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Lahcen Zinoun
لحسن زينون
Born	Lahcen Zinoun (1944-09-14)14 September 1944 Hay Mohammadi, Casablanca, Morocco
Died	16 January 2024(2024-01-16) (aged 79) Casablanca, Morocco
Occupation(s)	Choreographer, dancer, filmmaker

Lahcen Zinoun (Arabic: لحسن زينون; 14 September 1944 – 16 January 2024) was a Moroccan choreographer, modern dancer, and filmmaker. He was considered the most renowned contemporary Moroccan choreographer.

Biography

Lahcen Zinoun was born on 14 September 1944, in La Cité ouvrière Socica, of Hay Mohammadi, Casablanca. His father was a Berber, who worked as a railroad worker. In 1958, Zinoun entered the Conservatory of Casablanca, where he eventually was initiated to modern dance. In 1964, he received a first prize in dance by the conservatory; but nevertheless, he was refused a scholarship to study dance abroad. When Zinoun's father found out that he was a student at the conservatory, he kicked him out of the family home. Afterwards, Zinoun went to Belgium because of his admiration of the dancer Maurice Béjart, with whom he eventually became a danseur étoile in the ballet of the Opéra royal de Wallonie.

In 1973, he decided to return to Morocco to contribute to modern dance and give it more recognition in his home country, but was met with little recognition. His return was also meant to reconcile with his father, who invited him to a wedding, and he said of this 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, titled "Le Ballet-Théâtre Zinoun". He further tried to create a national troupe of traditional Moroccan dance, but the project was rejected by King Hassan II. In an interview Zinoun 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 turned to other artistic endeavors, including painting, as an emotional outlet. He started dancing again in 1991, and the same year, he founded a new dance school in Casablanca, where his wife and sons taught. In 2003, he was named director of the Marrakech Festival of Popular Arts.

Starting in 1982, Zinoun created the choreography for several international and Moroccan films, and from 2001 onwards, directed his own short and feature films.

Zinoun died from a cerebral haemorrhage on 16 January 2024, at the age of 79.

Filmography

Honours

• Knight of the Order of Leopold, 11 September 2003

See also

• List of dancers

References

1. ^ "Lahcen Zinoun : "Un garçon comme moi n'avait pas le droit de pratiquer la danse"". Zamane. 15 May 2020. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
2. Rondeau, Gérard (1997). Figures du Maroc. Eddif. p. 182. ISBN 978-9981-09-007-1. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
3. ^ Meillon, Hervé (11 August 2007). "Lahcen Zinoun, danseur". La Dernière Heure.
4. ^ Orlando, Valérie K. (5 May 2011). Screening Morocco: Contemporary Film in a Changing Society. Ohio University Press. p. 105. ISBN 978-0-89680-478-4.
5. Nassef, Siham. "Lahcen Zinoun, "le corps libéré"". Outdoors. Retrieved 17 May 2020.
6. Orlando, Valérie K. (5 May 2011). Screening Morocco: Contemporary Film in a Changing Society. Ohio University Press. p. 106. ISBN 978-0-89680-478-4.
7. Howe, Marvine (2005). Morocco: The Islamist Awakening and Other Challenges. Oxford University Press, USA. p. 193. ISBN 978-0-19-516963-8.
8. "Décès du chorégraphe et cinéaste marocain Lahcen Zinoun". La Quotidienne. 16 January 2024. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
9. Alizart, Jocelyn. "Lahcen Zinoun". Ballets Wallonie Archives. Retrieved 17 May 2020.

External links

• Lahcen Zinoun at IMDb

• 1944 births
• 2024 deaths
• People from Casablanca
• Shilha people
• Moroccan film directors
• Moroccan choreographers
• Moroccan dancers
• 20th-century dancers
• 21st-century dancers
• Deaths from intracranial haemorrhage