Lahcen Zinoun


Lahcen Zinoun is a Moroccan choreographer, dancer and filmmaker. He is considered the greatest contemporary Moroccan choreographer.

Biography

Zinoun was born in 1944 in La Cité ouvrière Socica of Hay Mohammadi, Casablanca. His father was a Berber, he worked as a railroad worker. In 1958, he entered the Conservatory of Casablanca where he eventually was drawn to dance. In 1964, he received a first prize in dance bestowed by the Conservatory; nevertheless, he was refused a scholarship to study dance abroad. And when Lahcen's father found out that he was a student at the conservatory, he kicked him out of the family home. Zinoun went to Belgium because of his admiration of the dancer Maurice Béjart, where he became a danseur étoile in the Ballet royal de Wallonie. In 1973, he decided to return to Morocco to publicize this discipline and give it more recognition, but he was met with resistance. His return was also in order to reconcile with his father, who invited him to a wedding, and he said of his experience, "I saw my father dancing and I understood that we were united again". In 1978, with his wife Michèle Barret, also a dancer, he founded a school and a dance troupe, entitled "Le Ballet-Théâtre Zinoun". He tried to found the National Troupe of Traditional Dance, but the project was rejected by Hassan II. In an interview he said, "King Hassan II called me in order to tell me that in Morocco we don’t dance. Morocco was a country of men". After all of these obstacles, he suffered from depression and turned to other artistic endeavors, including painting, as an emotional outlet. He started dancing again in 1991. The same year he founded a new school of dance in Casablanca in which his wife and sons have taught. In 2003, he was named director of the Marrakech Festival of Popular Arts.

Filmography

Awards