Amal Choucri Catta assesses an evening of not so interminable story-telling One thousand and one nights , two-act ballet, music by Fikret Amirov, performed by Cairo Opera Company, choreographer Naila Nazirova, set and costumes by Tair Tairov, artistic director Erminia Kamel, with Cairo Opera Orchestra, conductor Ivan Filev, Cairo Opera House Main Hall, 22-27 February, 8 pm Once upon a time, there was an Oriental prince named Shahriar who danced for six nights at Cairo Operas Main Hall enjoying a full house and an appreciative audience. One thousand and one nights echoed scenes of bygone days, when dreams were vivid and lives were young. One would have expected mostly children in the hall, but, strangely enough, the adults outnumbered younger generations. And they enjoyed every minute of it; at least, most of them did. The curtain rose to a pale-blue vision of the worlds main wonders and spectacular monuments, such as the Pyramids, the Tower of Pisa, ancient temples and masterpieces of historic architecture, daintily decorating a laced screen that soon lifted to disclose a colourful portico. The musical prelude was rather impressive, with drums, brass and percussion dominating the scene. Fikret Amirov, a prominent Azerbaijani composer, was strongly influenced by Azeri folk music and by Russian musicians such as Rimski-Korsakov, Borodin, Tchaikovsky, as well as the Armenian Khatchaturian. Born in 1922, he died in 1984, at the early age of sixty-two, leaving a number of interesting compositions. His music, however, has mostly been of the heroic type, with Tutti Fortissimi as strong and powerful as the colourful sets and costumes that went with it, signed Tair Tairov, which captivated this ballets audience for around one hundred minutes. Over six nights, the Cairo Opera Ballet Company gave their audience some lovely dancing, with somewhat simple Ensemble Movements and a rather complicated conception of the Pas-de-deux. As the story goes, young prince Shahriar in his elegant black- and-silver outfit is deeply in love with his beautiful wife, Nurida. They perform a rather uncomfortable Pas-de-deux, the somewhat dainty Shahriar visibly making use of all his strength while carrying, twisting and turning his seemingly heavy wife. They, nevertheless, succeed in bringing their dance to a charming end, when the Sultans men arrive to take Shahriar on a hunting trip. Left alone, Nurida seems to regret his departure, though she soon summons her slaves, who perform the most lustful of dances in the scantiest of costumes, while she enjoys a lascivious Pas-de-deux with her favourite slave. Returning unexpectedly, Shahriar is outraged and decides to kill them both. All women are faithless creatures who deserve to die, he concludes: accordingly, he sends all young girls to the gallows, while the audience is enchanted by the charming vision of a group of veiled virgins performing an alluring dance in their blue, diaphane costumes, their veils giving them wings as they are persecuted by their executioners. They gather on the stairs before a multicoloured backdrop while the captivating Sheherazad appears in her beautiful white serwal. She has come to challenge Shahriar and to stop the bloodshed. He does not seem to agree, though the slaughter is stopped and the curtain falls on the two stars confronting each other. When the curtain rose on the ballets second act, they were still standing, at the same spot, having turned to the tales Sheherazad had promised Shahriar to delay the executions. The veiled virgins disappeared and the scene turned into a bazaar with Aladdin ambulating among the vendors and their goods. The scene changed and a huge lamp was lowered onto the stage: young Aladdin tried to reach it, but the evil magician, in black attire, prevented him. The stage turned dark as all merchants rapidly left the premises and princess Budur was carried to the square in her sedan chair. As she lifted the pink curtains, Aladdin caught a glimpse of her beauty and fell instantly in love. He won her favour but the wicked magician tried to separate the lovers, while the genie of the lamp helped them. In the end, Budur was united with Aladdin and, as the saying goes, they lived happily ever after. They danced an entrancing Pas-de-deux, while the magician and the genie performed an excellent solo each, before preparing for Sheherazads following tale. This time, we were introduced to a rather childish version of Ali Baba and the forty thieves, with a curtained door leading to the theieves treasures, having been lowered onto the stage, and Ali Baba helping himself to their bounty before dancing all the way home. The thieves followed him, hidden in huge containers and planning to kill him when the password was uttered. But Mariana, Ali Babas faithful wife, managed to thwart the thieves with boiling oil, while getting rid of their leader and saving her dear husbands life. At this point, Shahriar seemed to have made peace with himself on a hunting trip. When he left, Sheherazad asked all the characters of her stories to keep her company. Shahriar, once more, returned unannounced. But this time he was greeted by his faithful companion and they were happily united as the curtain fell. Though entitled One thousand andone nights , the two-act ballet concentrates mostly on Shahriar pre- and post-Sheherazad, leaving limited room for the tales, which are somewhat brief and repetitive in their conception. In both we are given more or less identical visions of Pas-de-deux, with more or less identical patterns of sirwal for the heroines of each plot, and more or less identically lustful movements of the corps de ballet. It must be said, however, that sets and costumes were rapidly changed and the stories followed each other at a quick pace, granting the audience a constant diversion, with no unnecessary or monotonous additions. Nevertheless it must also be said that the entire ballet, though quite sweet and pleasant, was somewhat lacking in equilibrium, especially as regards the use of light: the Aladdin and Ali Baba tales would have been better served with a conception as clear and fluid as the Shahriar-Nurida- Sheherazad plot. Audiences have always loved fairy tales, and they still do, but they would like to experience some exalted moments, highlights of the show. This one was all heat with no real fire. Generally, however, the public did not seem to mind: for six nights, the entire house did come down with ovations.
