Cairo Contemporary Dance Center

Cairo Contemporary Dance Center (CCDC) is an independent space for contemporary dance in Egypt. It’s the first contemporary dance school in Africa and the Middle East, offering a 3-year full-time professional training program for young dancers, choreographers and dance teachers.^[1] It also provides artistic residencies, as well as open classes and workshops in different kinds of dance and activities.

History

Cairo Contemporary Dance Center was founded in 2012 by Karima Mansour, under the patronage of the Egyptian Ministry of Culture, at the Creativity Center on the ground of Cairo Opera House.^[2][3][4]

It moved to its current location in January 2014, and currently operates as an independent project under the umbrella of MAAT for Contemporary Art.^[5]

The school

Cairo Contemporary Dance Center was the first professional contemporary dance full-time school in Africa and the Arab world. The 3-year full-time professional training program is officially recognized by the UNESCO International Dance Council.^[6] The first generation of students graduated in June 2015, and a new generation started the three year program in September 2016.

CCDC welcomes every year a diversity of international and Egyptian teachers, including Laurance Rudic,^[7] Vincent Mantsoe,^[8] Mark Tompkins, Olivier Dubois,^[8] and Claude Brumachon.^[8]

Other activities

In addition to its professional training, CCDC also offers to the general public open classes and workshops for adults and children in several disciplines covering dance, martial arts and other activities.^[9] Workshops are also regularly organized with invited local and international artists, in different disciplines including contemporary dance, contact improvisation, acting, tango,^[10] and yoga.

Cairo Contemporary Dance Center participates in the independent contemporary art scene in Egypt, and regularly organizes performances or dance presentations. In the recent years, CCDC has participated in or organized the following events:

• Hal Badeel Arts Festival (April 2013)^[11][2]
• Kalamonology exhibition at Cairo’s Ofok Gallery (May 2013)^[2]
• Contemporary Dance Night 2013 (November 2013)^[2]
• The Platform, 1st edition, an international gathering of dancers from all over the world (December 2014)^[12]
• D-CAF (April 2015)^[13]
• Dance in Transit/ Mahatat (February 2016)^[14]
• Rough Stage/ French Institute (November 2016)^[15]
• Abla Fahita TV show/ Radio Theater (January 2018)^[16]
• The Platform, 2nd edition/ El Nahda Jesuit Cairo (December 2018)^[17]
• The Platform, 3r edition/ French Institute, Cimatheque, and Zawya (April 2019)^[18][19]
• Karima Mansour to write International Dance Day message (April 2019)^[20][21][22]

'5 ra2s' Festival

In February 2017, CCDC organized the '5 ra2s' festival, to celebrate the graduation of the first generation of students from its full-time training program and its 5th anniversary.^[23] Many events took place in various independent art spaces in Cairo, such as Zawya cinema, Zigzag club or Room Art Space and Cafe.^[24]

MAAT Kicks Off

Founded in Cairo by artist and choreographer Karima Mansour, MAAT Contemporary Dance Company is the first Egyptian independent dance company of its kind. MAAT will introduce its new format in May 2018, after having grown significantly in scope and depth in the two decades since its creation in 1999.

(The name of the dance company itself, MAAT, is a reference to the ancient Egyptian goddess of truth, justice, cosmic awareness, and self-awareness who was also attributed with regulating the seasons and the movement of the stars. Egypt was once referred to as the “Land of the Nile and Maat.”)

Since 1999 until now, MAAT presented more than 20 dance performance, MAAT‘s primary aims are introducing contemporary dance to local and international audiences, but also creating opportunities for audiences to form a deep appreciation for contemporary arts in general–and contemporary dance in particular. Moreover, MAAT actively participates in cultivating new and dynamic concepts concerning the general perception of all kinds of contemporary art.

MAAT actively supports the local contemporary dance scene in Egypt and networks regionally and internationally with performers, choreographers, instructors, and academic theorists.

MAAT combines theories and practices from around the globe and considers them in their respective social and political contexts. The company then expertly adapts and integrates them into an Egyptian contemporary dance context. MAAT’s performances themselves are primarily produced in collaboration with the graduates of the full-time professional training program of the Cairo Contemporary Dance Center (CCDC).

MAAT Dance Company Relaunch Event: In May 2018 MAAT Dance Company relaunched in its new format by performing three different productions, The launching took place at AUC Falaki Theater and Gallery. For 6 days in a row, MAAT’s performances were kicked off with full house daily attendance with an estimation of 1368 audience in total as per maximum theatre capacity.^[25][26][27]

References

1. "Cairo Contemporary Dance Center - drosos(…) Foundation". drosos(…). Retrieved 2017-01-25.
2. "Contemporary Dance Center up in the air". مدى مصر. Retrieved 2017-01-25.
3. "Contemporary dance programme in peril". Daily News Egypt. 2013-07-07. Retrieved 2017-01-25.
4. "The Right to Dance". Cairo Scene. Retrieved 2017-01-25.
5. "The Arduous Journey to An Egyptian Contemporary Dance Utopia". Cairo Scene. Retrieved 2017-01-25.
6. "Register of Members". www.cid-portal.org. Retrieved 2017-01-25.
7. "The promising future of contemporary dance". Daily News Egypt. 2013-03-10. Retrieved 2017-01-25.
8. . etrigg.com. Archived from the original on 2016-12-20. Retrieved 2017-01-25.
9. "CCDC Open Classes, Workshops and Activities!". TotallyEgypt. Retrieved 2017-01-25.
10. "A Taste of Tango in the Heart of Cairo". Cairo Scene. Retrieved 2017-01-25.
11. "Cairo's Hal Badeel festival ends on a positive note with bright future ahead - Stage & Street - Arts & Culture - Ahram Online". english.ahram.org.eg. Retrieved 2017-01-25.
12. "Cairo's Contemporary Dance Meets the Rest of the World". Cairo Scene. Retrieved 2017-01-25.
13. Dancers Flood Sednaoui
14. "Mahatat to infuse Egyptian city streets with contemporary dance - Stage & Street - Arts & Culture - Ahram Online". english.ahram.org.eg. Retrieved 2017-01-25.
15. "Dancing as Palestine's resistance: 'Rough Stage' at Egypt's European Panorama - Arts & Culture - Ahram Online". english.ahram.org.eg. Retrieved 2017-01-25.
16. "El Duplex". Youtube.com (in Arabic). Retrieved 2018-01-12.
17. "The Platform". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2018-12-23.
18. "MAAT Contemporary Dance Company to Begin "The Platform" 3rd Edition This Saturday". egyptianstreets.com. Retrieved 2019-04-12.
19. "CONTEMPORARY DANCE FESTIVAL 'THE PLATFORM' RETURNS FOR THIRD EDITION THIS WEEKEND". cairoscene.me. Retrieved 2019-04-11.
20. "The International Dance Day Message". www.international-dance-day.org. Retrieved 2019-04-29.
21. "The Message" (PDF). www.international-dance-day.org. Retrieved 2019-04-29.
22. . gate.ahram.org.eg (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 2019-05-03. Retrieved 2019-04-29.
23. "CCDC to hold 5 ra2s festival". Ahram Hebdo. Retrieved 2017-01-23.
24. "CCDC celebrates the end of 5 ra2s". Daily News Egypt. Retrieved 2017-02-22.
25. "غدًا..إطلاق فرقة "معت" للرقص المعاصر على مسرح الفلكي". www.elwatannews.com (in Arabic). Retrieved 2018-05-09.
26. "كريمة منصور تقدم "من قال شيئًا عن الرقص؟"...من الجيد أن نحلم". www.tahrirnews.com (in Arabic). Retrieved 2018-05-12.
27. "MAAT KICKS OFF: LAS BERNARDAS CONTEMPORARY DANCE AT CAIRO'S FALAKI THEATRE". thetheatretimes.com. Retrieved 2018-06-19.

External links

• Official website
• Cairo Contemporary Dance Center on Facebook
• Cairo Urban Initiatives Platform review of CCDC
• review of CCDC