dances on ice
The first week of this month saw Moscow on Ice give several performances of Cinderella and Swan Lake on the theatres of the Cairo Opera House (COH) and the Alexandria Opera House. Special matinée performances were held for the benefit of children, who were indeed enraptured with the shows. The supreme flexibility of the dancers and their unique ice skating skills served to enhance the drama and enthral spectators.
This is the first Middle East tour for the 30-dancer-strong Moscow on Ice. Choreographer Igor Shapovalov said that, since 1986, Moscow on Ice has been touring various countries with performances that spanned a repertoire of 60 ballets, presenting in each country the shows that best suited the culture of its audiences.
Troy at the pyramids
The Sound and Light Pyramids theatre is currently hosting the Turkish group Fire of Anatolia which is performing its spectacular Troy. Performances run till 16 April. Directed by Mustafa Erdogan, more than 100 dancers of the Turkish Ballet present the legendary story of Troy at the foot of the Giza pyramids. This is the first time Troy is performed outside Turkey, though not the first time for Fire of Anatolia to perform in Egypt where it gained huge popularity since its performances in 2005, 2007 and 2008.
Erdogan said that works of Fire of Anatolia are inspired by Turkey’s traditions and history. Fire of Anatolia holds two Guinness records, one for fastest dance performance with 241 steps per minute and another for the largest audience: 400 000 people in Eregli in the Black Sea.
Al-Zeibaq flies to Tunisia
The popular puppet aragoz (Punch in a Punch and Judy) show Aly al-Zeibaq, presented by Wamda Group of Beit al-Seheimy, written and directed by Nabil Bahgat and produced by the Cultural Development Fund, recently won two awards in the Mediterranean Festival for Children’s Theatre. It won the prize for best show, and an appreciation award was granted to Mustafa Osman Mustafa who is known as Amm Saber al-Masry, literally the Egyptian Uncle Saber, for his role as the aragoz in the show and for a life-time achievement in folklore theatre. Groups from Algeria, Brazil, France, Italy, Lebanon, Morocco, Libya and Turkey participated in the festival.
The festival was held in Ben Arous, Tunisia, last month and celebrated the centenary of Tunisian theatre. Among the festival’s activities, a research was conducted on Legends and Children’s Theatre. Egypt participated with a lecture by Dr Bahgat on the initiative of the Wamda Group to revive the character of aragoz, a folklore Egyptian puppet character.
Aly al-Zeibaq, which was shown in six different Tunisian villages, tells the legend of Aly who, as a boy, loses his father at the hand of the strongman Sonqor. Twenty years later Aly confronts Sonqor and tries to free the people of his tyranny.
Also within the activities of the festival, Egypt organised an open workshop to teach the art of designing and moving the aragoz. Amm Saber al-Masry spoke to the audience on the history of the Egyptian aragoz.
Singing like an angel
Invited by the Franciscan mission in Egypt, the Syrian singer Cybèle Baghdoud sang hymns and praises during a two week visit to Egypt. Baghdoud’s exceptional performances held her audiences in several towns in Egypt captivate as her angelic voice flowed to the accompaniment of the Heart of Jesus Choir led by Osama al-Masry.
The Syrian, Maronite Baghdoud writes and composes her own hymns in Arabic and English. Her Egypt recitals were appended with short films of prayer and meditation.
