DUBAI // The director of a musical celebrating the life of Sheikh Zayed, the founding President of the UAE, and his role in unifying the seven emirates is looking forward to bringing the production home.
Zayed and the Dream, which first played in Abu Dhabi on National Day 2008 and features a cast of 158 dancers, seven horses and 10 falcons, begins a three-night programme at the Palladium theatre in Dubai with a sold-out performance for VIPs and the public tonight.
The show was staged in Palais des Congres in Paris last May and at the London Coliseum for a two-night run in August. Bringing it back to the UAE completes a cycle that Ivan Caracalla hopes he can repeat.
He said portraying the founder of the UAE had been challenging but rewarding.
"It has been a very big responsibility to present a production about such a hugely respected leader, and especially one that half the audience knew," he said.
"There was no room for artistic interpretation. We had to be real and sensitive, but also represent all the facets to Sheikh Zayed's personality and leadership. It was testament to the vision of Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage [Adach] that we managed to achieve it."
Caracalla, 41, is the artistic director of the Caracalla Dance Theatre, a Lebanese dance company based in Beirut and founded by his father, Abdel-Halim Caracalla, in 1970.
After Adach commissioned the company in 2008 to make a theatrical interpretation of Sheikh Zayed's life, Caracalla and his crew spent three months researching their subject. They were allowed full access to sections devoted to Sheikh Zayed's life in the National Centre for Documentation and Research, and at his former home in Al Ain. They also stayed with some of his former companions in their desert homes.
"We always knew who Sheikh Zayed was, but after our research we discovered the man, the father and the friend," said Caracalla. "The concept of the show came from this inspiration."
The two-part production opens with seven horsemen on a journey through the desert searching for their leader, each representing an aspect of Sheikh Zayed's personality as well as symbolising the seven emirates.
Upon discovering Zayed the child, they stay with him and teach him the qualities of honour, patience, justice, righteousness, courage, faith and wisdom. As he grows into a man and fulfils their expectations, the desert stage transforms into the skyscrapers of the modern-day UAE.
"Sheikh Zayed planted the seeds of what we are living in today in the UAE," said Caracalla.
One of the biggest challenges was finding someone to play the lead role - to the point that Caracalla considered using only voice and light. In the end he settled on Yasser al Masri, a Jordanian actor, for the role.
"He spent 40 days learning how to walk like Sheikh Zayed, hold a stick like Sheikh Zayed and talk like Sheikh Zayed," said Caracalla. "He also spends three hours in make-up before every show, so he looks just like the real thing."
The final scene of Zayed and the Dream features al Masri surrounded by dancers from Ukraine, Spain and China (to represent the multicultural communities of the UAE) in front of a backdrop of the gleaming city Abu Dhabi is set to become by 2030.
The musical provided a visual spectacle that audiences in the Arab world were not used to seeing, said Caracalla.
"The country is rooted in the Bedouin tradition but heading towards the future at the speed of light, that's what we are trying to show here on stage," he said. "We hope it will be remembered 100 years from now."
Tickets for the show, which begins at 8.30pm, cost Dh175, Dh300 and Dh450, and are available through www.timeouttickets.com.
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The specs
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How it works
Each player begins with one of the great empires of history, from Julius Caesar's Rome to Ramses of Egypt, spread over Europe and the Middle East.
Round by round, the player expands their empire. The more land they have, the more money they can take from their coffers for each go.
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TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
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UNpaid bills:
Countries with largest unpaid bill for UN budget in 2019
USA – $1.055 billion
Brazil – $143 million
Argentina – $52 million
Mexico – $36 million
Iran – $27 million
Israel – $18 million
Venezuela – $17 million
Korea – $10 million
Countries with largest unpaid bill for UN peacekeeping operations in 2019
USA – $2.38 billion
Brazil – $287 million
Spain – $110 million
France – $103 million
Ukraine – $100 million
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Cultural fiesta
What: The Al Burda Festival
When: November 14 (from 10am)
Where: Warehouse421, Abu Dhabi
The Al Burda Festival is a celebration of Islamic art and culture, featuring talks, performances and exhibitions. Organised by the Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development, this one-day event opens with a session on the future of Islamic art. With this in mind, it is followed by a number of workshops and “masterclass” sessions in everything from calligraphy and typography to geometry and the origins of Islamic design. There will also be discussions on subjects including ‘Who is the Audience for Islamic Art?’ and ‘New Markets for Islamic Design.’ A live performance from Kuwaiti guitarist Yousif Yaseen should be one of the highlights of the day.
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Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
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Real Madrid 2
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The specs
Engine: 0.8-litre four cylinder
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The bio
Favourite food: Japanese
Favourite car: Lamborghini
Favourite hobby: Football
Favourite quote: If your dreams don’t scare you, they are not big enough
Favourite country: UAE
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
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Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
Favourite documentary: Chasing Coral by Jeff Orlowski. It's a good reality check about one of the most valued ecosystems for humanity
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
SPECS
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FIGHT CARD
Sara El Bakkali v Anisha Kadka (Lightweight, female)
Mohammed Adil Al Debi v Moaz Abdelgawad (Bantamweight)
Amir Boureslan v Mahmoud Zanouny (Welterweight)
Abrorbek Madaminbekov v Mohammed Al Katheeri (Featherweight)
Ibrahem Bilal v Emad Arafa (Super featherweight)
Ahmed Abdolaziz v Imad Essassi (Middleweight)
Milena Martinou v Ilham Bourakkadi (Bantamweight, female)
Noureddine El Agouti v Mohamed Mardi (Welterweight)
Nabil Ouach v Ymad Atrous (Middleweight)
Nouredin Samir v Zainalabid Dadachev (Lightweight)
Marlon Ribeiro v Mehdi Oubahammou (Welterweight)
Brad Stanton v Mohamed El Boukhari (Super welterweight
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What is graphene?
Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.
It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.
It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.
It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.
Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.
The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.