6 - 12 September 2001
Issue No.550
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 6 - 12 September 2001 Issue No.550 |
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Limelight
Shall we dance!
He closed his eyes and listened to his heart beat. His body began to sway gently and gracefully in spontaneous rhythmic movements. His voice rose instinctively in joyous sounds, expressing the rapture of the moment. This urge was as natural to him as eating and sleeping. He was early man and he was singing and dancing then, as easily as he does now. Throughout human history singing and dancing have been an integral part of man's self-expression. The ancient Egyptians clapped discs and sticks and jingled metal rods; sang melodious songs and danced to their music. Later they played several types of harps and wind andpercussion instruments, while military bands used trumpets and drums. The early Chinese believed music had magic powers. It possessed the ability to please, because it reflected the order of the universe. In India, music was a fundamental process of human life. In every ancient culture, primitive or advanced, singing and dancing were regular daily functions.
Through the centuries this form of expression gradually developed reaching its present refined art form of opera, ballet and the symphony. Europeans flocked to the 'New World', bringing their music with them. From these early European imports was born a unique American contribution to world theatrical entertainment. They called it 'The Musical'. Originally based on operas and operettas of their native Europe, the new émigrés fashioned the American musical, blending it with American popular music, vaudeville, burlesque and minstrel shows. It immediately caught the public's attention and they soon were dancing and humming to the steps and the tunes of their new form of art. Hollywood quickly noticed, adopting the formula and producing its own version of the musical, while still leaning heavily on Broadway's successes.
By the 1930s the medium of film had reached a degree of sophistication with its many gangster and horror movies. But at the heels of a devastating economic depression, the ultimate in escapist entertainment emerged and the era of the musical was born. Musicals were produced by every Hollywood studio providing a high degree of relaxation and recreation, the fundamental rationale for movie-going. For a few short hours we are allowed to lose ourselves in a story of love and romance, or laugh heartily in spite of our pain, or travel to places we could never afford. The musical, with its gay and frivolous themes, is a major morale-booster, providing an optimistic message and a promise of better days.
So, as the dapper Fred Astaire tossed and twisted the nimble Ginger Rogers, hearts soared with every step and every turn, with every song and every dance, of this beloved duo. Their light sophistication, their incomparable dance numbers, their witty wise-cracks and elegant costumes, against one stylish backdrop after another, carried the viewer all the way to 'Heaven' and every boy and girl longed to go "out together dancing cheek to cheek". The mood of the thirties carried through the forties, with the youthful Deanna Durbin, the glamorous Alice Faye, and the million-dollar baby, Betty Grable, and the hilarious Carmen Miranda, who wiggled and waggled all over Rio. The fifties were the golden era of film as well as the zenith of musicals, which continued well into the sixties. Splendid, lavish, magnificent sets were built in every studio following the lead of MGM. The public was enthralled and the whole world rushed to the cinema to thrill again and again to the enchanting rhythms and exquisite grace of the musicals.
Kidman and McGregor in Moulin Rouge
No umbrella could protect us from the pouring clouds as we went dancin' and Singin' in the Rain. And who could resist an invitation to dance in the ancient exotic land of Siam as the barely clad, barefooted 'King' whirled the fully clad Victorian teacher, Anna, all around his bare palace floors. Were we not delighted and relieved, when the stuffy professor Higgins had finally taught Miss Liza Doolittle how the rain stayed mainly on the plain, in Spain - that is, only after she had "washed my face and hands before I come, I did". In our neck of the woods, Youssef Chahine in his latest endeavor, Silence, we are Shooting, with the lovely Tunisian chanteuse, Latifa, may have started a revival of the genre in the Egyptian film industry, which was once a perennial favourite in the Arab world.
The seventies saw the near collapse of the musical format, though one or two managed to survive, such as Cabaret and Grease. No doubt television had dealt a near fatal blow to the musical. As television productions improved and matured, viewer habits changed thereby greatly diminishing Hollywood's profits. Musicals, with their excessively high budgets, gradually faded from the production line-up, and by the eighties and nineties they made the rarest of appearances. The only outlet for music lovers was the animated film led by Disney and other imitators, who continued to produce hit after hit, winning Oscar after Oscar in such fabulous new favourites as Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. Old favourites like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, were also enjoying revivals, and garnering new audiences in repeated releases. Surprisingly, the highest grossing film this summer has been the animated musical production of Shrek.
The musical continued to thrive on Broadway, swimming regularly across the Atlantic to London. It flourished at the hands of a fabulous young British composer Andrew Lloyd Weber, who between his native London and New York's Broadway riveted audiences for years with stellar productions of one explosive hit after another, such as Phantom of the Opera, Cats, and Evita. Yet on the screen Evita died a miserable death despite the 'material girl's' efforts and Spain's sizzling Antonio Banderas. But the great theatre musicals are only accessible to worldwide audiences when they find their way to the screen.
Enter Lars Von Trier of Denmark and Baz Luhrman of Australia. Last year at the Cannes Film Festival both audience and jury were stunned with Von Trier's mellow musical Dancer in the Dark, with Danish singer/composer, turned actress/dancer, Bjork, securing the Palme D'or for best film. Baz Luhrman has been quietly working on a musical revival of his own. An Australian stage and Opera director, he dazzled moviegoers around the world with his simple production of Strictly Ballroom, 1992. He followed it with a musical version of Shakespeare's romance, Romeo and Juliet. Now he has done it again. This time he has chosen 'gay Paree' of the early 1900s, and its gaudy, decadent, nightclub, Moulin Rouge, and with tender loving care he has taken this classic form of entertainment revamped and re-mixed it to create a new style, making songs more naturally entwined with the drama. Audiences who have not seen Luhrman's first two efforts will soon get a chance to see the enchanting Nicole Kidman as Satine, and the brawny Ewan MacGregor as Christian, dance and romance each other in splendid attire and sumptuous settings.
The musical once considered passé, is clearly enjoying a revival, and for good reasons. With the global economy in the grip of a recession, hard times are finding their way to Hollywood's shores, and if there is profit, Hollywood awakens. The optimistic opulent gay, lighthearted, morale-booster - that enjoyable musical gem - is apparently making a strong comeback. Once again, we may be able to afford a ticket to a fabulous musical and for a few short hours, we too, can enjoy a ride on the magic carpet, close our eyes, forget our troubles, and quietly sway to the rapturous strains of the great pacifier - the unrivalled musical.
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