It has been some time since I last followed the Cairo Opera Ballet Company, yet many of its iconic works linger in my memory. Not long ago, the company presented its iconic version of Nutcracker, which includes segments choreographed by Abdel Moneim-Kamel. Its repertoire boasts many standout shows, with the audience’s favourites including Zorba, Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliette and Coppélia, among others.
Now it was time for the Princess of the Nile, a new production I could not miss. The ballet premiered on the main stage of the Cairo Opera House on 5 February, with performances on 6, 8, and 9 February as well. From the moment the curtain rose to the final bows, the audience was taken on a visually breathtaking journey through the land of dreams and ancient Egypt. The choice is not random, since its premiere comes at a moment when Cairo is still abuzz with the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum, and all eyes are on the wonders of ancient civilisation. The Princess of the Nile offers a taste of this unique liminal space between history and myth, between narrative storytelling and the sublime artistry of classical ballet.
It is a unique endeavor that Erminia Kamel, the Cairo Opera Ballet Company’s artistic director, embarked on last November – with a series of intensive rehearsals, interrupted only by December’s Nutcracker.
Princess of the Nile features a large cast that includes many emerging Egyptian talents alongside performers from Japan, Brazil, France, Italy, Montenegro, and beyond, all of whom joined the company in recent years. A uniquely fresh energy is evident, not meant to surpass what came before but rather to reflect the constant rejuvenation of the troupe. On the other hand, given the Cairo Opera Ballet Company’s rich history and established repertoire – built by the older generation – it offers many young dancers an opportunity to perform in classical masterpieces in a prestigious company. The Princess of the Nile has now been added to the treasure trove of gems.
Based on the ballet La Fille du Pharaon (The Pharaoh’s Daughter), it has choreography by the famed Marius Petipa, who in its premiere on 18 November 1862, at the St. Petersburg Bolshoi Theatre, Russia, danced the principal role of Ta-Hor. Petipa’s monumental three-act and almost three-hour ballet is based on Théophile Gautier’s Le Roman de la Momie (The Romance of a Mummy, 1858), in which an English traveller, Lord Wilson, dreams that he is an ancient Egyptian, Ta-Hor, falling in love with the Pharaoh’s daughter. Their love faces the Pharaoh’s fierce disapproval and countless perilous trials before it can be fulfilled. Princess of the Nile largely adheres to the original plot, introducing only minor adjustments.
Petipa’s La Fille du Pharaon was created at the peak of European colonial expansion, intertwined with Orientalism in art and culture. Those were also the years of the ongoing construction of the Suez Canal, with Egypt often appearing on front pages of Europe’s newspapers, with exotic overtones. Yet curiously, the ballet did not conquer international stages. Even today, it is much more popular across Russia than in any other country.
That said, it remains one of the great monuments of classical ballet, with an emotional force shaped by Cesare Pugni’s music. Embedded in deep lyricism and aching intensity, which breathes life into the choreography, the score draws on Western musical idioms rather than authentic Egyptian sources. However, it occasionally employs stylised Eastern sonorities to create musical packaging that aligns with the 19th-century taste for “Oriental” settings. The Cairo Opera Ballet Company performed to the music recorded in the premiere; this will hopefully be replaced with a live orchestra in the future.
The original ballet has a large number of scenes and tableaux, a huge corps de ballet, lyrical adagios with captivating pas de deux and pas de trois, among many other components. Not only do they underscore the wonderful melodies, and remain highly evocative in advancing the story, but also demand a great company to deliver all the intricacies of the choreography – a feat impressively accomplished by the Cairo Opera Ballet Company.
As Erminia Kamel explains, she made several adjustments to Petipa’s story to make it more accessible to Egyptian audiences. “I had to shorten it, mainly by removing some variations: their sheer number could make the ballet feel monotonous to today’s viewers. I cut whatever was not essential to the narrative and rearranged the placement of certain adagios,” she explains, also pointing to shifts on the thematic level. “In the original version, the Pharaoh’s daughter, who is in love with Ta-Hor, refuses to marry the Nubian king chosen for her by her father. The Pharaoh then forces her to throw herself into the Nile. This is extremely harsh, and I had to change it. In Princess of the Nile, the daughter instead loses hope of being united with her beloved Ta-Hor and leaps into the Nile in an act of despair.”
This change is particularly significant taking into account that the original La Fille du Pharaon reflected the thought of the European Orientalism era, where Egypt was not a historically well researched civilisation but rather served as an exotic backdrop to theatrical spectacles, designed to heighten drama. European audiences expected despotic rulers who governed through fear and unquestioned authority, introducing spectacular cruelty to Oriental courts. Kamel’s approach both dismantles the Orientalist legacy of the original and restores a sense of humanity and nuance to the story.
Although set in Egyptian courts and temples, Petipa’s original ballet was performed in classical tutus, a choice Kamel found fundamentally at odds with the story’s setting. Seeking a visually coherent and equally striking aesthetic, she invited the Italian fashion designer Gianluca Saitto to create designs that would capture the work’s authentic spirit. Kamel comments, “Gianluca had already worked with the Cairo Opera Ballet Company on Coppélia and La Bayadère. And again, with this ballet, he did an amazing job. Since we kicked off rehearsals in November 2025, he visited Egypt three times to follow up on and supervise the choice of materials and execution. The seamstresses and tailors from the Opera’s atelier spent long hours for many days bringing Gianluca’s vision to life.”
Indeed, the costumes stand out as one of the work’s most compelling elements. Fluid, light, and thoughtfully restrained, they guide the audience into the heart of an ancient civilisation without resorting to heavy-handed historicism. Their airy materials respond organically to the dancers’ movements, creating a sense of continuity between body, fabric, and space, and lending both elegance and narrative clarity to the choreography. When combined with projections and lighting, the costumes become an integral visual layer completing the picture and enhancing the work’s overall poetic coherence.
The production’s scenography relies entirely on projections to reimagine ancient Egyptian temples and tombs, desert landscapes, the Pyramids, and the shimmering depths of the Nile. Rather than functioning as mere backdrops, these projected environments actively reshaped the stage space, allowing for fluid transitions between worlds and moods. “Abdel-Moneim Al-Masry, who worked on multimedia, did an amazing job, as did the lighting designer Yasser Shaalan,” Kamel notes. “Together, they created a remarkable balance between light and projection, producing striking visuals that elevated the entire production.” Relying entirely on projections was a bold choice for Kamel. Here she breaks with tradition, embraces artistic unconventionality, and above all, challenges the audience to engage with a fully digital stage environment.
On the other hand, the dancers needed to adapt to changing, flat projections rather than interacting with physical sets. And while this technique can be budget-friendly, and makes the ballet even more “portable”, the projections can sometimes feel cold and detached if not executed carefully. In Princess of the Nile, the projections not only aligned flawlessly with the stage and choreography, but they also created spatial illusions with striking artistic depth, transforming the stage into a fluid, immersive world. Lighting and projections often compete, overlap, and even cancel each other out, as Kamel notes, so “balancing them” is a delicate task. The result is a ballet that not only celebrates Egypt’s cultural heritage but also reaffirms the company’s continual evolution, proving that classical ballet can remain timeless while embracing a bold, contemporary vision.
Princess of the Nile demonstrates the Cairo Opera Ballet Company’s most ambitious and inventive side. By honouring Petipa’s classical legacy while thoughtfully adapting the story, Kamel and her collaborators have created a production that is both visually and emotionally resonant. While celebrating Egypt’s cultural heritage this ballet reaffirms the company’s continual evolution, proving that classical ballet remains timeless in its embrace of bold, contemporary vision. As the company continues with its regular repertoire, the dancers will soon begin rehearsals for the April retake of Swan Lake. This will be followed by June performances of Danses qu’on Croise, alongside other components of the evening.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 12 February, 2026 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
Short link: