The Arts Center at NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) will celebrate its tenth season with an exciting line-up of events that showcase a decade of creative and inspiring performances and elevate local talent while bringing new faces to the stage.
More information on the fall schedule is available below:
Event: Sol Invictus– Cie Hervé Koubi(Arab World Premiere)
Details: Renowned choreographer Hervé Koubi returns to The Arts Center with another show-stopping performance blending imaginative contemporary and kinetic urban dance. The piece features seventeen male and female dancers who perform as a cohesive unit, emphasizing collective responsibility and personal accountability. This luminous ballet combines hip-hop physicality with classical dance elements and aerial style, celebrating the unifying power of dance in a turbulent world. The New York Times praises the performance for its extraordinary acrobatics and hip-hop moves, which are seamlessly integrated into a poetic vision.
Sol Invictus is presented with the support of Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels
Date: Thursday and Friday, September 5-6, at 7:30pm
Venue: The Red Theater at NYU Abu Dhabi
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Event: Gaye Su Akyol | TootArd
Details: Psychedelic Turkish music and SWANA electro-disco in a unique, genre-defying concert. Gaye Su Akyol takes a futuristic approach with an innovative mix of Turkish psychedelia and folk song, surf music and ʼ90s Western rock, while TootArd, a genre-fluid duo comprising visionary brothers Hasan and Rami Nakhleh, presents s a fusion of global pop hooks and quarter-tone melodic lines, crafting a distinctive blend of disco and dance music that draws inspiration from the rich musical traditions of SWANA (SouthWest Asia, North Africa) and beyond.
Note: On Thu, Sep 19, Gaye Su Akyol performs first, followed by TootArd. On Fri, Sep 20, Gaye Su Akyol performs first, followed by TootArd.
Date: Thursday and Friday, September 19-20, at 7:30pm.
Venue: The Black Box at NYU Abu Dhabi
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Event: Augurs–Chrystèle Khodr (UAE Premiere)
Details: Lebanese actors Hanane Hajj Ali and Randa Asmar star in a play that retraces their professional journeys and explores theater as a space for true freedom. The play delves into their experiences from the early 1980s, a period when Beirut was divided between east and west due to the civil war. Through their personal and professional memories, the actresses reconstruct a map of theaters and venues that no longer exist, highlighting the challenges of theatrical activity during a decade of war and reflecting on their relationship with their work today. Performed in Arabic with English subtitles.
Date: Saturday and Sunday, September 28-29, at 7:30pm.
Venue: The Red Theater at NYU Abu Dhabi
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Event: Claude Cozens Trio feat. Ghazi Al-Mulaifi and TonatiutZardoìn (UAE Debut)
Details: A special reunion of the multi-faceted jazz-fusion Claude Cozens Trio from Cape Town, South Africa, performing for the first time in the UAE. The trio features Kyle Shepherd on piano and keyboards (South Africa), Benjamin Jephta on double bass and electric (South Africa), and Claude Cozens on drums (South Africa). This reunion concert also features new friends who live in the UAE, Ghazi Al-Mulaifi (Kuwait/USA) on guitar and Tona aka TonatiutZardon (Cuba) on trumpet.
Presented in collaboration with the NYUAD Music Program
Date: Saturday, October 5, at 7:30pm
Venue: The Black Box at NYU Abu Dhabi
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Event: ODE – Odeya Nini (UAE Debut)
Details: An interdisciplinary solo vocal performance by Odeya Nini. Using the body as a conduit for a flow of sound that calls out and calls upon with desire, Odeya amplifies resonance, pure expression, and the dynamic dance of vocal energy. Both improvised and composed, Odeya will perform ODE and project her voice in an invitation to join her in this sonic journey.
Presented in collaboration with the NYUAD Music Program
Date: Wednesday, October 9, at 7:30pm
Venue: The Black Box at NYU Abu Dhabi
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Event: La Lezione di Teatro | The Acting Class– Francesca Bizzari and Goffredo Puccetti
Details: La Lezione di Teatro | The Acting Class is a 45-minute play that serves as both a joyful lesson in theater and a tribute to the Italian theatrical ability to connect with audiences beyond language barriers. The performance is set partly in English and partly in Italian, without subtitles, and humorously challenges the notion that theater language is difficult to understand. It demonstrates how communication issues can be resolved through theatrical body work, making it accessible and entertaining for audiences who speak or study Italian, English, or neither.
Date: Friday, October 11, at 7:30pm
Venue: The Black Box at NYU Abu Dhabi
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Event: Hamour Doesn’t Leave the Cubicle (هامور لا يغادر المكتب)– Written by Ahmed Almadloum. Directed by Reem Almenhali. (World Premiere)
Details: An absurd Emirati play about inconveniences in the workplace. Rooted in Emirati culture through its workplace references and humor, but with universal resonances, Hamour Doesn’t Leave the Cubicle(هامور لا يغادر المكتب) is an absurd play that uses satire to critique real-life bureaucratic inconveniences faced by employees anywhere in the world. The play takes you to a world where the mundane meets the extraordinary, revealing different levels of bureaucracy that the characters navigate in every act, from writing an email to holding a funeral for a pen. Thought-provoking and entertaining, performed in Arabic with English subtitles, Hamour Doesn’t Leave the Cubicle encourages viewers to re-evaluate work processes, emphasizing the power of humor as a tool for reflection.
Commissioned and produced by Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation (ADMAF).
Touring support by the UAE Ministry of Culture.
Co-Presented by ADMAF and New York University Abu Dhabi
Date: Friday and Saturday, October 18-19, at 7:30pm
Venue: The Black Box at NYU Abu Dhabi
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Event:Al Sidr Film Festival
Details: Curated by Nezar Andary and supported by the Environmental Agency Abu Dhabi, Al Sidr Film Festival is a three-day film festival themed All Living Beings, featuring diverse films from across the world exploring environmental issues and the impact. This year’s festival takes inspiration from the Holy Quran’s Surah Al An’am: “All living beings roaming the earth and winged birds soaring in the sky are communities like yourselves” (Quran 6:38). From classic films of renowned directors Ken Loach (UK) and John Abraham (India) to recent films from all over the world, the festival asks simply, how can we learn from all living beings?
Date: Friday to Sunday, October 25-27 at various times
Venue: The Blue Hall at NYU Abu Dhabi
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Event: In The Fall | Working Title– Trisha Brown Dance Company
Details: The Trisha Brown Dance Company will perform two pieces of postmodern dance choreographed by Trisha Brown and Noé Soulier. A new work by Soulier titled In The Fall will be paired with Brown’s iconic 1985 work Working Title in a performance that highlights both choreographers’ pioneering spirits. In The Fall explores the theme of bodily control as dancers stretch their bodies into space until they fall, while Working Title portrays a collage of asymmetrical and unpredictable traveling patterns.
This program is presented by Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels
Date: Friday, November 15, 7:30pm
Venue: The Red Theater at NYU Abu Dhabi
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Event: Hekayah | The Story
Details: Celebrating 10 years of cultural diversity, Hekayah | The Story will explore an exciting lineup of poets, singers, and musicians in celebration of the UAE’s National Day. Attendees will explore the meaning of home, whether it be their country, city, heritage, or family. Performers, who will be announced closer to the event, will be selected through a collaborative curatorial process by key figures in the UAE’s literary and performing arts communities including Ali Al Dhiyebi, Founder of STR8UP Entertainment; Bill Bragin, Executive Artistic Director at The Arts Center; Lana Goliath, Senior Associate Producer at The Arts Center; Safeya Alblooshi, sound artist, founder of Resound; Rawad Raidan, poet, writer and co-host of Abu Dhabi Writers Cafe; and Reem Allam, Associate Director of Artistic Planning at The Arts Center.
Date: Thursday, November 28, at 7:30pm.
Venue: The Black Box at NYU Abu Dhabi
Visit here for booking details
