Its foundation began in 1958 during the presidency of Gamal Abdel Nasser through the efforts of Tharwat Okasha, Egypt's culture minister at the time, and Leonid Lavrovsky, the former artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet, who took a group of Egyptian dancers to Russia for two years of training.
[1] At the time of its founding, it was the only Arab resident classical ballet company in the Middle East.
In 1969 the Company hosted the Royal Ballet for a performance of Swan Lake at pyramids in Giza.
[1] The destruction of the Khedivial Opera House by fire in 1971, followed by President Anwar Sadat severing Egypt's ties with Russia in 1972, led to a serious decline of the company.
The company and its ballet school had a resurgence following the construction of the new Cairo Opera House in 1988.