Tuneful rites
Amal Choucri Catta enjoys two virgin sacrifices
Nile Bride and The Rites of Spring, Cairo Opera Ballet Company, choreographer Joseph Russillo, Cairo Opera Orchestra, cond. Nader Abbassi, artistic director Erminia Kamel. Cairo Opera House, 28 to 30 May, 9pm
Once again the bride of Hapi vanished into the gleaming waters of Africa's longest river: she had been preparing her farewell dance to the melancholic tune of a drowsy violin while the orchestra played their melody of love, beckoning her into the mysterious waters of no return. Clad in her wide, Virgin-blue gown, she greeted her lover with smiles and caresses while her dancing sisters came to say their last good-byes. The wise old man encouraged her, and the father wished her a better life in the nether world.
As the harp sang its eerie melody the bride -- the chosen one -- danced her last pirouettes in rhythm with her aching heart: then she let herself sink into the foamy abyss. The end had come. For a brief interval the stage turned grey, then the lights were turned on and the audience was faced with the opening chords of the next sacrificial dance.
Last week Cairo Opera's main stage presented a reprisal of "The sacrifices", comprising Nader Abbassi's The Nile Bride and Igor Stravinsky's The Rites of Spring, both choreographed by Joseph Russillo from France, under the artistic direction of Erminia Kamel, with Cairo Opera Orchestra conducted by Nader Abbassi. Minor changes in both dances were most welcome. The projections on the backdrop, the lights, the choreography, the brief interlude between the two dances, as well as the different sequences, had gained in expression. Both were quite lovely. Even the blending of the Nile with the Volga was acceptable, now the idea behind it had been made clearer.
Maiden sacrifices are not new: maidens threw themselves into the fumes of Asian and Latin- American volcanoes in prehistoric times, while others were sacrificed to rivers and mountain lakes in Celtic and Teutonic traditions. In Africa the Nile had its "bride", and so did the Victoria waterfalls, while in Russia, when a maiden drowned, she became a Rusalka, a water-spirit, ready for mischief as well as good deeds; it was a belief common to all Slavonic peoples. But the image of the water- maiden varied from one Slavonic region to the other. In primitive times in Russia there had been a real fear that the dark, freezing winter might never end, and Igor Stravinsky himself said that "some of the harshness of the chords had come from his memory of the sound of ice crashing as the Russian winter was breaking up".
The Rites of Spring takes place at the end of winter: colours are still grey and costumes on the monochrome side, with more wool and fewer veils, while the sets are reminiscent of snowy landscapes rather than daisies and daffodils. The scene presents the sacrifice of the young girl -- the chosen one -- whose death will make spring possible.
The dance opens with a solo accompanied by the bassoon, beautifully followed by the winds and the strings auguring spring as the maidens enter the chilly, wintry light that foreshadows the violence that is about to erupt. The somewhat mournful melody of the flute and the horn seems to bear tidings of sad events, announcing the frenzied crescendo of the abduction game. On stage the dance grows wilder, while the maiden to be sacrificed is finally chosen and the trills of a flute open a variation on the well-known " Frere Jacques ". Flashing lights and silver-grey shadows accompany the slow motion of the "spring rounds" which lead to the "game of the rival villages" and a pleasant melodic interlude introducing the "procession of the Elder", culminating in the dance of the earth, with a thunderous crescendo on percussion. The sequences follow one another rapidly, the dancers flinging themselves from one mood into the other. The vision is one of joy, of happy encounters, of everlasting promises of love.
The second part of the dance, the "sacrifice", is a hymn-like rhythmic sequence, leading to the ultimate crescendo, when the chosen one finally expires. Movements are on the lascivious side, the costumes mostly body stockings. It must, however, be said that the repetitive, rather monotonous impression of the last part of the dance remained unchanged, though the backdrop has been well adapted to the different moods of the scene.
Many loved the naughty costumes, happily congratulating the choreographers and directors for "keeping an open mind". The dancers were brilliant and the music perfectly interpreted: Katya Ivanova as the Nile bride in the first dance, Hani Hassan, Ahmed Yehia, Serguey Bolonsky, Alexandre Kiriniok, Essam Ezzat, with Alexander Onishenko, Ahmed Nabil, Amr Farouk and Ahmed Saleh performing the three gods, as well as Vera Kaprivko, the chosen girl in the second dance, were masterful interpreters of the show.
Erminia Kamel's excellent direction has worked wonders for the Cairo Opera Ballet Company. Prima ballerina at La Scala, Kamel joined the Cairo Ballet Company in 1982, appearing in Swan Lake, Giselle, Romeo and Juliet, Le Corsaire, Don Quichote, Malgre Tout, Zorba, Carmina Burana, The Nutcracker, Bolero and many others. Together with Abdel-Moneim Kamel she has choreographed several new ballet productions for the company and the Cairo Opera House.
Nader Abbassi, Cairo Opera Orchestra's artistic director and principal conductor, is always a most reliable musician. Composer, conductor, singer, bassoonist, he has been awarded many prizes and is principal conductor of the Orchestre pour la Paix, Paris, regularly performing throughout Europe and most recently at the Theatre du Chalet, Paris.
This time the two dances deserved the ovations that were showered upon them.
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