A leading choreographer and teacher, Hassan Sheta was born in Cairo, Egypt. He commenced his classical training in the Vaganova style at the Cairo Ballet School before being granted a full scholarship to train in Moscow, Russia. In 1970 Hassan became a Principal Dancer of the Cairo Ballet Company and performed a broad classical repertoire including Les Sylphides, Don Quixote, Bhakasarai Fountain, Swan Lake and Daphnis and Chloe. During those years, Hassan represented Egypt at classical ballet competitions around the world including Moscow, Leningrad, Havana, Tokyo and Sofia in Bulgaria. In 1975 Hassan joined the Frankfurt Ballet performing in contemporary productions of Orpheus, Macbeth and as the Moor in Fokine’s Petrouchka.
In 1980 he travelled to Australia and joined the Sydney Dance Company – appearing in works including Graeme Murphy’s An Evening and Poppy – touring both Australia and internationally including New York, Washington, Charleston, London and Hong Kong. During his tenure with the Sydney Dance Company he became highly regarded as a classical teacher. His passion for choreography saw him form his own company, the Sydney Festival Ballet, which went on to perform regularly in Sydney and on tours of the East Coast. Hassan’s extensive repertoire of original works and productions include Ballet Egyptien, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No 4, Afternoon of a Faun, Francesca da Rimini, The Spanish Lover, Chopin’s Concerto No 2, Paquita, Les Sylphides, Spartacus pas de Deux as well as the full length ballets The Nutcracker Suite, Cinderella, Coppelia and La Fille Mal Gardee. After many years of teaching in Sydney, in 2004 Hassan was invited to become Ballet Master and Rehearsal Director for the Tasmanian Ballet, mounting touring productions of classical repertoire. He is now based in Sydney and is a freelance teacher and choreographer.
