Amal Choucri Catta revels in the Nutcracker's surprises National Academic Bolshoi Ballet Theatre of the Republic of Belarus, Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky, choreographer Valentin Yelizariev, with Cairo Opera Orchestra, conductor L Lyakh, Cairo Opera House Main Hall, 11-13 April, Alexandria Opera House, 15-16 April, 8 pm Cairo Opera audiences have been familiar with the Nutcracker, the Russian "Shchelkumchik", for many decades: he is sincerely welcomed every Christmas; Christmas, actually, cannot be imagined without the little Hussar in his red uniform, who turns into a prince waging war against an army of grey mice. Piotr Ilitch Tchaikovsky's ballet in two acts, based on Hoffmann's tale Der Nussknacker und der Maeusekoenig (The Nutcracker and the King of mice), according to choreographies by Petipa, Balanchine, Cranko and others, has been produced by the Cairo Opera with the choreographic touches and new ideas of Abdel-Moneim and Erminia Kamel. Students of the Cairo Ballet Institute took part in the vivacious performances, while a few minor changes in the scenes enhanced the show. It therefore came as a surprise when the National Academic Bolshoi Ballet Theatre of Belarus announced three performances at the Cairo Opera House Main Hall, followed by two additional performances at Alexandria's Sayed Darwish Theatre. Many had hoped for programmes mentioning rarely performed ballets, such as Tchaikovsky's "Sleeping beauty", Asafiev's "Fountain of Bakhchisarai" or Khatchaturian's "Spartacus", to mention but a few. Little did they know of the Nutcracker's surprises. The National Academic Bolshoi Ballet Theatre of Belarus had chosen to present a new version of the Nutcracker, according to a unique choreography and a recent production by Valentin Yelizariev, artistic director of the Company. He graduated from the International Slavonic Academy and is laureate of the State Premium of the Republic of Belarus, as well as former People's Artist of the USSR and Belarus, and professor of the State Academy of Music. Former director of the ballet company, Valentin Yelizariev has been, since 1973, director of the Academic Bolshoi Ballet Theatre of the Belarusian Republic, comprising one-hundred dancers, with around thirty renowned soloists. In 1974, the Company went on their first tour to Hungary and, since then, they have successfully toured Europe and Asia. At the Cairo Opera House, they did surprise local audiences with Yelizariev's totally unexpected re-creation of The Nutcracker. By keeping symbolically to the original plot, he managed to turn the ballet into a rather abstract version of the story, adding novelty of concept, innovative choreography and a fresh execution, with the musical sequences remaining unchanged. The Cairo Opera Orchestra was quite brilliantly conducted for the occasion by L Lyakh from the Belorusian Republic, while two similar, life-size Russian dolls in lovely costumes stood guard at either side of the curtains. Following a brief prelude, the curtain opens on a perspective of columns in the centre of which a brightly lighted Christmas tree is gleaming. On stage, the magician Drosselmeyer has created three dolls for his god-daughter Masha's Christmas party. The dolls are three excellent dancers in the role of the Nutcracker, the Princess and the Mouse. When Masha sees the Nutcracker, she is overjoyed, turns a few breathtaking pirouettes, jumping high and landing on the tips of her toes, while begging Drosselmeyer to let her have him, which he finally does. Here we should mention that we were not given any names or any kind of information pertaining to the dancers, the corps-de-ballet or the soloists. We can therefore only say we admired both Drosselmeyers, as well as Masha, the mouse, the princess and mainly the nutcracker of the first and the second night. All dancers of the first and second cast, as well as the entire corps-de-ballet were extraordinary, even though the story was reduced to a series of dances, and audiences could not enjoy the usual plethora of steadily growing Christmas trees in Masha's parents' "Salon", nor in snow-covered landscapes, as they had done in Yuri Grigorovitsh's Bolshoi ballet shows ten years ago. "Bolshoi" meaning "great" or "magnificent", we therefore have the Moscow "Bolshoi", mother of all "Bolshois," and now, the Belorusian "Bolshoi", which is quite sensational, even though the backdrops should have been placed farther to the rear of the stage, granting the corps-de-ballet more room for movement. Among the many changes: this time, we were not introduced to Clara's parents and grandparents, for Clara had turned into Masha and, at Drosselmeyer's Christmas party, she was introduced to the Russian, Chinese, French, Spanish and Persian dolls, as well as to the very colourful soldiers and to the extremely flamboyant corps-de-ballet, while dancing to the lovely music of Tchaikovsky's original "Family's dance". Masha and her nutcracker were quite happy, their dance quite enchanting, though suddenly a cosy white bed came rolling onto the stage: it was midnight and dreamtime. In her dream Masha saw the room invaded by mice: their dance was remarkable, perfectly scary and just as perfectly synchronised. They were, indeed, a frightening sight. Masha called to her dolls for help, and as the dainty young ballerinas in their dainty green uniforms played the part of soldiers, they were rapidly overcome by His Majesty the terrifying King of Mice. However, when Nutcracker was given his sword, he turned into an enchanting prince in a pastel-coloured costume and, together, he and Masha swayed into the snow-covered "Konfituerenland", where they danced with the delightful snowflakes, before going on their North-bound journey, where they admired the Spanish dance with castanets and red roses, the pretty, petulant Chinese dance, as well as the ravishing French, the golden Oriental and the vivacious Russian dances, evocative of tea, coffee, sugar, chocolate and many other sweets, toffees and lollipops. Suddenly, in the midst of all the joy, the Mouse King appeared once again and in his last battle with Nutcracker-Prince, he took off his mask, disclosing his real identity: he was Masha's beloved Drosselmeyer inviting everybody to the party given in honour of Masha's and the prince's engagement. When the music turned soft and the violins reminisced over a meditative tune, the company vanished and the cosy white bed with the sleeping Masha returned on stage. When Masha rose, realising she had been dreaming, she discovered the kind-hearted Drosselmeyer who gave her the ever- smiling Nutcracker; and as she knelt before her beloved Doll, embracing him happily, Nutcracker bent over, holding her tightly, while the curtain slowly dropped onto the sweet last note and the audience went into a delirious storm of applause. The show was indeed overwhelming: this Nutcracker is sure to see many glorious days -- a new-look sensation.
