These neon lunatics are …
A contemporary dance troupe, busting technicolour hip-hop moves and making a sizeable ruckus in their meteoric rise to fame. Fanny Pak is headed up by 26-year old Matt Cady who formed the crew while teaching at the Debbie Reynolds Dance Studio in Hollywood. There are now 10 of them, hailing from the US, Japan and Canada, following humble beginnings on the reality TV series America's Best Dance Crew (ABDC), where they came third in the second season. Cady and fellow crew member Megan Lawson have choreographed the entirety of Madonna's MDNA tour, bringing their aesthetic, sense of humour and rhythm to the stage.
Their credentials
For all the absurdity of their style, Fanny Pak are committed to who they are. That clearly rang true with Her Madgesty. Despite occasionally skirting the bottom end of the scoreboard for ABDC last season, Fanny Pak didn't tone down their outrageousness. In fact, with the likelihood of being ditched from the contest mid-season, the crew actually went even more left-field, with a strange Bollywood-inspired, neon meltdown on stage. And, for all their wackiness, Cady does have the credentials of an ambitious young choreographer.
What to expect
Visually speaking, imagine if The Klaxons were teleported back to the late 1980s and told they'd got the colours right but rave was out and preppy was very much in. Irony is the name of the game; everything so passé that it's adorable. We're yet to see what Fanny Pak's choreography brings to a Madonna gig, but the crew's slot on ABDC dancing to Girls Gone Wild was a crazed whirl of synchronised flailing, spinning mirrors and big individual personalities. It's theatrical, it's Glee, it whiffs of Madonna's Material Girl era. The crew are sure to do a fine job, come stage time.
The name
Well, the name refers to the little zip-up money pouch that was big in the 1980s for tourists to store their passport and foreign currency in while on holiday. In the UK, it's better known as a bum bag. Or a fashion abomination that somehow got ironically cool. The keenly 1980s naff-chic of the fanny pack feeds into FP's overall image of neon Frankie Says Relax T-shirts and lemon-coloured crewnecks. Incidentally, they hand out said garments to their fans and refer to each other as "Fannies".
The background since their launch in 2008
Working on everything from a Kardashian dance-off to Toni Braxton's music videos. FP came up with their own line of footwear for Milkshake Kicks!, an indie shoe company out of New York, in 2008. They worked with the Margot Fonteyn Academy of Ballet for a documentary, Fanny Goes to the Academy, and crafted an hour-long stage-show that debuted in Maine. The crew have also released their own album of tunes in 2009. District 78, which produces the music for ABDC, worked with the Fannies on this and introduced them to the likes of Taboo from Black Eyed Peas. Their debut EP hit the iTunes dance chart at number six. Its name? A Touch of Fanny
Online
The website www.fannypak.com has a wealth of videos, semi-ironic photoshoots and even a shop that, for some reason, doesn't actually sell fanny packs. Look the part by raiding the gift shops in out-of-date hotels.
Matt Cady and Megan Lawson of Fanny Pak will choreograph Madonna's stageshow on Sunday and next Monday at the du Arena, Abu Dhabi.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
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The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Women & Power: A Manifesto
Mary Beard
Profile Books and London Review of Books
MEYDAN RESULTS
6.30pm Baniyas (PA) Group 2 Dh125,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
Winner ES Ajeeb, Sam Hitchcock (jockey), Ibrahim Aseel (trainer).
7.05pm Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 (D) 1,200m
Winner Galaxy Road, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi.
7.40pm Maiden (TB) Dh165,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner Al Modayar, Fernando Jara, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
8.15pm Handicap (TB) Dh170,000 (D) 1,900m
Winner Gundogdu, Xavier Ziani, Salem bin Ghadayer.
8.50pm Rated Conditions (TB) Dh240,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner George Villiers, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar.
9.25pm Handicap (TB) Dh175,000 (D)1,200m
Winner Lady Parma, Connor Beasley, Satish Seemar
10pm Handicap (TB) Dh165,000 (D) 1,400m
Winner Zaajer, Fernando Jara, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Bareilly Ki Barfi
Directed by: Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Starring: Kriti Sanon, Ayushmann Khurrana, Rajkummar Rao
Three and a half stars
If you go
Flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh with a stop in Yangon from Dh3,075, and Etihad flies from Abu Dhabi to Phnom Penh with its partner Bangkok Airlines from Dh2,763. These trips take about nine hours each and both include taxes. From there, a road transfer takes at least four hours; airlines including KC Airlines (www.kcairlines.com) offer quick connecting flights from Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville from about $100 (Dh367) return including taxes. Air Asia, Malindo Air and Malaysian Airlines fly direct from Kuala Lumpur to Sihanoukville from $54 each way. Next year, direct flights are due to launch between Bangkok and Sihanoukville, which will cut the journey time by a third.
The stay
Rooms at Alila Villas Koh Russey (www.alilahotels.com/ kohrussey) cost from $385 per night including taxes.
