Amal Choucri Catta finds the grace of movement in conversation with It is clear that of the 58 years of his life, , Egypt's unique dance master, choreographer and chairman of the National Cultural Centre, the greatest part was spent in opera houses, whether as student, a dancer, or director of the arts. He has a passion for beauty, for dance and for perfection; the stage, for him, is a sanctified space, where one has to tread softly, respectfully, as in a sanctuary. Born in 1949, he was already a star dancer at the age of 18, performing title roles in the renowned classical ballets in Egypt and in the major opera houses of Russia, Japan and other countries. It was, however, in Milan's famous "La Scala" that he met and wed his fascinating wife, Erminia Gambarelli. Both have been star performers in Europe, and in Egypt after their return in 982. I remember admiring him in Lorkiana and other ballets at the Gumhouriya Theatre, prior to the inauguration of Cairo's new Opera House in 1988. I also remember his smashing success as director and choreographer of the then recently formed "opera ballet company", presenting Don Quixote, followed each new season by a different ballet production for the opera's repertoire. We all loved his wife Erminia performing title roles such as the White Swan of Swan Lake, Juliet in R omeo and Juliet, Giselle, Lorkiana, Madame Hortense in Zorba and many more. She was, in fact, for many years, Egypt's fabulous Prima Ballerina. And having adopted choreography, she is just as successful in her new designation. It certainly goes without saying that and his wife have managed to turn the Cairo Opera Ballet Company into an ensemble of a high, international standard. Since August 2004 has also been Chairman of the National Cultural Centre -- the opera's official name, in which capacity he is also directing operas such as Lehar's The Merry Widow or Verdi's Aida at the Pyramids, with great success. Dancing and vocal performances, concerts, whether symphonic or Arabic, have all been going perfectly well. The only department that has not been as lucky is Cairo Opera's lyric company. These past months we have had beautiful performances of Lehar's The Merry Widow : very much admired for its lovely sets and fascinating costumes, as well as for interesting stage management and charming choreography. However, at the end of the season we witnessed rather regrettable performances of Verdi's Aida with disastrous stage management by the Italian Maurizio di Mattia. Which led me to ask Chairman 's opinion. "We did have some difficulties," he said, "though we likewise enjoyed some good shows, like Mozart's Don Giovanni, for instance, or Verdi's Aida directed by Abdalla Saad, which was quite popular and very successful. We had decided to limit our programmes to two opera performances per season: that is why we thought a change in production would enhance the spectacle. Unfortunately, we were not lucky with Aida 's last two performances. As for La Traviata, the appointed director was late in sending the sketches for the sets and costumes and it would have taken a long time to realise this opera. We therefore decided to produce Aida, since the sets and costumes were already available. Unfortunately, however, the appointed stage manager did not have sufficient time to carry out his ideas. We do, however, realise that the production was inadequate. Next season we shall be celebrating Cairo Opera's 20th anniversary: our local companies, the symphony, the ballet and the opera are preparing a few interesting events. The ballet will be presenting a new production in cooperation with the renowned Italian Renato Greco at the beginning of the season, while the end of the season will be witnessing an Egyptian ballet based on a traditional theme, under the title Ayoub El Masry, with choir and soloists. The songs of Ayoub are quite beautiful and pleasant on the ear. This will be a long ballet presenting a number of different dances. "As for the foreign companies likely to participate in this event, we are cooperating in this respect with several countries. Switzerland is planning to present concerts of the famous Seven Pianos. They were in Egypt some nine years ago and, in the meantime they have achieved worldwide renown. We have also come to an agreement with the United States: our mutual plan is to organise performances of the jazz company of the Lincoln Centre, as well as dancing performances by the American Ballet Centre of the Metropolitan. As for Italy, hopefully in November we shall be presenting The Barber of Sevilla performed by the company of the Turin Opera House. Furthermore, Germany will be participating with the Cologne Orchestra and France will probably decide on a joint venture, presetting Leo Delibes' famous opera Lakme, together with French and Egyptian performers. We all know that this opera was widely applauded in France with the Egyptian soprano Amira Selim in the title role. "We are likewise planning on performances of Turandot by the Shanghai Opera. It goes without saying that all these performances will be requiring ample funds which we shall hopefully obtain with the help of different sponsors. Until now I have been talking about the gigantic shows to be performed in the Main Hall. We shall, however, be enjoying foreign spectacles in the opera's different halls, such as the small theatre, the Gumhouriya and the theatres in Alexandria, where we shall be presenting performances by Mexican dance companies and other song and dance performances. We must, however, not forget the Russian companies, with, in all likelihood, Belaruss's Swan Lake, as well as the National Cuban Ballet Company with Don Quixote. "As for the Arabic music concerts, the National Orchestra for Arabic Music conducted by Selim Sehab, and the Abdel-Halim Nouweira Orchestra conducted by Salah Ghobashi, they will be having, each time, two concerts at the Main Hall, two at the Gumhouriya Theatre and two in Alexandria. We shall also have the usual concerts of traditional music, as well as two concerts for each of the two main orchestras at the Arabic Music Theatre. Furthermore, while celebrating the opera's 20th anniversary, we are planning to organise a total of six concerts by famous Arab singers like Kazem Al-Saher, Magda Al-Roumi, Warda Al-Gazaeriya and others. I would like to add that we would much appreciate the assistance of the critics and the media in general for the coming season and when we are able to execute all our plans in the coming season, the results shall be quite promising for all our companies. Thus for instance, our ballet company with Erminia Kamel, has been invited to perform in Italy, in Greece, Germany, England and Canada. The company has been admired for the performances of One Thousand and One Nights, The Rites of Spring and Ballet Tango. Today we can say that our ballet company repeatedly enjoys a full house. They are just as popular as the concerts of Arabic music. I hope to be able to say the same about the opera company and the symphony orchestra. We have decided to bring in Andreas Spory for eight concerts, and we shall also renew the contract with Ahmed El-Saedi, who will be giving a number of concerts in the Main Hall, as well as six concerts in the small hall. I would like to say in closing that we do have good elements: we have formed many musicians, dancers and singers: all we have to do now is work and hope for success..."
