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

References
  1. "Lahcen Zinoun : «Un garçon comme moi n'avait pas le droit de pratiquer la danse»". Zamane. 2020-05-15. Retrieved 2020-05-17.
  2. Meillon, Hervé (2007-08-11). "Lahcen Zinoun, danseur". La Dernière Heure.
  3. 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.
  4. Nassef, Siham. "Lahcen Zinoun, "le corps libéré"". Outdoors. Retrieved 2020-05-17.
  5. 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.
  6. Howe, Marvine (2005). Morocco: The Islamist Awakening and Other Challenges. Oxford University Press, USA. p. 193. ISBN 978-0-19-516963-8.
  7. Alizart, Jocelyn. "lahcen zinoun". Ballets Wallonie Archives. Retrieved 2020-05-17.
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