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Myriam Dalal

Egyptians Protest Calls to Ban Ballet with Street Performance



On Sunday, a group of ballet dancers broke out into a street performance outside Egypt’s Ministry of Culture in Cairo to protest an Islamic Shura council member’s call to put a ban on ballet dancing, which he described as “the art of nudity, obscene and against Islam.”

Council member Gamal Hamed, of the ultraconservative Salafist Nour Party, said ballet dancing promotes “indecency” in society.

Before the performance, one of the dancers can be heard telling the crowd: “We are performing for the people of our country, the citizens of Egypt, the ballet that has been in Egypt for over 80 years.”

According to Al-Ahram newspaper , the performance happened during a demonstration by members of Egypt’s arts and culture scene who have been protesting the policies of the newly-appointed culture minister, Alaa Abdel-Aziz, who has sacked a number of high profile officials in the ministry.