Behind the MaskNEWSLETTER

Issue 6/ September 2016

Dancing has been an integral part of human experience and culture since before the birth of earliest civilizations. It has many different functions – it is a part of human ceremonies, social bonding experience, romantic connection, aesthetic performance, personal expression, or just a way to blow off some steam. To put it simply, we love to dance! And here in DUCTAC, we have many classes for that teach different types of dance to all ages. Find the one for you!

“Dancing can reveal all the mystery that music conceals.” Charles Baudelaire

Shakti-Celebrating Feminine Creativity, Centrepoint Theatre, DUCTAC

DUCTAC season is supported by

Dubai Community Theatre & Arts Centre (DUCTAC), contributes to the creative and cultural development of Dubai by presenting and hosting a program of events and participatory activities for Dubai’s many multi-national communities and visitors alike. The Theatre & Arts Centre is the first modern, non-for-profit,cross-community creative centre in the Gulf.

Located on the second floor of Mall of the Emirates, and spanning some 77,952 sq ft the venue includes the theatre building and the arts centre.

COBALT ARTS: ‘MANAS: THE SIXTH DIMENSION exhibition

Culture Emulsion

Drama School &

Theatre plays >>

On stage with la cigale etla fourmi et autres fables

Vendredi 30 septembre201611h et 15h4-12 ans

Spectacle de rentrée +

www.culture-emulsion.com

CultureemulsionCultureemulsion

EN FRANCAIS

Flamenco DanceDancing Flamenco allows you to work out, have fun and feel part of the Gipsy beat and Flamenco art. Besides energising choreographies, you’ll be taught the tips and ways to improvise any Spanish hit. Flamenco.uae@gmail.com

Dance Classes in Ductac

Sharmila Dance – Street Jazz, Hip Hop, Ballet, Contemporary Offering dance classes for students ranging in the age of 7 to adults. With over 700 students currently enrolled, ‘Sharmila Dance’ trains the youth of today to become tomorrow’s professional performers.http://sharmiladance.com/

Tango Dubai – Argentine TangoAn elegant dance suitable for all ages. Tango Dubai brings world renowned tango personalities to conduct workshops and perform at shows. Learn and enjoy a new skill - welcome to the tango community. www.dubaitangofestival.com

Belly Art Dubai – Belly Dancing The Belly Dance is the joining of the technique with sentiment. It is letting your body flow according to the rhythm. Any woman who has the desire to learn and explore this ancient, feminine, and beautiful dance form is welcome! www.bellyartdubai.com

Bollywood DanceDance it off! Enjoy shaking to the latest and hottest Bollywood numbers on glamorous steps and spectacular choreography, together with warm ups concentrated on intense flexibility to the rhythm. www.dancewithnisha.com

Dance Fantasy Royal Academy of Dancing trained ballet teachers working on technique and creative open classes with emphasis on fun and enjoyment. They offer ballet courses for budding ballerinas aged 3-12 years old, plus open ballet fun dance class offering parents an opportunity to dance together with their 2-3 year olds.

Ritmo de Havana – Cuban Salsa Ritmo de Havana doesn’t just teach you how to dance Salsa steps, they will totally immerse you in the contagious energy and passion of this rhythm, teach you about Cuban body movement and dance attitude. www.ritmo-de-havana.com

Kuchipudi – Indian Classical Art FormKuchipudi is an Indian Dance form capturing the delicate tranquil moments of nature and presents it in the most sublime manner reaching the very depth of your soul. This unique art form is a tasteful blend of grace and vigor, elevation and sensuality, of control and abandon.

Theatre EventsDopehriPankaj Kapur brings to us the story of Amma Bi’s journey from loneliness to self-discovery in old time Lucknow. Date and Time: September 2, 2016 at 6 pm and 9 pm Language: Hindi

Pazi Sta ZelisRomantic comedy about two mid-aged guys who have no clue about women whatsoever, so they make up an imaginary girlfriend to teach them. Date and Time: September 21, at 8 pmLanguage: Serbian

Adam Saleh World TourYouTube sensation Adam Saleh continues with his stand-up comedy world tour and will be performing in Dubai for the first time! Join him for fun, laughter and his usual pranks!Date and Time: September 22, 2016 at 6:30 pmLanguage: English

The Improvisers Non-scripted, on-the-spot improv comedy performance from the established Indian stand-up comics based on the topics that are suggested by the audience. Date and Time: September 24, 2016 at 7 pmLanguage: English and Hindi

Emirates NBD Classics – Ariane HaeringThe Swiss-born pianist Ariane Haering has a richness of chamber music repertoire and has won many accolades for her performances. She is joined by Benjamin Schmid, one of the most versatile of today’s violinists, whose particular strength lies in his exceptionally wide repertoire and very personal style.Date and Time: September 23, 2016 at 8 pmLanguage: English

Jashn-e-Awadh: A musical journey to the land of NawabsA celebration of the legendary Music and Dance of Lucknow that flourished under the patronage of Nawab Wajid Ali Shah. Using complimenting shades of music, dance and drama, the show presents a contemporary narrative on Lucknow’s musical heritage.Date and Time: September 29, 2016 at 7 pmLanguage: English and Hindi

La Cigale Et La FourmiDodo and Remi are two crazy friends who must give a show on the fables of Jean de la Fontaine. Problem: they do not even know who he is! They will reinvent the fable in a show full of energy and humor!Date and Time: September 30, 2016 at 11 am and 3 pmLanguage: French

Radio DekkhEverything you wanted to know about radio can be found in this crackup comedy! Date and Time: September 16, 2016, 6 pm and 8 pmLanguage: English and Hindi

Potted Potter: The Unauthorised Harry Experience – A parody by Dan and JeffThe international smash hit Harry Potter parody is coming back to Dubai! Potted Potter takes on the ultimate challenge of condensing all seven Harry Potter books (and a real-life game of Quidditch) into seventy hilarious minutes. Date and Time: September 15 at 7 pm, September 16 and 17 at 3 pm and 7 pm Language: English

Dopehri

Ariane Hearing

Pazi Sta Zelis

La Cigale Et La Fourmi

Potted Potter

Radio Dekkh

Jashn-e-Awadh

Adam Saleh

The Improvisers

Dance Fantasy has been a part of DUCTAC for 10 years, how has this journey been for you?

It has been a great journey, filled with good friendships, all round good treatment, and always with respect!

Why do you think that ballet is so popular among the little girls?

Little girls and ballet is like a match made in heaven! It’s all about fantasy, and beautiful tutu’s magical costumes......and loads love! How difficult is it to work with children as young as 3 - do you have any tips on how to get them to follow instructions? Working with 3 year olds is actually such a blessing, the joy of working with little ones is what makes the challenge interesting in its own right. Mostly it’s about winning over their confidence and imagination. One has to come down to their level whilst still keeping balanced control over such little ones.

Melanie ShermanINTERVIEW WITH

Have any of your former students turned into professional ballet dancers?

We have 3 teachers based in Australia, Florida and South Africa that have been taught by us and are now qualified in their own right! We are very proud of them!

What are some traits and skills that children develop through learning ballet?

One of the amazing transformations to observe.....is the child that walks into our studio, head down, fingers in their mouth or similar, and watch them emerge with a big smile and gain confidence within a couple of classes! It’s wonderful!!! What is the most important trait that a good ballet dancer should have, besides the technique? Hand in glove with good technique is poise, confidence, freedom of movement and good posture.

What is your personal favorite ballet performance? This is a difficult question....there are many, perhaps.....Giselle and Swan lake!

Dubai CultureDubai Culture launches its Summer Activation Programme ‘Our Summer is Culture and Arts’ at Dubai Public Library

On August 20, 2016 the A Capella gurus visited Dubai for the first time for a live performance in DUCTAC. Penn Masala, the World’s First and Premier South Asian A Cappella Group, creates music that traverses traditional cultural boundaries. Their music has grown to attract fans from all backgrounds, and in turn they have been influenced by a wide range of cultures. The Hindi-English mashups they pioneered bring together Western pop and Eastern melodies to form harmonies you won’t hear anywhere else. The audiences got a chance to meet up with the artists after the event at Brunswick, Sheraton, Mall of the Emirates.

Events

Dubai Culture & Arts Authority (Dubai Culture), the Emirate’s dedicated entity for heritage, arts and culture, launched Dubai Public Libraries programme ‘Our Summer is Culture & Arts’, aimed at providing valuable and entertaining activities for a range of different Dubai communities, with a core focus upon children and young adults. This summer programme’s theme is ‘we read for a happier tomorrow’, with a core mission of raising awareness amongst the public of the extensive range of services that Dubai Public Libraries provides to the community. Furthermore, it seeks to contribute towards the provision of cultural activities through the support of the ‘Year of Reading 2016’ initiative in the UAE. The programme that took place from 7th to 18th of August featured training activities and events in Arabic and English, across five public libraries all across Dubai including Al Twar, Al Rashidiya, Al Mankhool, Umm Suqeim, and Hatta. It is worth mentioning that it was available free of charge to all members of Dubai Public Library, with a small fee for non-members.

The Arts Centre

DUCTAC’s Arts Centre aims at building community with artists and audiences of all backgrounds, strengthening cross cultural partnerships, and preserving the evolving stories and traditions of Dubai’s diversified culture for generations to come. Our multi-disciplinary programming is centred around two core areas: Exhibition – including visual arts presentations and cultural exhibitions under the East/East-East curatorial umbrella; and Education – with dozens of classes per week in all art disciplines, languages and creative writing. DUCATCS Arts Centre is a dynamic platform for emerging and established artists and cultural creators to reach local and global audience, and serves as a hub for other institutions to access Dubai’s community.

with an Activity of your choice

Amusing ourselves to Death, Dina Saadi and Zaki Razak © Dina Saadi, source Instagram

Installation view from Ramadanization 2016, © Lincoll Casalla and Bernadette Pineda, source Instagram

Introduction to Pottery for Adults with Pratima Mahajan: For beginners, this pottery course aims to introduce the basics of dealing with clay. The students will be introduced to hand building techniques such as pinching, coiling and slab making in order to familiarize themselves with the nature of the material and its life phases. As a result, the students will be able to smoothly transition to throwing on the wheel where they will learn how to centre the clay, shape pots, use the tools and finish thrown pots.

Pottery on the Wheel with Roberta Jack: This pottery course is ideal for beginner and intermediate skill level. Beginners will learn the basic principles of wheel thrown pottery at their own pace while intermediate students will improve and extend their skills and techniques. The course offers the opportunity to complete pottery projects from design through to glazing, creating your own unique personal pieces. Hand building techniques are also covered. You can expect to get messy in this class! It is recommended that you wear an apron and wear old clothes.

Arts Centre Educational Programme

The Gruffalo’s Child Live on Stage! (Musical Theatre), October 7 and 8, Centrepoint Theatre

Coming Soon in October

For more information, timing and prices, please contact

us on 04 341 4777, Ext: 323 | artsreception@ductac.org

Pratima’s Class, © The HB Project, source Instagram

Roberta’s Class © Denis Sizov, source Instagram

Pictures of the Month / July - August 2016artjoy Jun 26 – Aug 4

DUCTAC, www.ductac.org, Mall of the Emirates, Level 2, T: 04 3414777To advertise, please contact us on marketing@ductac.orgFollow us on WelcomeToDUCTAC@DUCTAC @DUCTAC

This summer the children experienced the sheer joy of creating and appreciating art with art joy—DUCTAC’s art camp for summer 2016.Kids got to explore different eras and styles of art, learn creative writing skills, discover abstract patterns and optical illusions, recreate the genius of famous painters, create unique clay forms and have fun with origami, crafts and printmaking. Each of the 6 weeks there was a different and exciting theme: Illusion and Fantasy; Art Deco; Me, Myself and I; Pop Art; The Masters of Art; and A for Abstract – and on top of that we had special artist-based days. The committed DUCTAC team together with our tutors experienced a lot of art joy as well, seeing children discover their potential and develop new artistic skills and techniques.