Nights to remember
Amal Choucri Catta cheers Cairo Ballet's latest star
Zorba, Cairo Opera Ballet Company, Cairo Opera Orchestra, A Capella Choir, cond. Giorgio Croci. Cairo Opera House, Main Hall, 25 to 28 February, 8pm
Whose night was it? Well, it was Hany Hassan's for one. The evening was an opportunity to rediscover the new star of the Cairo Opera Ballet Company. And it was Zorba's, since Hany Hassan was dancing the title role of Mikis Theodorakis's two-act ballet.
It is refreshing to report that the evening was stupendous. All single one of the 52 dancers forming the corps-de-ballet performed deliriously, fully deserving the repeated applause of an ecstatic audience.
Hany Hassan, a member of the local ballet company, had already fascinated Cairo's audiences one year ago, when he was cast as Zorba by choreographer Lorca Massine. It was a spectacularly successful piece of casting and established Hassan's reputation. Henceforth he was given leading roles in all local productions. He will shortly be undertaking an international tour with the Greek Ballet, performing Zorba, a part he dances to perfection. And he was patently happy to perform Zorba on Cairo's main stage, last week, before leaving. He received what he had hoped for, and what he richly deserved -- a standing ovation that at times seemed that it might never end.
Zorba is a balletic blockbuster. Adapted from Nikos Kazantzakis's novel Alexis Zorba, Lorca Massine originally created the ballet, in two acts and twenty-two scenes, for the Arena di Verona in 1988, to the music of Mikis Theodorakis. It was an overnight success, and was soon touring the world to popular acclaim. It was first performed in the Main Hall of Cairo's Opera House in October 1990, directed by Lorca Massine, who also danced the title role, with the Greek Orchestra accompanying the Greek Ballet Company under the baton of Mikis Theodorakis. It was a truly glamorous event, of the kind we no longer seem to have in Cairo.
Lorca Massine returned to Cairo Opera's Main Hall in October 2000, with the National Greek Ballet Company, to dance Zorba for three nights, a visit that resulted in the concluding of an agreement with Cairo's Ballet Company. Thus Egypt's very own Zorba was born and successfully performed from 24 to 30 January and from 15 to 29 March 2002, in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Institute, with the Cairo Opera Orchestra and the A Capella Choir under the baton of Italian Giorgio Croci. Hany Hassan was cast in the title role and his success was immediate. It was repeated during last week's performances.
The members of the choir once more took their places, standing on each side of the orchestra pit as the basses delved into their grim prelude and men's voices rang out in the Greek-style chorus between the scenes. They were joined by sopranos and mezzos and, as the curtain rose on Richard Kaja's set of simple houses in a Greek village, Yorgos, beautifully interpreted by Walid Abdel-Wahab, was dancing his passionate solo to the tunes of winds and strings. It is a dance of hopeless love and growing frustration, a dance of sorrow and anger. He loves the beautiful Mariana but it is a love trapped in a cul-de-sac, fan unrequited love. He is joined by the rest of the crowd, young men in black trousers and white shirts and girls wearing long dresses in shades of ochre, pale yellow and brownish red, gracefully swaying to the rhythm of the music. The merry mood, however, is brief: it vanishes with the arrival of John, the young man from the north, in immaculate white, who tries to befriend everyone. Considered an intruder, he is rejected and pushed away. Yorgos hates him particularly, for Mariana can only try in vain to overcome her feelings for John, knowing the village people will never forgive her. Her pas-de-deux with John is one of the emotional highlights of the performance. She discovers a new kind of love, he a new kind of woman. He is everything Yorgos is not -- gentle, tender and kind, not coarse, harsh or ruthless. Brilliantly interpreted by Ahmed Yehia, John was cheered by the audience while Erminia Kamel, who shared the part with Alexandra Volkhovskaya, was an excellent Mariana. She is a wonderful danseuse-étoile, possessed of the maturity necessary to perfect every role she undertakes. As the mixed chorus sang to the romantic dance, Mariana's and John's destiny was being decided by the merciless crowd. In the meantime, however, Zorba appears. Performed by Hany Hassan and Serguey Bolonsky, this demanding seems tailored for Hany who was, likewise, brilliant as Yorgos, a part he shared on alternate nights with Walid Abdel-Wahab.
Zorba spends his time preaching freedom and love, and sensing John's insecurity takes the young man under his wing. As they dance solos and pas-de-deux, their leaps and pirouettes are clearly intended to express an uncomplicated enjoyment of life.
Overwhelmed by Zorba's wisdom, John soon adopts a strange way of dealing with destiny, which is when the melody turns nostalgic and Madame Hortense dances into their lives. An aging artist, somewhat ridiculous in outdated yellow kimono, black silk stockings and red feathers, she is like a faded flower, sitting on a simple wooden chair dreaming of days gone by when love was young and she was courted by the most handsome of men.
She has had a full life and now the time has come for her last goodbye. But, she muses, it would be nice to see another wedding before she departs this life. After offering her a rose this is precisely what Zorba plans, replete with an immensely long veil in two parts, each carried by several maidens. After the ceremony Zorba leads her far away from the crowd and she is as happy as can be. But she soon realises that she must have been dreaming for Zorba, always a restless soul, always eager to travel, to change scenes, is off to the city, visiting night-clubs and paying tribute to the beautiful dancers.
When Zorba returns to the village everyone is there to greet him: he has brought presents for the whole crowd. But the music changes and the crowd is angry even though the lovers, Mariana and John, do not seem to realise it. Fate suddenly appears in the form mezzo-soprano Hanan El-Guindi, dramatically clad in black, singing a lovely song while walking at a slow pace through the village.
The tune is sad and filled with emotion as the chorus joins in: tragedy has been knocking at the door. Mariana is destined to die at the hands of the crowd: Yorgos stabs her before turning to John who would have been the next victim had he not been saved by Zorba. Death, then, is Mariana's end, as it come too to Madame Hortense, beautifully interpreted by Alexandra Volkhovskaya, who shared the part with Erminia Kamel. And with it arrive the wretched hypocrites, those who had called themselves her friends. They come wearing black veils to steal her meagre belongings, even her yellow kimono. But they cannot steal her red feathers, nor her black stockings, for Zorba rushes in to save her.
He takes the dead woman in his arms and tries to carry her away. But then John starts arguing with him, giving him a piece of his mind in a series of solo-leaps and pirouettes. Finally Zorba realises that life must go on and the crowd join him in the Sirtaki, the melody that has gone around the world to become the signature-tune to Zorba.
The final dance was repeated several times for a cheering audience. Zorba the blockbuster had done it again.
