca where he eventually was drawn to dance. In 1964, he received a first prize in dance bestowed by the Conservatory; nevertheless, he was refused a scholarship to study dance abroad.[3] And when Lahcen's father found out that he was a student at the conservatory, he kicked him out of the family home. Zinoun went to Belgium because of his admiration of the dancer Maurice Béjart, where he became a danseur étoile in the Ballet royal de Wallonie. In 1973, he decided to return to Morocco to publicize this discipline and give it more recognition, but he was met with resistance. His return was also in order to reconcile with his father, who invited him to a wedding, and he said of his experience, "I saw my father dancing and I understood that we were united again".[2] In 1978, with his wife Michèle Barret, also a dancer, he founded a school and a dance troupe, entitled "Le Ballet-Théâtre Zinoun".[4] He tried to found the National Troupe of Traditional Dance, but the project was rejected by Hassan II. In an interview he said, "King Hassan II called me in order to tell me that in Morocco we don’t dance. Morocco was a country of men".[3] After all of these obstacles, he suffered from depression and turned to other artistic endeavors, including painting, as an emotional outlet. He started dancing again in 1991. The same year he founded a new school of dance in Casablanca in which his wife and sons have taught.[5] In 2003, he was named director of the Marrakech Festival of Popular Arts.[6]
Filmography
Year | Title | Credited as | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Director | Choreographer | |||
1982 | Les beaux jours de Shéhérazade | No | Yes | directed by Mostapha Derkaoui |
1988 | The Last Temptation of Christ | No | Yes | directed by Martin Scorsese |
1990 | The Sheltering Sky | No | Yes | directed by Bernardo Bertolucci |
1995 | Joseph | No | Yes | directed by Roger Young |
1996 | L'ombre du pharaon | No | Yes | directed by Souheil Ben-Barka |
1998 | Femmes... et femmes | No | Yes | directed by Saad Chraïbi |
2001 | Assamt | Yes | No | short film |
2002 | Piano | Yes | No | short film |
2003 | Faux pas | Yes | No | short film |
2007 | Oud l'ward ou la beauté éparpillée | Yes | No | first feature film
Co-written with Hicham lasri and Fatima Loukili |
2011 | Femme écrite | Yes | No | second feature film |
Honours
Knight of the Order of Leopold, 11 September 2003[7]
References
- "Lahcen Zinoun : «Un garçon comme moi n'avait pas le droit de pratiquer la danse»". Zamane. 2020-05-15. Retrieved 2020-05-17.
- Meillon, Hervé (2007-08-11). "Lahcen Zinoun, danseur". La Dernière Heure.
- Orlando, Valérie K. (2011-05-05). Screening Morocco: Contemporary Film in a Changing Society. Ohio University Press. p. 105. ISBN 978-0-89680-478-4.
- Nassef, Siham. "Lahcen Zinoun, "le corps libéré"". Outdoors. Retrieved 2020-05-17.
- Orlando, Valérie K. (2011-05-05). Screening Morocco: Contemporary Film in a Changing Society. Ohio University Press. p. 106. ISBN 978-0-89680-478-4.
- Howe, Marvine (2005). Morocco: The Islamist Awakening and Other Challenges. Oxford University Press, USA. p. 193. ISBN 978-0-19-516963-8.
- Alizart, Jocelyn. "lahcen zinoun". Ballets Wallonie Archives. Retrieved 2020-05-17.