Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts (Damascus)
Syria · Asia
About
The Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts (HIDA, al-Maʿhad al-ʿĀlī li l-Funūn al-Masraḥīyah) was founded in Damascus, Syria, in 1977 by academics such as the playwright Saadallah Wannous, theatre critic Ghassan al-Maleh and professor of theatre at Damascus University, Hannan Kassab Hassan. The institute initiated a new phase in the development of theatre in Syria through the preparation of a new generation of playwrights, theatre directors and actors in aspects of modern dramatic arts on an academic basis, including the actor Fares Al-Helou and playwrights Liwaa Yazji and Mohammad Al Attar. The institute initially included five departments: Acting, Literary Criticism, Dramatic Arts, Scenography, and Theatre Techniques, with a department for Dance added later. An artist of the younger generation is Noura Mourad, an expert in dance and movement in theatre, who became a teacher at the institute for modern dance and performance after her graduation. Mourad is also director of Leish Troupe, an ensemble for movement theatre that won the prize for best scenography in the Cairo International Festival of Experimental Theater in 2000. In her study titled "Syrian Radical Dabka", ethnomusicologist Shayna Silverstein described the changes in social interpretations and performances of the Middle-Eastern dabke folk dance as pe
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