Cairo: In recent years, Upper Egypt has often captured headlines due to militant violence and sectarian unrest between local Muslims and Christians. The area is also known for age-old conservative traditions.
But for Marco Adel, art holds the key to changing Upper Egypt’s image.
The 32-year-old law school graduate and art connoisseur, has cofounded the first ballet school in Upper Egypt, a move that has outraged local conservatives.
“We continue to be assailed and threatened on social networking media for opening this school,” Adel said. “Those who criticise us say this school is against traditions. They claim it also spreads debauchery and encourages nudity,” he told Gulf News in a telephone interview from Cairo.
“This is not true at all because art develops humans and refines their morals.”
Adel started the school last year as part of a bustling art centre in the province of Minya, around 240 kilometres south of Cairo.
The centre is self-financing, being reliant on revenues from its courses in music, acting, painting, photography and ballet.
“Despite harsh criticism from some people, there has been an increasing interest from parents to send their children to the school to learn ballet,” Adel said. “We started with 30 children and now the number has reached 150, most of them are girls. Some of them come from remote areas.”
Three female instructors, who are Minya natives, train the children — some of them are as little as four years old — in ballet skills.
The sky is the limit for Adel’s ambitions. “We are now preparing the children in order to present local ballet shows. We also plan to present shows outside Egypt.”
Adel said he has not received any official support since he and eight other university graduates set up the art centre two years ago. The co-founders have called the facility “Alwanat”, Arabic for colours, with their stated mission being to promote art and culture in Upper Egypt.
“We are introducing arts into Al Sa’id,” Adel said, using a common reference to Upper Egypt. “We are trying to break Cairo’s monopoly on arts, especially ballet.”
Parents of ballet trainees are supportive of and enthusiastic about the venture.
“When I read about the school on the Facebook, I did not hesitate and sign up for my five-year-old daughter there,” Sara Hussain, a mother, told private newspaper Al Youm Al Saba. “Her father did not object to this because ballet is a sport and our daughter is fond of it. She often imitated ballerinas’ movements.”
Sara said she is not concerned about the community’s perception of ballet. “The situation has now changed in Upper Egypt, which is becoming more receptive to arts,” she said.
“This school has not only fulfilled my daughter’s dream. As a child I also dreamed of learning ballet, but this was not possible at that time.”
