It wouldn’t make sense traveling to, say, Moscow for a belly dance show; hence my apprehension about attending The Cairo Opera Ballet. Still, I was curious.
What’s more, the performance was Stravinsky’s Le Sacre du Printemps, a breakthrough in its time. At the debut, the audiences of 1913 France argued about the quality of the show to the point of riot in the Theatre des Champs Elysees.
Love it or hate it, the score is known for evoking strong reactions – or at the very least, creating nostalgia for the animated film “Fantasia.
Perhaps, I thought, this unorthodox event in a nonnative setting would prevail positively. Or maybe the heavy dissonance and difficult choreography would fall flat. I regret to report the latter prevailed.
Le Sacre du Printemps, at less than one hour in length, rarely stands alone. The program was therefore made up of two parts: A Tango Reve, first, and Stravinsky’s ballet post-intermission. In theory, the pairing of these two dances is appropriate in many ways, even though the playbill failed to express the connection.
The tango is as intense as the ballet. Stravinsky’s work tells the story of a pagan Russia. It is written of strong movement reminiscent of tribal rituals – not the classical style seen up to its inception.
The tango, on the other hand, was developed in South America by African slaves, infused with European influence. In addition, it has been altered extensively as a result of contact with new cultures through the years. These two styles performed together in Egypt present an intricate web of multicultural aspects and, what I thought, an opening for great innovation.
Unfortunately, the show s Tango, choreographed by Joseph Russillo, is simply unimpressive and far from revolutionary.
True, I’m not a dancer or from any place close to the birthplace of either style, but my grandmother is. And growing up with a Lithuanian Nana who ran a dance studio, albeit in New England, taught me more about the art than the average US experience.
Unlucky for the Cairo Opera Ballet Company that I should come in with high expectations. or any at all; yet an organization from a large metropolis should expect nothing less. Ballet, by definition, is a serious and organized discipline. Cairo, in its very nature, tends to seriously lack this.
And so Egyptian ballet is still an oxymoron as far as I’m concerned.
I initially got the impression that maybe these ex-Soviet dancers saw the Cairo Opera Ballet as a place where they could continue what they love without the usual Slavic seriousness. They were undoubtedly talented, but the precision lacked.
Was I watching some sort of retired dancer meets cruise ship show?
And it wasn’t only the synchronization or choreography. The Tango Reve set was simply metal scaffolding and a lone smoke machine hissing louder than the music. Later the same machine was moved to stage right for the ballet, to be clear of a large video screen backdrop that jumped from images of the desert to a digital reminder that the system was shutting down. In sum, the show as a whole was amateur and unrefined.
However, since everything is relative, at the expense of the Tango, the ballet was a relief even in its mediocrity. Only Stravinsky’s score was performed by a live orchestra – the kicker. So after watching a dull tango performed to recorded music, Le Sacre du Printemps was almost good. Almost.
Halfway through the tango I felt my friend’s seat shudder. When I turned to ask if she was laughing (assuming this could be possible) she answered, “Oh, no. I think I just nodded off.
At least for the ballet, my date stayed awake.
Nana used to tell me that the sign of a good dancer is in the way he or she makes difficult movements look easy. I must say that not only was the effort obvious here, but the most difficult thing about the performance wasn’t the choreography – it was being in the audience.
Ballets Le Sacre du Printemps and Tango will be performed from October the 30 thru November the 1 at the Alexandria Opera House. For more information, please call (03) 486 5106 or (03) 480 0092.
