Egypt’s First Prima Ballerina to be Honoured by Upper Egypt’s First Ballet School

Egypt’s first prima ballerina, Scottish-Egyptian Magda Saleh, has been invited by Minya’s Alwanat Foundation for Arts and Culture to attend the opening ceremony of their new dance hall as their guest of honour. The hall will be named after Saleh in recognition of her amazing artistic contributions that have helped shape the Egyptian ballet scene. She will be attending the ceremony on Wednesday in her first visit to Minya, as part of an ongoing effort to support and promote ballet in Egypt.

The Alwanat Foundation, which established the first ballet school in Upper Egypt, was founded in 2015. Its young ballerinas have performed at the Cairo Opera House and at the German Embassy, which are among the many different major stages and venues that hosted their performances.

Magda Saleh contributed immensely to the world of ballet in Egypt. She is most known for her last unforgettable performance as a guest star with the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow. She has a Master’s Degree in Modern Dance from the University of California and a Doctorate from New York University.

According to Al Masry Al Youm, the Coordinator of Alwanat, Marco Adel, commented that the foundation has long dreamt of forming a ballet troupe made up of Minya locals and hopes to see them reach a global scale, and that the foundation has succeeded in doing just that, after focused training run by ballet professionals. He also commented that this art form used to be missing from the lives of Minya's residents. 

Alwanat was set up by a group of Egyptian youths who are passionate about art and culture in all its forms, and prioritise promoting different types of art to all members of society. Among the events organised by the foundation in Minya is a short film festival, street art and photography exhibitions, and book fairs.