Afro-Cuban beats For three consecutive days, the Lizt Alfonso Ballet Dance Cuba impressed Cairo Opera House Main Hall goers with "Strength and Beat", a show that incorporates classical pieces like "Malaguena" and "Gypsy Ways" composed by the famous Cuban maestro Ernesto Lecuona in his work "Suite Andalucia". Made up only of female dancers, the company impressed the audience with mixed elements of traditional Spanish flamenco and ballet with a repertoire full of strength, virtuosity and Latin sensuality. The bold flamenco rhythms form an important part of this company that also includes fusion-style music like "From the Earth and the Air", melting sounds into a heady mix with ever present powerful Afro-Cuban beats transmitting to the audience a deep sense of cultural celebration. Sherif Sonbol captured the ambiance on camera. Asala (L-r) Zaki, Taher and Nada (L-r) Heneidi, Abul-Seoud and Koujak at the ART ceremony Abdel-Nour photos: Abdel-Hamid Eid ART Network Satellite Channels held its fifth annual celebration at the Grand Hyatt's Farhati Hall honouring a galaxy of Egyptian and Arab cinema and TV stars. The ceremony was presided over by prominent ART anchors Safaa Abul-Seoud and Karim Koujak who distributed the awards. Honoured at the ceremony were veteran actors Kamal El-Shennawi and Laila Taher, late actor and director El-Sayed Radi, beautiful Lebanese actress Serene Abdel-Nour, comedians Mohamed Heneidi, Ashraf Abdel-Baqi and Maged El-Kedwani, actors Ghada Adel, Leqaa El-Khamisi, Joumana Mourad, Sherry, Sherif Mounir and Ahmed Shaker, gifted singers Samira Said, Asala, Wael Gassar and Tamer Hosni, producer Adel Adib, music composer Yasser Abdel-Rahman, talented scripter Youssef Maati and veteran TV director Magdi Abu Emeira. The Arab Theatre Festival held the inaugural of its first round under the auspices of Culture Minister Farouk Hosni and the ruler of Sharja Sheikh Sultan Al-Qasimi at the Cairo Opera House Main Hall. Twelve Arab countries participated in the festival that honoured theatre director Ahmed Zaki as one of the pioneers of Arab theatre. Head of the Egyptian Actors Union and president of the festival Ashraf Zaki, head of the General Department of Culture and Media in Sharja Abdallah Al-Owassi and his deputy Ismail Abdallah, veteran theatre icon Samiha Ayoub, Syrian actor Asaad Fadda, actors Ahmed Abdel-Wareth and Tawfiq Abdel-Hamid and Palestinian actor Ghassan Mattar were all present. The American University in Cairo (AUC) celebrated recently its first alumni homecoming on the New Cairo campus, a four- day event that began with a reception for alumni from Egypt and those travelling from countries such as Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon, Tunisia, France, Belgium, England and the United States. More than 3,200 alumni and family members attended the event, where they had the chance to celebrate the new campus with the lighting of a torch. Classes were grouped by decade, starting from the 1940s to the current graduating class. The torch, carried from one end of Bartlett Plaza to the other, was relayed from one alumni representing one group of classes to the next, and was eventually handed to the university's current Student Union president, Mohamed Ali. Highlights of the weekend's events were band and dance performances, programmes for children, a raffle, the lighting of the flame and torch relay; and a sports tournament with students, alumni and faculty members held at the new campus sports complex. A gala dinner-dance marked the closing of the celebrations, held in the Moataz Al-Alfi Hall accompanied by a live performance by the Riff band and AUC graduate pop singer Mahmoud El-Esseili. During the course of the evening, Distinguished Alumni Awards were distributed to Mervat El-Kaffass, class of '80 and president of Nile TV, and Karim Ramadan, class of '88 and general manager of Microsoft Egypt, in addition to AUC's Associate Vice-President for Alumni Affairs and Special Advisor to the President Mary Iskander, class of '76. photo: Bassam El-Zoghby "The Poetry of Words... The Poetry of Images" is the title of an exhibition opened by head of the Egyptian Writers' Union Mohamed Salmawy, head of the Fine Arts Sector Mohsen Shaalan, along with Egyptian artist Walid Taher and his Italian counterpart Lucia Sforza at the Gezira Arts Centre. Curated by Carmine Siniscalco, the exhibition showcases works on paper by Taher and Sforza for Salmawy 's book The Sycamore Tree published in Egypt by Dar Al-Shorouq, Cairo (2003) and in Italy by Falzea Editore, Naples (2008). The Sycamore Tree is a book full of messages and allegories -- a magical collection of tales, indeed a saga on the importance of ethical values that are a man's patrimony independent from the latitude and longitude of his habitat. A seminar was held at the Catholic Centre with Father Boutros Daniel hosting veteran beloved comedian Adel Imam discussing his long film career that enriched Egyptian cinema for the past 40 years. Imam was granted the centre's shield of recognition. At the end of the seminar, Imam 's audience and fans celebrated his birthday in the presence of his close friend, actress Lebleba. Harpocrates Publishing House, presided over by Lotfi Mahmoud, held a book signing ceremony at the Garden City Club for three new books about Egypt written by three American authors. The first is by Alan Smart under the title The Lost Alexandria. The second is Fayoum, compiled by Pierre Gazio. The third is Siwa by Allan Blonner. A battery of media figures and writers attended the ceremony, including former president of the Nile Entertainment Egyptian channel Salma El-Shamaa, journalist Nabil Zaki, and Al-Ahram writer Gamal Zayda along with a bevy of publishers. Mohamed Abul-Azayem won second place at the World Gold Council competition in the modern jewellery category that is known as "The Gold Oscar". The award went to Abul-Azayem for his gold necklace design that was chosen among 10,000 sketcked designs from around the Middle East. The 30 first designs were chosen on the basis of blending authenticity and modernity, and were remodelled as gold pieces of exquisite beauty. The awards were distributed at a press conference held in Dubai. Swine flu awareness sessions were held for all Ramses Hilton team members in order to increase their awareness of the dangers of swine flu. The sessions were conducted by Ramses Hilton Training Manager Amany Mounir, including an explanation of swine flu symptoms, how the virus is transmitted and the precautionary measures. More than 800 team members attended the awareness sessions. A flyer was distributed among the attendees and many informative posters were displayed on team member notice boards. Minister of State for Environmental Affairs Maged George decided to establish a Youth Unit at his ministry to be headed by Wael Mohamed Reda. The Youth Unit will offer training courses to graduate youth cadres on environment related issues. It will also hold workshops to train youth on environmental activities such as tree planting. photos: Ayman Barayez Another well-attended book signing ceremony and poetic evening took place at Haneen Bookstore in Garden City to celebrate the new collection of poems entitled Bab Wahed wa Manazel (One Door and Houses) written by talented poet and Al-Ahram Nisf Al-Donia magazine writer Ahmed El-Shahawi. Published by the Egyptian-Lebanese Publishing House, the book comprises 60 poems. Attended by author and founder of Shemou salon Lotus Abdel-Kerim, writers Nawal Mustafa and Ashraf Amer, the event was enlivened by the performance of singer Ahmed El-Tawila. photo: Soha Hesham This week, the activities of the Fifth National Traditional Handicrafts Festival took place in the historically significant district of Al-Ghouriya -- specifically Al-Ghouri Caravansary, Beit Al-Aini and Al-Ghouri Dome. The programme of the festival included a fashion show for traditional and ancient costumes, a plastic arts exhibition, a performance by Ismailia Folk Dance Troupe, a children's workshop to train them on several kinds of handicrafts, a potter moulding clay in front of a live audience, a seminar on Al-Khayamiya -- a handicraft that is threatened by extinction -- held by artists Mustafa El-Razaz and Sirya Abdel-Razeq. In addition, there were dance performances by Al-Tanoura Whirling Dervishes and the Oriental Troupe for Folk Arts. The festival that concludes its five-day activities today is organised under the supervision of Nahed Rostom, director of the Central Administration for Art Production Centres.
