Amal Choucri Catta delights in two offerings of the 11th Cairo International Song Festival It all started with the esoteric portal leading into forsaken spaces of ancient Samarkand, inviting audiences to a lavish introduction to forgotten fables and lost legends of worlds unknown. That night, for the opening ceremony of Cairo's 11th International Song Festival, on 4 September at the Opera's Main Hall, director- choreographer Walid Aouni, head of the Cairo Opera Dance Theatre Ensemble and much-applauded creator of a number of fabulous show, returned to Sheherazade with star-performer Algerian singer-dance Karima Nait. The frail little lady with the big eyes, strong voice and irresistible charisma sang of sorrow and suffering, of patience and hope, of love and peace that are sure to prevail after misery and wretchedness. The Arabic lyrics were quite eloquent and the melody was a pleasant medley of different musical sources, elaborated by Aouni and his star performer. The mood had turned nostalgic and a bitter-sweet fragrance was hovering over the stage when suddenly the enigmatic hues beyond Samarkand's portal acquired the vermilion tones of a ravishing sunset, while dancers flocked onto the stage, to the fourth and last part of Nicolas Rimsky-Korsakov's Symphonic Suite, Opus 35, titled "Sheherazade". The feast in Baghdad was over, Prince Kalender and the princess returned to their castle while the violins were giving colour to sound and the 20 dancers in their multi-hued costumes were merrily enacting the tale. With the violin solo's beautiful theme evoking Sheherazade, Karima Nait returned on stage, a star performer leading the dancers through Sindbad's passionate adventures while hoisting the white sails and letting them flutter in imaginary winds. The music was perfect, as were the dancers, and the vivacious choreography was highlighted by the performers' extraordinary accomplishment. Aouni had once again done an excellent job, using Samarkand's portal as backdrop for the festival's honoured guests, whether present in person or in spirit: composer Ammar El-Sher'eyi, late poet-artist Salah Jaheen and singers Samir El-Eskandrani and Leila Nazmi from Egypt, Nour Mehanna from Syria, and Nancy Agram from Lebanon. As they advanced through the portal to receive their respective awards from Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni and Minister of Tourism Ahmed El-Maghrabi, their portraits, as well as sequences of their works and other photographic material, were projected on a screen at the portal's backdrop. The entire show bearing Aouni's signature was, in fact, the best of the evening, though, strangely enough, Aouni's name was not mentioned as Cairo Opera's Dance Theatre director in the programme distributed among the audience the evening. The second part of the opening night was entirely dedicated to three singers: Egyptian Shaimaa Said, Syrian Nour Mehanna and Lebanese Nancy Agram. This year the festival was animated by renowned Portuguese singer Katia Guerreiro and the "Generation Tango" dance ensemble with eight dancers from Argentina, highlighted by accompanying singer Karina Rivera, and the "Sexteto Viacava Macava", a musical sextet with a virtuoso pianist, two violinists, one bassist, a cellist and last, but not at all least, a flamboyant accordionist. On opening night they played, sang and danced the tango to the end of the programme's first part, as they had done the previous night in Alexandria, while returning again to the Opera's Main Hall last Thursday, 8 September, for a lively farewell performance. If the tango has turned into a popular city genre throughout the years, combining music, poetry and song, its origins seem to be lost in the African Niger- Congo, according to certain sources, just as the "Malimba" from Mozambique has become the Guatemalan "Marimba" and the "Conga" of the Ewes and other West African tribes has turned into the much-loved Latin-American "Samba". The tango, a dance in double-time, characterised by long, gliding steps and sudden pauses, usually performed by couples at a slow, walking pace with dotted rhythm, like the "Habanera", has been adopted, it is speculated, by Andalusian gypsies who introduced it to Argentina and to Cuba, where it has gradually been accepted as a popular ballroom dance. Some famous composers, such as Stravinsky, Chavez, and Hindemith, have made use of the Tempo di Tango in their works, while Juan Perez was in fact the first to compose for tango in 1880. The tango returned to Europe shortly prior to WWI and never left the popular ballrooms; it is, furthermore, a much- loved dance in Egypt: audiences will never miss a tango performance -- they certainly did not miss this one which exhibited a plethora of multi-coloured satin with generous décolletés and overwhelming leg-work. The dancers came in pairs, each with an individual style: the smiling one with the quick steps and the bouncing legs, the lascivious one with the fluid glides and the lustful languor, the vain one with the stately movement and exalted steps, and finally the grim one with the acrobatic leaps and the reckless feats. They twisted and turned, whirled and twirled like beautiful puppets in the arms of their partners who seemed to enjoy every step of their dances. This was showbiz tango, bold, passionate and impetuous, with pianist and accordionist leading the spectacle while the third violin was serving dreamy "Flautati" on the highest "E-pitches", and strong-voiced singer Karina Rivera was taking her lovely vocal turns with the tango. The performance was a much-appreciated event. Generation Tango and Sexteto Viacava returned on 8 September to the Main Hall, where they presented a similar performance with certain variations and longer sequences for the singer and orchestra. This time, however, they performed to a star-studded black backdrop enhancing the drama of the dances. The audience was transported listening to the Cumparsita and Addios Pampa Mia among other tango favourites. Among this year's festival guests, the audiences applauded well-known singer Katia Guerreiro from Portugal: she performed on 6 September at Manial's Manisterli Palace and gave a repeat performance the following day in Alexandria's Sayed Darwish Theatre. She is quite an alluring lady with a fabulous presence on stage. Born in South Africa in 1976, she spent her childhood in the Azores and in 1994 she went to Lisbon where she began her musical studies. While in the Azores she was involved in musical activities and this involvement was pursued in Lisbon, where she discovered "Fado", a type of melancholic Portuguese folk song which literally means "Fate". Embracing her career as "Fado-singer", she toured the world, winning prizes for her CDs, while climbing the ladder of fame and glory. Fado may not be very well-known in Egypt, so Guerreiro's performances were an excellent chance to sample this style of song. The festival closed on 10 September on a hopeful note, one of optimism about the promotion of tourism through a closer collaboration between the two ministries of tourism and of culture'
