Ati Metwaly and the dance Between 17 and 23 May, the Cairo Opera Ballet Company will perform a collection of three short ballets: Danses qu'on croise, Bolero and Tango Dream. Though the ballet company has never performed those three works in one evening, all have been presented to the Egyptian audience more than once in various sets and with various conductors such as Ivan Filev, Nayer Nagui and Nader Abbassi, among others, who led the Cairo Opera Orchestra through meanderings of sound by Johannes Brahms, Maurice Ravel and Astor Piazzolla. During the upcoming six evenings, the Cairo Opera Ballet Company with Artistic Director Erminia Kamel and Artistic Supervisor Abdel Moneim Kamel, will be accompanied by the Cairo Opera Orchestra conducted by Hisham Gabr. Danses qu'on croise, a ballet to the Hungarian Dances by Johannes Brahms, is choreographed by Thierry Malandin. The production first saw the light in 1987, when Maladin choreographed it for the ballet at the Nantes Opera House, France. When, over a decade ago, the same ballet was performed by the Cairo Opera Ballet company following Thierry's choreography, it kept returning, always receiving good reviews. In 2001, the late David Blake described the Malandain's Danses on these pages as "cool, witty, lively and inventive" while in many of his reviews he admired the work of the French choreographer. In Danses qu'on croise, Blake found a lot of youthful energy and beauty with which he parallels with Brahms' own struggles with youth concepts. "These children are young, but already aware of the uncertainty of life. So their dance is sharp-edged, with a genuine desire to be themselves, generous, playful and vulnerable," Blake wrote. Ravel's Bolero was brought to Egypt by Abdel Moneim Kamel. The simple and picturesque choreography by Maurice Béjart first saw the light in 1961; it was first performed in Egypt in 1983, in a production that was faithful to Bejart's choreography and attempted to recreate the sets and costumes. Highly critical of his own work, this is how Maurice Ravel described Bolero in an interview published in The Daily Telegraph in 1931: "It [Bolero] constitutes an experiment in a very special and limited direction, and should not be suspected of aiming at achieving anything different from, or anything more than, it actually does achieve. Before its first performance, I issued a warning to the effect that what I had written was a piece lasting seventeen minutes and consisting wholly of 'orchestral tissue without music' -- of one very long, gradual crescendo. There are no contrasts, and practically no invention except the plan and the manner of execution." The third ballet to be performed on those evenings is Tango Dream, to the music of Astor Piazzolla, the Argentinean composer and bandeon player. The choreography is by Joseph Russillo, a renowned French-American choreographer. With over 75 ballet productions on his shoulders, Russillo is among the most sought after of contemporary choreographers and his resume points to cooperation with many renowned artists and musicians such as Astor Piazzolla and Joan Miro. Over the past years, Russillo visited Egypt on several occasions, working with the Cairo Opera Ballet Company. Among his works, well received by audiences and critics alike, is a ballet based on Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring. "The Rite of Spring was very important in my career. When I came to Europe, I didn't even know about Bejart's version of the Stravinsky's work that at this time was a great success. Naturally, for critics there was a sort of comparison and a very demanding equation for me. I was lucky to receive reviews that described my ballet to be a new way of looking at that composition; they helped my name and career to get a boost," Russillo commented. Russillo' Rite of Spring choreography was also performed by the Cairo Opera Ballet Company. It was performed together with another ballet choreographed by him, The Nile Bride ॥circ;" to the music of Nader Abbassi. Back in 2006, during the evening that combined both works, the Cairo Opera Orchestra was conducted by Abbassi himself. "The Nile Bride and The Rite of Spring formed one story. The first one, based on Abbassi's music, was a legend that visually evolved towards The Rite of Spring, a story about how man destroys Earth," Russillo explains. We are left with abundant material documenting Russillo's work with the Cairo Opera Ballet Company. Pictures from The Nile Bride/The Rite of Spring depict captivating costumes and make us long to see both compositions again. However, as Erminia Kamel notes, this might be difficult due to their very sensual and at times erotic contents. Russillo works in many musical genres, from classical to contemporary and jazz, capturing and translating energies hidden in music into stage movement. "In classical music there are phrases and melodies॥circ;¦ In contemporary music challenges arise from a lot of changes in rhythm and colours. Those are two completely different worlds; both equally yet differently demanding," Russillo says, recalling another work that was an important stepping stone in his career: the ballet to Gabriel Faure's Requiem. Throughout his long career, Russillo was asked by composers and directors to create different ballets. He recalls music provided to him by Joan Miro to be among the most challenging assignments. He started by "painting the ballet from scratch," at first not sure where the creative forces would lead him. Performed in 1981 in Italy, the resulting ballet, Uccello di Luce, was a success. Russillo's choreography to Tango Dream to Piazzolla's music, which the Cairo audience will be able to attend again between 17 and 23 May, was first performed with his ballet troupe in Italy in the early 1980s; the same choreography will be followed by the Cairo Opera Ballet Company. "It is definitely like a dream. Young men see all sorts of images with tango as background music; we see happiness, sadness, horror etc. It is a very simple and maybe a naive idea but it brings very interesting things to life, and always stays on the borderline between reality and a dream. A lot of dancers around the world live in a sort of a dream world and in Tango Dream I try to make it really happen," Russillo explains. Tango Dream moves from one theme to another, from scenes depicting aggression to romantic pictures; some tableaux are very sensual. It goes through the whole evening until the boy, in his dream, goes to sleep, only to wake up the next day to continue his dream to Piazzolla's music. Now, during his fourth visit to Egypt, Russillo assesses his work with the Cairo Opera Ballet company in a positive spirit. He underlines that there are many talented dancers in the troupe, adding that, in time, the dancers become more and more disciplined. "Discipline is an international problem and Egypt is not the only country suffering from its lack, especially among ballet dancers. I see however that as the dancers develop and become better and better over the years, here, their discipline is also becoming stronger. In Egypt, there is a great mixture of dancers which helps the company to be more original. Each time I come back I get closer to the dancers and get to know them better which is very important for the work॥circ;¦" On six consecutive day, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22 and 23 May, the Cairo Opera Ballet company, with Artistic Director Erminia Kamel and Artistic Supervisor Abdel Moneim Kamel, will perform the three ballets: Danses qu'on croise to the Hungarian Dances by Johannes Brahms with choreography by Thierry Malandin; Ravel's Bolero to the choreography by Maurice Béjart; Tango Dream to the music by Astor Piazzolla with choreography by Joseph Russillo. Tango Dream is performed to the recorded music. In Danses qu'on croise and Bolero, the Cairo Opera Orchestra will be conducted by Hisham Gabr.
