Amal Choucri Catta, à la grek Teatro Greco Dance company presenting The hero of Troy, Odysseus , a dance opera by Renato Greco, music by Dino Scuderi, choreography by Maria Teresa del medico, director Renato Greco, Cairo Opera House Main Hall, 23-24 May, 9pm; Sayed Darwish Theatre, Alexandria, 26 May, 9pm. Renato Greco has been a welcome guests of the Cairo Opera House since November 1990, when his company presented "Malgre tout" for five consecutive nights at the Main Hall, paving the way to performances of contemporary dance. Since its inauguration on 10 October 1988, the Cairo Opera had mainly been a stage for classical and modern ballet performances. Contemporary shows, such as Renato Greco's, were rather rare at the time. Local audiences were keen on the novelty of the spectacle, on Greco's scenography, the brilliance of his dancers, his choreography and the symbolic message of his show. The plot opened with a global disaster in which humanity lost everything. The survivors had to re-discover life with all that made it worth living. The spectacle was very successful indeed. Renato Greco returned with "Bohemian life", to the music of Giacomo Puccini's "La Boheme", and with "Dietro le quinte" or "Behind the scenes" to the music of Vittorio Nocenzi. In October 1992 he gave us "Etruria" with a new version of Nocenzi's music, recounting the last days of the Etruscan battles against the Roman invaders. One of Greco's later performances was "Donna Laura di Carini", to the music of Tony Cucchiara: the plot is inspired by an old Sicilian tale of the great Lady Laura. Having missed Renato Greco's extraordinary plots and his remarkable dancing performances, local audiences were enthusiastic about his return last week, when he brought to the Opera's Main Hall the new spectacle "Odysseus, the hero of Troy". This time, however, the show was reminiscent of ancient Greek theatre, uniting a story teller and different bards with the dancing performances. Prose and song played, in fact, an important part in this show, while dance, at times, seemed, to play the accompanying part, which was quite interesting and, in this case, remarkably innovative. Presented in two acts of seven parts each, the programme concentrates on the colourful story of Odysseus after the fall of Troy and during the ten years before he reaches Penelope, his faithful wife and his home in Ithaca, the smallest of the Greek islands in the Ionian Sea. The backdrops are formed, on stage, by a concave and a convex semi-circle, which opens and closes like a fan, as per to the requirements of the different episodes. Renato Greco usually has the brightest ideas with regard to scenography, lighting and sets. For "Malgre tour" he had used immense mirrors on the stage's ceiling, revealing the performers' movements. This time, huge shadows of the dancers were projected on the second backdrop, emphasising the impression of intense action. Greco likewise gave us gigantic cyclops, lotus eaters and other strange creatures mentioned in Homer's "Odyssey". The show opens with the dark beats of mysterious drums announcing the drama. Brandishing his sword, Odysseus is on his way to Ithaca: he is walking, gliding, jumping, leaping and whirling around while reminiscing and dreaming of past adventures and days of glory. He is still far from home, having been a prisoner on the isle of Calypso. The goddess Athena and Zeus, the great god of Olympus, had sent Hermes as a messenger to Calypso, asking her to let Odysseus return home, and he left on the small boat he built himself, sailing for seventeen days until Poseidon, god of the sea, decided to tear the boat to pieces, which is beautifully executed on stage. Odysseus is stranded on the shores of Alcinous's island. That is when the lights turn brighter and when the maids in their charming yellow costume come marching in with their princess Nausicaa, daughter of King Alcinous, who promises to help Odysseus. The latter, however, has refrained from disclosing his identity. The next day is a day of joy in honour of Odysseus: the story-teller discloses the plot and the first bard sings "Per averti qui", while the stranded adventurer and Nausicaa dance a gorgeous pas-de-deux. He lifts her gracefully and she executes some remarkable gymnastics before resuming her standing position. When the bard's song reaches the episode of the wooden horse, Odysseus is moved to tears and starts telling the tale of his peregrinations, while Demodocus sings "Troia e le sue mura", reminiscing with Hector, son of King Priam, and Achilles, who was nine when the seer Calchas predicted that he alone would conquer Troy. But his mother Thetis, who knew that in Troy he would meet his death, tried to avoid the peril by hiding him, disguised as a girl, in the palace of Lycomedes. Odysseus and the Greeks discovered the "maiden" and took Achilles with them, for he could not escape his destiny: he killed the valiant Hector, but perished before Troy was taken. In the second part of the programme Odysseus pursues his tale just as it was written in Homer's 24 songs. Our hero descends to the city of the dead, in search of Tiresias and other souls and in the end, having told his tale, he leaves Nausicaa and sails for Ithaca. Penelope has been waiting for him all those years, remaining true to him despite the importunities of her numerous suitors. This part was presented on stage with particular attention. The maidens and the solo dancer symbolically carried the embroidery Penelope was working on by day and undoing by night to keep away her suitors for as long as possible. In closing, Penelope even organised an archery competition according to which she would grant the winner her hand in marriage. Aided by his son Telemachus, a disguised Odysseus took part in the show: he won and killed all the suitors. Ithaca was thus delivered from all evil and Odysseus could finally enjoy a brilliant pas-de-deux with his lovely Penelope. The show was excellent, the dancers brilliant, the singers magnificent: it is undoubtedly Renato Greco's most impressive spectacle to date. At Cairo Opera's Main Hall "Odysseus" was loudly applauded, the audience's only gripe being that they wanted the show to stay on for a longer period of time.
