Amal Choucri Catta exposes her soft spot for Kazantzakis Mikis Theodorakis' Zorba, choreographer Leonid Massine, Cairo Opera Ballet Company, Cairo Opera Orchestra, conductor Nader Abbassi, A Capella Choir, director Abdel-Moneim Kamel, Cairo Opera House Main Hall, 21 and 22 September Sombre tones in the lower keys ushered in the drama as the curtain rose, revealing a solitary dancer performing the first, significant steps of Mikis Theodorakis' ballet Zorba. Choreographed by Lorca Massine and interpreted by the opera's ballet company, this was not merely another interesting performance, but a spectacle emanating from the fusion of vocal and instrumental music and dance. It is a tale of love and hatred, jealousy and death, questioning the whys and wherefores of life. Premiered in January 2002, with the same company performing, Zorba has regularly occupied the main hall stage with full-house performances once or twice a year. Applauded three nights in February, Zorba returned for two nights last week to a cheering crowd. With Nader Abbassi conducting, dancers and choir, it was a hit. On opening night Serguey Bolonsky was cast as Zorba, Alexandra Volkhovskaya as Marina, Ahmed Yehia as John, Erminia Kamel as Madame Hortense and Walid Abdel-Wahab as Vorgos. Since last February, the spectacle has undergone changes: the increased number of colourful belly-dancers flirting with Zorba at the cabaret, the ceremoniously choreographed death of Marina and the extended song of brilliant mezzo-soprano Hanan El-Guindi. As for Madame Hortense, the few changes preceding her death were excellent, and Erminia Kamel once again proved herself an extraordinary actress. Prima Ballerina at the Scala de Milano, Italy, she came to Egypt in the early 80s with her husband Abdel-Moneim Kamel -- star dancer at the Scala -- and has been Prima Ballerina of Cairo's ballet company ever since. She performed many parts in classical and modern ballet, eventually turning to choreography in collaboration with her husband. In Zorba she is cast opposite Maya Volkhovskaya as Marina. The music drops to a mystic melody as she slowly appears in the dark, moving gradually into the spotlight. Her black-stockinged legs, red frills and withered ruffles bring back memories of sunny mornings and moonlit nights. With her lovely features, delicate frame and elegant movements, she seems to emerge out of an old picture book. She darts around the stage like a butterfly searching for a flower, while pretending to powder her nose, holding a small mirror to the light, trying to make sure her beauty has not faded. A star of the stage, she had lived a good life, never giving a thought to the future, until destiny brought her to the little Greek village where she suddenly realised her youth was gone and no one cared for her any longer. Now, as she twists and turns, doing her pirouettes to the rhythm of her aching heart, she discovers Zorba, who overwhelms her with sympathy, giving her his very own blue scarf as a souvenir before abandoning her to her loneliness. The shadows grow long as twilight sets in, and old Madame Hortense vanishes into the night. Zorba, the bon vivant and bon viveur, who loves his freedom above all, is on his way to the city, where he will be flirting with all the dancers at the cabaret. Brilliantly performed by Bolonsky, Zorba is an older man with a broad smile and a big heart, a lover of adventure and an ever helpful friend. He loves Madame Hortense in his own strange way, though he would never want to be tied to her in any form. Old Madame Hortense, however, is quite incapable of understanding his attitude, and in her solitude flees into fantasy. On stage, she is Zorba's happy bride: he showers her with gifts while covering her head with the two long white veils the village girls are carrying before leading her to his love nest. But the long veils turn into fences that restrict Zorba's freedom, and he disappears once more, while Madame Hortense finally realises that she has been under an illusion: her mystic melody returns to guide each of her wavering steps, and she starts bowing to an imaginary audience and throwing kisses at absent admirers. She stumbles in her agony, while village women, their heads covered with black veils to avoid recognition, snatch at her meagre belongings, like blood-thirsty hyenas, leaving her barely covered as she dies, forlorn and forsaken on her wooden chair -- an unforgettable scene for which Kamel deserves a special ovation. She was a magnificent Madame Hortense, pathetic, helpless, candid -- a simple old lady holding onto a few moments of happiness before leaving for a better world. On his return from the city Zorba finds her in this state. Deeply moved, he carries her to her last resting place: the extent to which he loved her had never dawned on him; and as he sits on Hortense's wooden chair, he feels the bitter impact of his own loneliness. The feeling is new to him, for he never thought he would experience solitude. When John, the American tourist arrived at the village in his impeccable white shirt and trousers and his snow-white shoes, trying to impress the village people with his fine manners and buoyant pirouettes, Zorba laughed at him. He showed him the right way to dance and to live, to express himself, to take life and destiny in his stride. John had a hard time learning, yet the beauty of Zorba's carefree ways gradually infected him, until he met Marina, the young widow with whom he immediately fell in love. She shared his feelings, though the village people, headed by Yorgos, are unsympathetic to her love affair with the stranger, for Yorgos wanted her for himself. The villagers disliked John's aristocratic behaviour and the books he was reading: he turned to Zorba for help. Ahmed Yehia and Serguey Bolonsky's performances were dazzling: Yehia-John, the young unblemished foreigner with his elegance and refinement, complemented Bolonsky-Zorba's somewhat heavier and slower, whimsical ways. Bolonsky has been gracing the Cairo Opera's stage for over a decade, dancing the main parts in all ballets of the company's repertoire. He is an excellent performer, remarkable in character roles. Ahmed Yehia, a rising star of the dance, has recently been applauded for his first lead role in a movie. Zorba and John were brilliant, each in his own distinctive way. John's pas-de-deux with Marina is one of the most enchanting themes of the ballet: the two lovers meet under the stars while on a trip to their very own paradise; they are blissfully happy, even though eerie shadows seem to undermine their ecstasy, while Hanan El-Guindy in dramatic black attire sings her captivating melody. First mezzo- soprano of the Cairo Opera House, El-Guindy's enchanting voice carried as much anxiety as pathos. But the two never heeded the warning: they were lost in a wondrous world of their own, never listening to the choir who chimed in, extending El-Guindy's captivating melody. The next day Marina was killed by the villagers, and while Yorgos was attacking John, Zorba arrived just in time to stop the massacre. Marina was beautifully interpreted by Maya Volkhovskaya, a lovely veteran of Cairo's ballet company who has been cast in main roles for many years. She is an excellent dancer, though she did seem somewhat mature for the part of the young widow. And as John sat on the wooden chair, grieving and sad, Zorba tried to give him all the consolation he could, teaching him, once again, how to take it all in his stride -- grief and sorrow included -- and showing him how to dance the Sirtaki. Eventually they exchange roles, to the sound of buzoukis playing, and in the end the villagers join them, drawn by the celebrated tune that toured the world around 30 years ago and remains a hit to this day. Nader Abbassi's enchanting baton was in perfect harmony with the general mood on stage and in the overcrowded hall. The audience loved every minute of the fabulous show. They will all come back next time.
