Egyptian lawmaker tries to ban ballet: “the art of nudity”
Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohammed Morsi, the Egyptian President is no ballet fan. In an interview filmed eight years ago, the then MP said that dance “violates Sharia (Islamic) law”, reported Alarabiya.
The video resurfaced after an Islamist lawmaker threatened to close an Egyptian ballet school. Gamal Hamed, of the ultraconservative Salafist Nour Party, said,
[Ballet] is the art of nudity, spreading immorality and obscenity among people.
He called for the banning of dance because it is prohibited in Islam.
Artists immediately took to social media to criticize the Islamist lawmaker. Egypt’s Actors Syndicate chief Ashraf Abdel Ghafour said that a lawsuit will be brought against the Islamist MP:
Ballet is one of many arts around the world that measure a country’s civilization. The council member is ignorant of the importance and beauty behind it. The member has to see beyond what a ballet dancer wears.
Art in Egypt cannot be suppressed by anyone; even under the toughest dictatorships, art managed to convey people’s failures. Artists in Egypt should focus on their work, present what they want and put their fears aside.
Photo: Egyptian President, Mohammed Morsi
