1999 was the breakout year for MAAT Contemporary Dance Company, when it was founded by the Egyptian artist and UNESCO Dance Council member, Karima Mansour. MAAT played an important educational and cultural role by teaching contemporary dance in the form of independent activities and workshops. This was in partnership with large independent and governmental institutions that gave spaces for this project to achieve its objectives and implement its ideas and productions.
Over the past 20 years, thousands of people watched more than 20 great performances and artistic collaborations between MAAT and international choreographers and artists, on the world's most prominent theatres.
On Sunday the 8th of December, the prestigious dance company will be celebrating its 20th anniversary. In collaboration with Cimatheque and Medrar for Contemporary Art, performances will be running to the 12th of December. They’ll be presenting an exclusive collection of dance performances, developed and produced by the school’s current students and alumni that will be performed at AUC’s Falaki Theatre.
MAAT will feature special screenings, highlighting some of the company’s most popular performances among the past 20 years. The selections will be shown at Cimatheque, starting Sunday the 15th of December until Wednesday the 18th. Entry for these is free.
It’s worth mentioning that the festival will also include four performances, created and developed by the talented alumni members Ibrahim Abdo, Abdelraheem Mohamed, and Nermin Habib. Those will be performed by underprivileged children from Banaty Foundation, Ana El Masry Foundation, Face Foundation, and Agouza Girls Home. The purpose of MAAT’s collaboration with those four organisations is to offer an artistic experience for underprivileged children and let them develop their talents creatively. This show will take place on the 13th of December, and its entry is also free.
From the 16th to the18th of December, three roundtable discussions will be organised by MAAT, in collaboration with professionals from all dance communities. They will be shedding light on developing contemporary dance and will layout and explore important topics related to the field.
On another note, a MAAT Open Activities program will begin on Saturday the 14th of December and end of the 21st, taking place at Cairo Contemporary Dance School (CCDC) in Mohandessin. Each day will be a full day of free classes. For registration, visit CCDC’s website.
The dance company also has a wide range of programs and activities that include a school that offers a 3-year dance program, an open-for-all classes program, the artistic residencies program, (which supports Egyptian and international artists), and an outreach program for underprivileged children.
If you appreciate art in all its forms, we highly recommend you don’t miss the festival. Some of the performances are free, as previously mentioned, but you need to buy tickets for other shows. Tickets are available for sale for EGP 50 on Ticketsmarché. Also, they’ll be available on the door.
The closing ceremony, on 18th, and will be held at the famed Underground by After 8, featuring Estabena and Bonga for a night full of live acoustic music. The ticket price is also EGP 50; to place your reservation, click here.
