TWENTY-FIVE troupes from ten countries will dance and let your heart dance in Egypt from June 16 to July 5. The troupes, from three continents, will be participating in the 11th Egyptian International Modern Dance Festival. They will be performing at six venues in Cairo and Alexandria: the Main Hall, Small Hall and Open Air Theatre at the Cairo Opera House, the Creativity Centre in the Cairo Opera House grounds and the Gomhuria Theatre in Abdeen, and Sayyed Darweesh Theatre at Alexandria Opera House. This year's session is held under the theme “Dance and Make your Heart Dance”. Walid Aouni, the artistic director of the festival, says this theme reflects the message that the festival is going to deliver, with the dancers vying to find different ways to express themselves through dance. He adds that, over the past eleven years, the festival has developed considerably, contributing greatly to modern dance in Egypt. Fifteen of the 25 troupes are Egyptian, with the opening performance being “Women of Kassem Amin” by the Egyptian Modern Dance Company, directed by Walid Aouni. This year's session will include troupes from France, Tunisia, Sudan, USA, Switzerland, Greece, Turkey, Germany and Chad. This year, a number of films containing dance scenes will be screened in the Creativity Centre. On the sidelines of the festival, there will be an exhibition of photographs taken at previous sessions of the festival, which will also honour a group of personalities who have contributed to modern dance in Egypt. The first session of the festival was held in 1999 with the aim of putting Egypt in touch with the latest global developments in this art form. Since then, more than 70 troupes from around the world have participated in the festival.
