'Scheherazade': Walid Aouni's One Thousand and One Nights show that came to life at the Royal Opera House Muscat

Considered one of the Arab world's most prestigious musical venues, the Royal Opera House Muscat brought its 2023/2024 season to a close with a two-day theatre performance of Scheherazade.

The star of the show, however, was off-stage: veteran Lebanese choreographer Walid Aouni, who directed, choreographed, and designed the entire production.

The colourful show, based on the legendary female protagonist of the Middle Eastern collection of fables One Thousand and One Nights, took place on May 23 and 24, featuring a dance production by the Egyptian Modern Theatre Dance Company of the Cairo Opera House.

For Aouni, this artistic collaboration between Egypt and Oman carries particular significance.

“Despite the difficulties, cooperation is important,” Aouni told The New Arab from his base in Cairo.

“At the moment, the Arab world is in a disturbed state. Whether in Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, or Iraq, our culture represents our presence, and we should hold onto it,” he added. 

Born in 1951, Aouni left his native Lebanon before the country’s devastating civil war, relocating to Belgium, where his story with the liberating art form of dance began. “In my opinion, dance is universal,” he said. “The movement of the body can express more than words. It has different directions, kinds of symbolism, and a wide imagination.”

Aouni initially studied graphic and plastic arts at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels. However, his path changed when he became an assistant to the renowned French dancer Maurice Béjart, who founded the Béjart Ballet Lausanne in Switzerland.

According to Aouni, he worked with Béjart for 15 years, learning how to modernise dance. During his time in Belgium, Aouni acquired knowledge in scenography, costume design, and dance.

In 1980, Aouni formed his first troupe in Belgium — a notable achievement for an Arab creative in Europe at the time. His inaugural production focused on the famous Lebanese-American poet and writer Khalil Gibran and his relationship with the American patron and editor Mary Haskell.

In 1993, Aouni’s journey took him to Egypt, where, at the request of former Minister of Culture Farouk Hosny, he established the Egyptian Modern Theatre Dance Company, which continues to thrive today.

Aouni claims that the dance company was the first of its kind in the region. “In the beginning, there were difficulties,” he said. “It was a new concept, and some of my ideas were refused.” But things eventually improved. With his intellectual approach, Aouni began creating productions based on notable Egyptian figures, including the late visual artist Tahia Halim, Nobel Prize-winning author Naguib Mahfouz, and film director Shadi Abdel Salam.

Then, in 2000, one of his major productions, Scheherazade — the storyteller who charmingly told tales night after night to her husband King Shahryar (who had a violent habit of marrying a woman at night and killing her the next morning) — was born.

Over the decades, the play has been presented to audiences in Oman, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, and Germany. “No one knows who wrote One Thousand and One Nights. Scheherazade is a magical mystery,” added Aouni. “In the end, she is eternal. She is a symbol. Scheherazade is to the East what the Mona Lisa is to the West.”

The music of Aouni’s production is based on the orchestral score of the 19th-century Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, who created his masterpiece in 1888. However, Aouni has modernised the play, dividing it into four acts and making changes over the years. For instance, he incorporated new characters, such as Aladdin, from the tales into the play. He also opened the play with a modern 1950s setting, with characters eventually returning to ancient times.

The play, adorned with vibrant costumes — crafted by Aouni himself — and accompanied by Rimsky-Korsakov’s rousing music, explores themes of heartbreak, revenge, jealousy, love, warfare, and power.

“It’s a story within a story within a story,” remarked Aouni. “My personal reading of the play differs from the direct narrative of Scheherazade. In my works, I like viewers to watch the scenes and interpret them as they wish. I leave the imagination to the viewer.”

The cast consisted of 36 members, taking on diverse roles such as princes, princesses, pirates, and dervishes, with Aouni insisting on an all-Egyptian ensemble to support the talent of his adopted country.

Next year will mark the 25th anniversary of Scheherazade, and Aouni is planning a grand celebration of his play in Egypt in 2025.

Rawaa Talass is a freelance journalist focusing on art and culture emerging from the Middle East. Her work has been published in Art Dubai, Arab News, Al Arabiya English,  Artsy, The Art Newspaper, Kayhan Life, Dubai Collection, and The National

Follow her on X: @byrawaatalass