Amal Choucri Catta waits for something to happen during the opening performance of the Seventh Dance Theatre Festival In the Eyes of the Night, choreography Karine Saporta, the Egyptian Modern Dance Company; Cairo Opera House, Main Hall, 14 to 16 April, 8pm and Sayed Darwish Theatre, Alexandria, 20 to 23 April, 8pm When Karine Saporta presented Charmes two years ago at the Gomhouriya Theatre it was widely applauded. And now she has returned, spending five months working with the Egyptian Modern Dance Theatre Company. The results of the collaboration, In the Eyes of the Night, was performed from 14 to 16 April at Cairo Opera's Main Hall and from 20 to 23 April at Alexandria's Sayed Darwish Theatre. The piece takes place in a port, maybe Alexandria, though the set, with dim lights shining through a series of 24 large windows, was more reminiscent of a white-washed hospital. The idea of a port seems to have gone astray. The bustling confusion, the noises and the buoyant animation of a harbour are nonexistent. Yet there are ships: miniature-sized reproductions of what could have been the Queen Mary or the Titanic, placed in a row, front-stage, on a pale-blue space, crossing the floor from right to left, somewhat evocative of a canal, though never a sea. According to Saporta's statement sea waves play a major role in the piece, reflecting the instability of life, while the "blue colour is evocative of people who preserve their civilisation and their culture in spite of all the changes around them". In which case the blue should have been more abundant, more imposing and the ships should have been larger. The show started with two female dancers in white trousers and nondescript tops. One of them introduced herself: she was Karima Nayt, Algerian, born in November. She moved according to a certain rhythm. The solo body movements were evocative of Oriental belly- dancing, though the movements of hands and fingers suggested Indian rituals. Saporta repeatedly confused Far Eastern and Near Eastern rites, carried away by her Asian perceptions. If her choreographic endeavours were aimed at freeing the dancers from the restricted world they inhabit, she visibly did not succeed: there was not even the hint of such a world on stage where space was abundant and an atmosphere of purity and loftiness prevailed. The scenery was a far cry from any kind of port and the three dancers performed on an empty stage, unencumbered by annoying multitudes. As for the dance itself, it was not a dance but series of repetitive movements leading the undulating, vibrating, wriggling and twirling trio of solo dancers on and off the stage. The dancers were excellent, especially Karima Bedeir, though the show itself was disappointing. The audience waited patiently for any kind of happening; all they got was a repetitive moto-perpetuo. Male dancers were scarce: their presence came like an after-thought, seemingly of secondary importance. They carried statues, statuettes and Pharaonic busts, though these were not entirely Pharaonic: one huge head of a queen was double-faced, evocative of Indian statues of dieties. The movements and gestures accompanying the statues offended some members of the audience who left the hall. Though Saporta furnished her unfortunate show with a singer, and songs and music by French-Algerian Jean-Marie Senia, the audience was not won over. In the 18 years of Cairo's new Opera House I can remember no performance being accorded such a negative reception. As a guest of the the Seventh Dance Theatre Festival, Saporta's show was granted careful attention by Cairo Opera House. The performance was unjustifiably long, over one hour the first night, reaching two hours on the second, and then returning to one hour on the third. This year's festival includes companies from five different countries: Italy, Spain, Belgium, France and Egypt, and is taking place from 14 April to 30 May at Cairo's Opera House and the Gomhouriya Theatre and at Alexandria's Sayed Darwish Theatre. In May the Belgian company Thor will present D'Orient, a product of choreographer Thierry Smits' fascination for the Middle East. Egyptian Dalia El-Abd's It is Real and Adham Hafez's Purgatory will follow, then the Spanish Dani Pannullo Dance Theatre Company, which will stage Yukkuri, an attempt to create an authentic link between Eastern and Western cultures, at the Gomhouriya. The month will continue with the Italian Compagnia Excursus, presenting Quadri 06 and Rush. Egyptian Mohamed Ali's There Still Are Questions and Mohamed Habib's Sound Echo will follow. The French Junior Ballet Contemporain will present four dances -- Cherchant l'inspiration poétique by Paco Décina, Le miroir brisé by Karin Waehner, Sixames by Jean Alvi and Pulse by Mui Cheuk-Yin. The only festival performance taking place at Cairo Opera's Small Hall -- on 12 and 13 May -- is Small Wings, by the Egyptian Deaf and Mute Dance Theatre, directed by Reda Abdel-Aziz, who is also choreographing the show.
