Body language The Szeged Contemporary Dance Company is scheduled to perform Philosophy of Bodies and Carmina Burana at Al-Gumhouriya Theatre starting tonight, and will take the ballets to the Sayed Darwish Theatre in Alexandria on Saturday. A Hungarian troupe, Szeged was founded in 1987 by the choreographer Zoltan Imre. Since 1993 it has been directed by Andras Pataki and Tamas Juronics, and is the leading contemporary dance company in Hungary. Its choreography focuses on varied and fast sequences of movement, powerful theatrical images and personal virtuosity. The Egypt performances celebrate the start of Hungary's presidency of the EU. ( see Listings p.5 ) Last Saturday, the German University in Cairo (GUC) held a dinner on campus for MP Stefan Kaufmann, member of the Panel of Education, Research and Technological Impact in Germany. Kaufmann expressed pride in the university's industrial complex and its high educational standards, pointing out that his visit to Cairo was motivated by the drive to enhance educational cooperation between Egypt and Germany through the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) as well as the GUC. Present at the dinner party were the President of the GUC Ashraf Mansour and many high- profile figures including the editor of Al-Ahram's magazine Nisf Al-Donia Afkar El-Kharadli. photos: Abdel-Hamid Eid El Sawy Culturewheel held a vigil to mourn victims of the bombing of Alexandria's Two Saints Church on New Year's Eve under the slogan "Either We Live Together or Die Together". The event, presided over by the director of El Sawy Mohamed El-Sawy, included discussions of sectarian strife in Egypt and how to deal with it. The Cinema Palace in Garden City held a seminar to discuss "national unity" under the slogan "Egypt: One Element", organised by actor and head of the palace Tamer Abdel-Moneim. Present were the head of the General Organisation of Culture Palaces Ahmed Megahed, dramatist Lenein El-Ramli, and painter Samir Abdel-Moneim. The head of the People's Assembly Foreign Relations Committee Mustafa El-Fiqi, journalist Moufid Fawzi, Editor-in-Chief of Rose El-Youssef newspaper Abdallah Kamal and actress Lebleba were keynote speakers. The much talked about film Al-Shawq (Lust), written by Sayed Ragab and directed Khaled El-Hagar, premiered at the Nile City Cinema in the presence of cast members including Sawsan Badr, who received the best actress award at the 34th Cairo Film Festival for her role in the film. Al-Shawq also features Merihan, Doaa Teama, the pop singer Roubi as well as Mohamed Ramadan and Ahmed Kamal. Actors Ahmed Maher, Ingy Sharaf, Aiten Amer, Hassan El-Raddad, Hani Adel and director Sameh Abdel-Aziz were present at the screening. Actor Khaled Abul-Naga paid a visit to the injured at the Alexandria bombing, expressing his sorrow and calling the incident "disgraceful". The cast of the film 678 gave a seminar on sexual harassment at El Sawy Culturewheel in the presence of El Sawy director Mohamed El-Sawy. Written and directed by Mohamed Diab, the film stars Boushra, Nelly Karim, Nahed El-Sebaai, Sawsan Badr, Maged El-Kedwani, Bassem Samra and Ahmed El-Feshawi. Actress Raghda has made a strong stage comeback with Bilkais, also featuring Ahmed Salama, Ahmed Abdel-Wareth, Samira Abdel-Aziz, Noheir Amin, Ahdi Sadek and Mufid Ashour and directed by Ahmed Abdel-Halim. With support from the Minister of Higher Education Hani Hilal and in cooperation with the US Embassy, the Augustana College Band of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, is touring Egypt from 10 to 28 January. Concerts will be held at Cairo University, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Tanta University, Assiut University and the Conference Centre at the Mubarak Police Academy. Members of the Augustana Band will also work with local partners at Wings Tours to learn about Egyptian culture, meet with Egyptian musicians and visit celebrated venues in Cairo, Alexandria and Luxor. Brad Heegel, Augustana College's director of special projects who led the band's three previous tours, is excited to share this new itinerary with a new group of students. "We're travelling with 71 students, and have an additional 19 alumni travelling with us," said Heegel. (Concerts are free and open to the public and will start at 6pm. See Listings p.5 for more details) A delegation of actors attended the Coptic Christmas mass in Zamalek. They included Issaad Younis, Olfat Imam and Noha El-Amrousi.
