Esmat Yehia, the former dean of the Higher Institute of Ballet and president of the Academy of Arts, died early Tuesday following a sudden health crisis, the Ministry of Culture revealed. The Minister of Culture Ines Abdel Dayem said that Egypt's creative world has lost one of its prominent icons in art and academic education, adding that the Yehia was like "the father figure, friend and teacher for many artists." Born in Cairo, on 20 October, 1948, Yehia was a ballet dancer, ballet teacher, and choreographer. He studied ballet at the Higher Institute of Ballet, under Russian teachers. He later taught at the Institute and served as its dean between 1999 and 2004. Yehia taught dance at the Higher Institute for Folkloric Art, where he was appointed dean in 2005, a post that he held until 2009. He was also General Manger of The Academy of Arts between 2006 and 2008. Yehia directed many ballet performances. He also worked on choreography for theatre, cinema and television alongside creating choreography for nymerous national occasions. strong style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13px;"For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArtsstrong style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13px;" and on Facebook at strong style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13px;"Ahram Online: Arts & Culture
