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Mohanned Hawaz was born in the city of Mosul, northern Iraq, and began performing in local festivals at age seven. By the time he was fifteen he was admitted into Mosul’s Iraqi Artists Union of Nineveh. It was there he began his formal instruction in dance, stage make-up and costuming with Ahmed Al-Jumali and Yesin Taha Yaseen. Within a few short years he was transferred to the Iraqi National troupe of Folkloric Arts and trained with troupe founders, Hannah Abdullah, Fouad Thanoon and Adel Al-Aabi. Mohanned spent 6 months travelling across Iraq for his field training in Iraqi folkloric dances and customs as part of his qualifying studies to become a professional dancer. 

 

By 2005 Mohanned had left Iraq for Cairo, Egypt to study with renowned Modern/Contemporary dance instructor and choreographer, Waleed Awni. From Cairo he made his way to Sweden where he now resides in Gothenburg. Mohanned continued his dance training at the Loftadalens Folkhogskola in the region of Halland in ballet, jazz, modern/contemporary and anatomy, receiving instruction from Sofia Barkevall, Ottillia Bergstrom and Lena Cederwaal-Broberg. After completing his studies he went on and founded his dance troupe, Enkidu, in 2010. Enkidu was the first dance company to bring Iraqi dance to the national Swedish theatre. Enkidu is made up of twelve troupe members of Swedish origin trained by Mohanned in the Iraqi folkloric dances. Mohanned and his troupe have travelled the world representing Iraqi dance in around thirty countries and winning awards along the way.

 

Mohanned Hawaz has an impressive and award-winning dance and theatre background for such a young man in both the Modern/contemporary styles as well as the Iraqi dance. He continues to be a sought-after dance instructor and choreographer in the international Middle Eastern dance community for his unmatched abilities in the dance arts of Iraq. He has received honorary awards from the Algerian, Jordanian and Egyptian ministries of culture as well as being officially recognized by both Sweden and China for his work in representing Iraqi culture through dance.

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Questions? Contact Amani Jabril autumn_amani@hotmail.com or

Sara Al Hadithi saraalhadithi@gmail.com