Amal Choucri Catta witnesses the piano of broken dreams Clara and the Quicksands, Egyptian Modern Dance Company, director Walid Aouni, Sayed Darwish Theatre, Alexandria, 28 February, 1 March 8pm. Cairo Opera House, Main Hall, 28, 29, 30 March 8pm. Skies are dim and the air exudes odours of fading mists while the hazy silhouette of a lonely form appears on the stage's backdrop. She advances carefully, trying to find her way across vast sandy spaces, as lights turn bright and a new dawn sets in. Alert and light-footed, she stops on her way down memory lane, lending an attentive ear to forgotten sounds of bygone days, while striving to avoid the quicksands scattered along her jagged lifeline. With her lantern, her dark costume and her preoccupied frown, she is reminiscent of Florence Nightingale helping wounded soldiers in war-torn battlefields. But she is not Florence, nor is she in a battlefield: she is Clara Wieck-Schumann, famous pianist, daughter of a renowned musician and wife of a remarkable composer, who suddenly comes across a concert piano almost entirely buried in the sands. As a new day sets in, she starts to play. Memories of love, of strife, of lonely dreams and blissful nights resound across the empty spaces, while in the distance the solitary figure of young Robert Schumann takes shape. He dances his way through symbolic sands, arms outstretched as if yearning to take flight: but his wings seem to be broken and his flight remains an unfulfilled dream. He had been dreaming since his childhood days and bitter- sweet memories never stopped haunting him: having spent many years living in anguish, he had realised that fate had seldom been kind to him. Thus lost in his thoughts, he listens to his music while going in search for his beloved Clara. He stops and smiles, remembering his futile escapades in earlier years; among them Agnes Carus, wife of a surgeon and Henriette Voigt, his "Soul in A-minor", and last but not least Ernestine von Frincken for whom he created "Carnaval Opus 9" and "Etudes Symphoniques Opus 13". He had even thought of marrying Ernie, but that was before falling in love with Clara. Rushing through the sands as fast as he can, he hurries to the piano and to his beloved wife. They are happy to be together, though theirs has been a bitter strife against Clara's father, Friedrich Wieck, who has always opposed their marriage. As the sun rises on stage, the story unfolds, bringing all those into focus who had a direct or indirect influence on Robert Schumann's life. They enter slowly, the girls in black gowns and the boys in black slips and white shirts: their movements are somewhat chaotic with an overdose of sensuality and a plethora of improvisations, though they do succeed in turning into rather rare, yet quite interesting formations while dancing to Clara's piano playing. Schumann relives his grief when discovering he could never be the great pianist he was hoping to become, due to a permanent injury on the fourth finger of his right hand: therefore the simile piano of foamy material had to disappear in the wings, while Schumann turned to composition and Clara continued to play in the sands. Depressed by the musical situation in Germany, Schumann had formed the "David Club" to fight artistic Philistines, and created the "Neue Zeitschrift fuer Musik". In his writings and compositions he had given himself a dual personality: "Florestan" for his impetuous self and "Eusebius" for his contemplative side. His marriage to Clara was followed by an outpour of songs, of symphonies, chamber music and choral works. They were among the composer's best years. His dance on stage is reminiscent of his love, his grief, his anguish, and when he finally dies in the quicksands, Clara is there to protect him and to promote his music. As he dies on the darkened stage, she leaves her piano pit and bends lovingly over his motionless body, while Wieck comes banging furiously on the scales. Clara and the Quicksands is a Walid Aouni remake, already presented at Cairo Opera's Main Hall at the end of September 2004. Remakes are often subjected to certain changes, and this one was no exception. It seems, however, that Aouni did not have a happy hand while going about the changes: the different piano sequences were not as fluent as they had been, Clara's interruptions and wanderings among the crowd of dancers were rather disconcerting and the ensemble's dances too chaotic. Though there is doubtlessly a precise line with regard to the general conception of the dance, of its meaning and its message, the performers enjoy an overdose of freedom which finally culminates in a series of sensual gymnastics and a loss of real dance sequences. On the other hand, Aouni should have taken into consideration that the larger part of local audiences are quite ignorant as to the personality of Clara Schumann, of her work and her fate. He would therefore have been well advised to create a more appropriate climate around his heroine, enabling audiences to understand his ideas. Renowned Egyptian pianist Marcelle Matta was chosen for the part of Clara. Professor at the Cairo Conservatoire and at the opera's Talents Development Centre, she represented Egypt in the USA "Egypt Today Festival" in 1981 and was member of the jury at the International piano competition "Valentino Bucchi" in Rome in 1988, and member of the jury of the international competition in Italy in 2001, as well as in the international competition of Dubai in 2004. As for Walid Aouni, he was a loving Schumann, always returning to his Clara with kisses and caresses, trying to avoid her father Friedrich Wieck -- performed by Ayman Abdel-Fattah -- while turning and twisting rather aimlessly around the huge wheel of life, which could best be described as a circle, held by two dark angels of the nether-world who, in the end, kiss each other good-bye while being projected on a screen at the backdrop. They even bear heavy dark wings on their backs -- seeming more satanic than angelic. Aouni has often made use of symbolism and symbolic effects in his previous, often fabulous spectacles: this time, however, symbols were not always in their right place, and nor were they necessary. Schumann's wheel of life, for instance, would have gained in eloquence if more elaborately conceived. Since childhood he had been suffering from depressions and in the end he threw himself into the Rhine, but was saved and taken to a private asylum where he lived another two years. He died at the age of 46 and would doubtlessly have deserved an elaborate wheel, instead of a simple circle. His life is a feat for any artist's imagination. Regardless, however, of unfortunate details, it must be said that the performers' execution was generally quite astounding: the dancers kept throwing themselves into the foam-symbolising-quicksands with delightful relish. As for Walid Aouni, he is an excellent dancer who seems to have sacrificed choreography for dancing this time. He will hopefully grant his audiences a new mega-spectacle next time.
