Walid Aouni
Choreographer, Director & Scenographer
Between 1993 and 2011 Walid Aouni directed more than 25 shows for the Egyptian Modern Dance company at the Cairo Opera House, and also created numerous celebratory ceremonies for the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Armed Forces, as well as for national celebrations.
Walid Aouni began his career in Belgium in the 1980’s, where he studied “Graphic Arts” and Fine Arts at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels. In 1980 he created his first dance theatre group named “Tanit Dance Theatre”, and in 1988, staged the inaugural performance for Arab World Institute in Paris with it. Being recognized as a modern dance choreographer by the Ministry of Culture in Belgium, during this period he choreographed and directed 8 highly successful shows.
Aouni worked for 9 years as a scenographer with the famous international choreographer Maurice Bejart, and first visited Egypt with him in 1990. In 1993 Mr. Farouk Hosny, the former Egyptian Minister of Culture, engaged him to establish the first group of modern dance for the Cairo Opera House, which was also the first of its kind in any Arab country.
Between 1993 and 2011 Walid Aouni directed more than 25 shows for the Egyptian Modern Dance company at the Cairo Opera House, and also created numerous celebratory ceremonies for the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Armed Forces, as well as for national celebrations such as the opening ceremony of the restored Sphinx in 2012, the opening ceremony of the Nubian Museum in Aswan, the centennial Festival for Modern Dance, and the opening of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. In 2005, he designed the inauguration of “African Games” Championship in Egypt, in 2007 the inauguration of the “Arabic Games” Championship and the tenth anniversary celebration of the reign of the King of Bahrain in 2009.
His name has been included in the encyclopaedia for Arabic theatre, and he has worked with numerous celebrities in the fields of show business and cinema. Walid Aouni has worked with international cinema and theatre directors such us Maurice Bejart, Jean-Michel Jarre, Jacques Lassalle, Victoria Rossi, Youssef Chahine, Joceline Saab, Inas El Deghedy, Wahid Hamed, Joe Malconian and Italian director Alberto Corno.
Walid Aouni won several Egyptian international prizes and medals, including the Knight Medal of Honour from the Lebanese government in 1992, the Shield of Egyptian Armed Forces in 1995 and 2002, the prize of the best stenographic shows of the International Cairo Festival for Experimental Theatrein 1997, the title of Best Director in Egypt, as well as the Medal of Arts from Cairo Fine Arts Faculty and the Medal of Honor from Helwan University in 2009.
In 2006 Aouni received several prizes for his art exhibition, the most important being the “Golden Hathour” prize of the International Biennial of Cairo. In 2002 Walid Aouni received the French knight of “Arts and Letters“Medal of Honour, which is considered to be the highest French medal awarded for cultural and artistic achievements for his overall work since 1980 in Egypt and abroad. Amongst his achievements is the establishment of the Egyptian Modern Dance Theatre group, the Modern Dance School and the International Annual Festival for Modern Dance, held in Egypt and abroad. He furthermore holds the position of Artistic Director of the “Forsan El Shark” traditional group.