Amal Choucri Catta is disappointed "If clouds could speak", Egyptian Modern Dance Theatre, director Walid Aouni, Cairo Opera House Main Hall, 8 and 9 September, 9 pm Richard Wagner would not have been very happy with Walid Aouni's latest version of his spectacle "If clouds could speak". Premiered on 5 and 6 June, the show had been well balanced and perfectly synchronised, with Wagnerian melodies mixing seamlessly with Hip-Hop in different choreographic sequences; it had been very well received by the public, making a full house on both nights with the audience spontaneously enjoying Wagner's music, which was rather new to many. Moods and emotions had been attuned to the composer's famous "Ring", and the Walkyries, at the end of the show, had a whale of a time. This time, however, the situation was different. Walid Aouni's "If clouds could speak" was chosen to represent Egypt at the current Festival of Experimental Theatre. It was performed on 8 and 9 September at the Cairo Opera's Main Hall. Unfortunately, for reasons pertaining to the festival's regulations, the spectacle had to be shortened, compelling Aouni to reduce the second part of the show, chopping some 20 minutes off of it, which was quite regrettable in itself. The second part, holding a number of lovely sequences, including symbolic events such as the Mene-tekel writing on the wall and other incidents, with Wagner's "Ride of the Walkyries" forming the apotheosis of the show, should have remained untouched, while rather unimportant sequences of the first part, such as some repetitive dancing, could have been safely removed. Aouni made the mistake of cutting of the wrong parts of the spectacle, thus eliminating its greatest moments of exaltation and glory. Walid Aouni has always been a master of symbolism, using dance and movement as an eloquent means of expression, while expecting cultured audiences to understand his often difficult, yet always varied sequences. He is, furthermore, quite involved in world events, creating his shows with a philosophical outlook on historical, political, or social developments. On the other hand, he was always fascinated by Wagner's music, which is, according to him, a "combination of romance and drama, starting very simply and gradually reaching its climax". Indeed Wagnerian music is richly expressive, intensely illustrative and, on the grander scale, it dominated the 19th century, splitting the musical world into opposing factions. Wagner's influence, good or bad, on countless other composers, is still a prime factor, over a century after his death. The great German had relentlessly pursued his dream of an art form in which music and drama would be indivisible. He made opera a vehicle for the expression of the most complex emotional and psychological issues, though being first and foremost a musician, these remain secondary to the hypnotic power of his melodies . And just as Wagner was fascinated by the mystery of Northern epics, Walid Aouni is fascinated by the mystery of great events. In one of his recent works he concerned himself with the melting of polar ice and collapsing glaciers, bemoaning the disasters of man-made pollution. In other performances he has condemned injustice, terror, war and other evils. In his current work "If clouds could speak", he evokes all the walls that have been built through the ages: walls of separation, wailing walls, walls of hatred and persecution. Unfortunately, however, in this, the latest version, the nine components forming his "all" on stage, were not adequately used and many of the viewers were thus incapable of assimilating the importance of his architectural conception. While the components were rolled and pushed around, the mysteriously darkened crimson backdrop, with its smoke- laden horizon, revealing the huge feet of Wagnerian giants, was rarely visible, while Hip-Hop replaced much of Wagner. The idea of change is laudable in itself, though a change of music should entail a change in costumes. True, we were given a number of graceful Walkyries with golden crowns and wide, billowing crimson skirts, but all the other dancers, male and female, remained in their jeans, with T-shirts and all kinds of workaday different tops. Jumping from Wagner to rap and back again, while keeping the entire company in their monotonous, colourless clothes, benefited neither the performance, nor of the dancers nor the scenography. It would have been more appropriate to divide the dancers into "Wagnerians" in different costumes and rappers in jeans, while having the Wagnerians dance to the "Ring" and the others do Hip-Hop, which is not music but a harsh beat, quite exasperating in the long run. On the other hand, the clouds of cotton hovering over the stage were of a rather heavy nature: they may have been more diaphanous if made of plastic threads. It must unfortunately be said that there were few highlights in this version. They were limited to three, one of them being the rolled-out giants' feet, which came as a surprise to many viewers. The second was the appearance of the graceful Walkyries, while the third was the scene of the dancers trying to climb the wall and to descend on the opposite side, visibly fleeing oppression. The rest was rather rapidly and somewhat unconvincingly executed: the dancers, usually quite brilliant, did not seem to be motivated. They were executing the steps, but their heart was not in it. In my opinion, Walid Aouni should have refused to chop up his show, which only served to give some of the viewers who had not seen the original the wrong impression. Walid Aouni has more than once executed changes in his works, which were quite successful. This time, however, his luck failed him. He would therefore be well advised to go about the chopping with greater care in the future.
