“Your bizarre waves enchanting my eyes, oh Nile!” – A phrase from the Egyptian music masterpiece “The River of Eternity” that talks about the river Nile, which represents the power of life and can be interpreted as the picture of a human traveler.
SEKEM co-workers developed a great Eurythmy performance out of the poem “Al Nahr AL Khaled” for the occasion of SEKEMs 38th Anniversary. The impressive Eurythmy play from the SEKEM Eurythmy group included children and students from some of SEKEMs educational institutions like the Kindergarten, the SEKEM School, the Vocational Training Center (VTC) and the Heliopolis University for Sustainable Development (HU).
The text of the “The River of Eternity” play was written by the Egyptian poet Mahmoud Hassan Ismail who was born in Assiut, in Upper Egypt at the river Nile. His hometown was the reason for him to be fascinated by the landscape of the Egyptian river since his childhood. Mahmoud Hassan felt deeply connected with the Nile and tried to transform the life quality of the river and its environment in his poems. Mohamed Abdelwahab, a great Egyptian composer took over the melody sequences of Mahmoud Hassan Ismail’s poem and applied them to a song.
The SEKEM Eurythmy performance was presented on the song’s affectionate music played by the musicians of HU. Amira Reda, a music instructor at HU, sang with her great voice the musical parts, accompanied by the music ensemble under the direction of George Kolta. Nashwa Ahmed, Eurythmy instructor, narrated the words of the poem. The whole play can be seen as a picture of polarities, which are reflecting the power of the elementary world. The natural elements where performed by SEKEM pupils, who acted as lovely fishes, foxes or birds. VTC students represented the shading palm trees by proudly holding huge palm leaf, framing the scenery.
The audience was impressed by this elaborate Eurythmy performance, that was beautifully directed by Martina Dinkel from HU and Alexander Seeger from Alanus University in Germany; and they could feel the message of the poem: “Your bizarre waves enchanting my eyes, oh Nile” – widen your eyes for the deep and hidden secrets of life which can be evolved through the water that is considered to be the imagination of the intangible world.
Noha Hussein
Read about SEKEMs 38th Anniversary
A Conversation Without Talking - Cultural activities for SEKEM co-workers