Dalal Achcar

In 2014 Achcar is a member of the council and vice-president of the Iberian-American Association of Dance Specialists, a body connected to the Organization of American States (OAS), and is a member of the Executive and Artistic Committee of the Royal Academy of Dance.

She was the artistic Director of the Ballet do Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro, and twice president of the Fundação Theatro Municipal. She arranged the first performances in Brazil of international companies, including the Royal Ballet, the Ballet de l´Opéra de Paris, and the American Ballet Theatre. She founded the Association of Friends of Teatro Municipal, and developed the ´Education with Art` program at the Municipal, with music, opera and ballet performances accompanied by teaching materials; the performances were seen by thousands of students from Rio de Janeiro schools. She organized dance shows in the city parks to introduce the mass public to ballet. In association with Funarte, she inaugurated the Memory Series, preparing biographies of artists that made up the history of music, opera and dance at the Theatro Municipal; in 2013 50 books have been published.

In 2003 Achcar created the Companhia Jovem El Paso, which premiered in 2004 the show Superbacana: Dançando a Tropicália. Later the company changed its name to Companhia Jovem de Ballet do Rio de Janeiro. The company performs at the Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro and tours Brazil with new dances by choreographers Eric Frederic, Vassili Sulich and Luis Arrieta.

In 1986 Achcar organized the II International Dance Festival in Rio de Janeiro and lectured on "The Latin American Ballet and its Development" at the II Latin American Conference of Experts on Ballet, in Caracas.

In the 1980s Achcar produced Brazilian classics, creating Floresta Amazônica (Amazon Forest) on Heitor Villa-Lobos music and featuring Gabriela, with author Jorge Amado, Caribé, Edu Lobo and choreographer Gilberto Motta.

She has published several articles and books, among which are: Jornal da Dança (1972), Ballet – Arte, Técnica e Interpretação (A technical and didactic book – 1979), Ballet – Uma Arte, (1998), A Cultura no Terceiro Mundo – ABL (1999) and Istanbul – A Fascinating City (Guide of Istanbul, 2011)

In 1971 Achcar, with Maria Luisa Noronha, opened the Centro de Arte e Cultura Ballet Dalal Achcar, a school delivering ballet instruction to children and professionals, offering guidance with technical and artistic training for instructors, and maintaining an assistance program in the area of dance for needy children and teenagers in risky areas.

In 1967, Achcar arranged popular performances of well known ballet dancers Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev at the Maracanãzinho gymnasium to popularize ballet in Brazil.

In 1962 Achcar founded, with Maria Augusta Morgenroth, the Ballet School of the Castro Alves Theater in Salvador. In 1968 this school developed into the Brazilian Ballet of Bahia, of which she became artistic director. She introduced the Royal Academy of Dance method in dance teaching throughout the country, guiding schools and academies.

In the 1960s Achcar was the head of the Rio de Janeiro Ballet Association. She presented 90 shows in the main European capitals using music by Heitor Villa-Lobos and Cláudio Santoro, and contributions from Manuel Bandeira, Vinícius de Moraes, Di Cavalcanti and Burle Marx.