Two further performances for this Abu Dhabi Festival opener, a reimagined version of The Nutcracker from a company noted for its dazzling hybrid of western ballet and Chinese culture. Tchaikovsky’s score is the backbone to a colourful tale brought to [ ... ]
The title of this concert certainly sets the bar high, though it seems a pretty good selection of the composer's works for piano. The pianist is Magdalena Wajdzik, and the other plus is the way these recitals are lit by [ ... ]
Quoz Arts Fest returns for its 11th edition, filling Alserkal Avenue with music, food and family-friendly fun for two days. The Quoz Encore stage for emerging musicians of all ages and backgrounds is back, and in total there are more [ ... ]
An introduction to music generally and the orchestra in particular by Expo City Dubai’s all-female Firdaus Orchestra via a concert of classically arranged music for children aged 0 to 6 years old and their parents. The programme includes a range [ ... ]
Join Turner Prize-winning artist Lubaina Himid (above right) and collaborator Magda Stawarska (left) as they talk about their rather good SAF exhibition Plaited Time / Deep Water with the exhibition's curator, Dr Omar Kholeif. They will delve into the role [ ... ]
ToDA transforms into a jazz venue for live performance accompanied by a 360° immersive show: this time it's Luisa Winck with keyboard and drums in a 90-minute set. Expect a range from soulful ballads to upbeat foot-tappers ... [ ... ]
This performance piece traces the 50-year journey of a marble sculpture depicting a bull’s head, using interviews as well as inventory lists, photographs, legal documents and other evidence presented to the New York Supreme Court from investigations that lasted for [ ... ]
The excellent Afrikaans funnyman is back in town – older and now married, but still keen to stay “hip with the youth”. But can he ‘keep up’? This is the second of his two shows in Dubai.
The reliably funny Northern Irish comic is currently touring his new standup show – from here he zips over to Australia and New Zealand, then to mainland Europe for a few more dates, all before the end of March ... [ ... ]
Two final performances for this spectacular dance/circus interpretation of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s fable of an aviator who lands in the middle of the desert and meets the Little Prince, who’s travelling from one planet to another looking for his sheep. [ ... ]
A newly restored print of Disney's family-friendly animation: the beast (an enchanted prince, of course) tries to win the love of the young and beautiful Belle with the help of the caste's enchanted staff (who have been transformed into a [ ... ]
The 2024 series of 421's Culture Bus trips from Abu Dhabi kicks off with a visit to the second day of Quoz Arts Fest. You'll get three hours on site: 2pm: Depart from 421 3.30pm: Arrive at Quoz Arts Fest [ ... ]
The intelligent networking session for creative peers continues its 'Arts Unfiltered' panel series, this time delving into photography in the UAE. "We aim to cover a broad range of topics, then open up to the floor to hear your questions [ ... ]
Arash Behzadi plays his own compositions, "neoclassical musical narratives reflecting the ups and downs of life ... Passion, love, yearning, heartache and solace: all these feelings will come alive", accompanied by ToDA's 360° visuals. The excellent Soren Lyng Hansen guests [ ... ]
It's always a pleasure to come across an explicit title. This is a free Comedy Kix standup gig with a bill that includes Noha Bashir, Yash Bhardwaj, Rula Korban, Valentina Danubio (aka 'the ukulady'), Amr Abbas, Rami Salamé and of [ ... ]
A second performance for this piece that traces the 50-year journey of a marble sculpture depicting a bull’s head, using interviews as well as inventory lists, photographs, legal documents and other evidence presented to the New York Supreme Court from [ ... ]
Celine Song's first feature has been nominated in two of this year's Oscar categories (Best Motion Picture category and Best Original Screenplay – but criminally not Best Director). It's the story of a modern romance; Na Young’s family emigrated from [ ... ]
Another good local band, Billu and the Brownies delivers high-energy dance vibes like few others. Also on the bill is sultry-voiced soul/R&B songstress Chelsey Chantelle.
Two performances at Dubai Opera for a company that is noted for its dazzling hybrid of western ballet and Chinese culture. The programme includes Chinese New Year, its reimagined version of The Nutcracker, followed by excerpts from La Bayadère, the [ ... ]
A Comedy Kix standup gig, promising "a night of bold, dark humour with the brilliantly witty stage actor and comedian Sadiq Saboowala". He is indeed good, and he can indeed be pretty dark ... Also on the bill: Sunil Mashari [ ... ]
Abu Dhabi needs a regular comedy night. This one is new to us, but by all accounts delivers an excellent standup night at an undoubtedly great location ("the UAE’s first Jamaican Restaurant & Lounge"). We're promised acts from Abu Dhabi, [ ... ]
The UAE’s biggest and best literary event is back, with the usual cornucopia of writers, creators and thought leaders – a total of around 160 events at Festival City from 31 January to 6 February. The line-up includes the 2023 [ ... ]
The second performances at Dubai Opera from a company that is noted for its dazzling hybrid of western ballet and Chinese culture. The programme includes Chinese New Year, its reimagined version of The Nutcracker, followed by excerpts from La Bayadère, [ ... ]
Vikram Divecha’s exhibition covers the Dubai-based artist’s practice since 2013, showcasing his playful and poetic site-specific works, public art, installations, videos, photography and drawings. In particular, Divecha has long had an in-depth interest in the invisible structures of planning, construction, [ ... ]
The Spanish cellist has been racking up accolades from every corner, including a very special one from Anne-Sophie Mutter: “Pablo Ferrández is truly special. Great sound, very refined vibrato, flawless left and right hand and a true musician” (his second [ ... ]
This harrowing drama about the Nazi occupation of Rome was shockingly authentic, conceived and directed amidst the ruin of World War II. The result has been cited as one of the greatest films ever made; certainly it's a landmark of [ ... ]
An adaptation of Kurosawa’s Rashomon transposed to Punjab (and delivered in Punjabi, with English subtitles). A man is found dead and his wife abused; a bandit confesses, but the wife’s story is different – and the dead man himself has [ ... ]
An evening of opera hits with Isabel Maria Canada Luna (soprano) and Aldo Dotto (piano), lit by candlight and located under the gazebo in the Emirates Palace's Oriental Cafe.
Three days of African vibes, described as "the UAE’s largest celebration of Africa’s rich and diverse cultures in all their vibrant expressions and representations"; we're promised "an unforgettable mosaic of performances, artistic, culinary and culturally immersive experiences". It's built around [ ... ]
Ras Al Khaimah Art, the new incarnation of the Ras Al Khaimah Fine Art Festival, opens to the public at 9pm on Friday 2 February. As ever, it’s at the Al Jazeera Al Hamra Heritage Village, which has increasingly been [ ... ]
An adaptation of Sidney Lumet’s courtroom drama 12 Angry Men, transposed to Punjab in the 1890s (and delivered in Punjabi, with English subtitles). The members of a jury deliberate a guilty verdict that means death for the accused; one of [ ... ]
The original Singing Youth is a larger-than-life memorial statue of three young people by Greek sculptor Memos Makris, a political refugee in Hungary. In 1953, the statue was installed in front of a sports stadium in Budapest; it still stands [ ... ]
A solo show for Doha's Anima Gallery in which the Belgian-Lebanese artist explores themes of environmental conservation, the wrath of nature, and the impacts of war in the Middle East via several series of works that illustrate the transformative power [ ... ]
The excellent Culture Bus trip gives you the third and final day of Art Dubai (which is usually the quietest, so it's the best one for seeing art). You'll get three hours on site: 10.30am: Depart from 421 11.50pm: Arrive [ ... ]
The Jameel is running a third season of Night School, a seminar programme where UAE residents can discuss urbanism and history in Dubai. Under this season's theme, There You Are, participants will assess how much we can know about a [ ... ]
German Cova and his musicians (guitar, piano, tabla and one dancer) in a 75-minute tribute to the Spanish flamenco virtuoso Paco de Lucìa. "Every aspect of this vibrant show will leave you breathless," promises the blurb, and of course there's [ ... ]
The top saxophonist and bandleader redefines jazz boundaries with a progressive approach, fusing jazz, hip-hop, R&B, and classical music. For this Abu Dhabi Festival concert he has a 12-strong band and we’re promised “a unique and unforgettable experience” that is [ ... ]
The titular cellist is the exciting young Franco-Belgian star Camille Thomas, playing with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra under the noted Norwegian conductor Eivind Gullberg Jensen. This InClassica concert has a lively programme that should bring out the best in her: [ ... ]
A journey in 360° space through the worlds created by Hayao Miyazaki & Joe Hisaishi with the Armenian pianist Gayane Aslanyan. "In 60 minutes, she will transport you to a realm of wonder and fantasy where imagination knows no bounds [ ... ]
Charlie Chaplin’s tramp goes looking for gold and fortune in the Klondike, gets mixed up with some burly characters, falls in love with the beautiful Georgia (Georgia Hale) and tries to win her heart ... It's the now-familiar mix, but [ ... ]
The Xinjiang Art Theatre Song and Dance Troupe celebrate the Chinese New Year with this colourful, large-scale epic of music, dance and spectacle that depicts the colourful culture of Xinjiang – a vast region of deserts and mountains in northwest [ ... ]
Shehan Karunatilaka, the 2022 Booker Prize Winner, talks with NYUAD Visiting Professor of Literature and Creative Writing Harshana Rambukwella. Karunatilaka’s fiction combines the surreal and the drakly humorous, notably in his Booker winner The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida – [ ... ]
A warm-hearted and thoughtful holiday story of three lonely, shipwrecked people who find support in the most unlikely of places. A curmudgeonly teacher (Paul Giamatti) is forced to remain on campus at a New England prep school over Christmas to [ ... ]
Dina Stars closes out Series 42 with her dynamic performance and a set that runs the gamut from power ballads to dance-pop. Support comes from singer-songwriter Yohaan Samuel.
Regular readers will know that magpie has always been a fan of the Sharjah Light Festival, the 13th edition of which runs 7 to 18 February. SLF is being joined by two more light festivals that have emerged in the [ ... ]
ÖKOZID / ECOCIDE Director: Andres Veiel Feature, Germany, 2020, 90 min. Starring Nina Kunzendorf, Friederike Becht, Edgar Selge and Ulrich Tukur February 7, 2024 @ 7pm, at Manarat Al Saadiyat It is the year 2034 and drought and flooding are [ ... ]
The world premiere of a new dance piece, devised and performed by two of the pre-eminent South Asian dancers of their time – Aakash Odedra, well known to Abu Dhabi audiences from previous visits; and Aditi Mangaldas, a dancer and [ ... ]
Ten actors converge for a night of scenes, songs and games based on audience suggestions. After each round you score the players on a scale of 1 to 5, and the one with the lowest score is eliminated. Eventually only [ ... ]
A solo show from one of Carbon 12's regulars. Butzer's style is characterised by "Disney figures painted by Munch": iconic characters, expressive language, deceptively careful use of colour, all done in "in honour of Henri Matisse" says the artrist. "Simultaneously [ ... ]
Rossellini’s follow-up to his breakout Rome Open City (Roma città aperta) is an ambitious and moving look at the final days of war in Italy and the confusion that follows in its wake. This classic of neo-realist cinema is presented [ ... ]
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