Karl Paquette collapses in a heap, stage left. The 37-year-old dancer – one of the Paris Opera Ballet’s best – has just completed a gruelling run-through of George Balanchine’s Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, “an eight-minute display of ballet bravura and technique”, and is catching his breath. His dance partner, the premiere danseuse Valentine Colasante, stands a little way away, chest heaving, hands on thighs, as their instructor, or “balletmaster”, Laurent Novis talks them through their performance.
I’m sitting in the darkened, near-deserted auditorium of Dubai’s Madinat Theatre, where 10 soloists from the Paris Opera Ballet, one of the leading ballet companies in the world, have come to rehearse ahead of their first official performance in the UAE. The morning started with a warm-up; five male and five female dancers gathered around two makeshift barres in the centre of the stage, running through the staples – perfectly executed pliés, tendus, frappés, relevés, developpés. It’s a decidedly casual affair; instead of the trademark tutus, tiaras and tights, it’s tatty T-shirts, torn tracksuit bottoms, oversized leg-warmers and Ugg-like warm-up booties, but the signature grace and fluidity of these athletes is unmistakable. If I am expecting haughtiness or a frisson of competitiveness from these star performers, I’m to be disappointed. It’s all good-natured banter as they run through their steps – though how anyone can giggle while extending their leg at a 160-degree angle remains something of a mystery.
Many of the individuals on the stage in front of me have been dancing since they were four or five years old. Most are French and have come up through the Paris Opera Ballet ranks, spending up to seven years undergoing rigorous training at the all-immersive Paris Opera Ballet School, braving pain, injury and fierce competition in their bid for a much-coveted spot in the corps of the oldest ballet company in the world.
Formed in 1713 by Louis XIV, the Paris Opera Ballet celebrated its 300th anniversary last year. It’s one of the best ballet companies in the world and though it’s the oldest, in terms of longevity, it’s also, paradoxically, one of the youngest, in terms of the average age of its dancers (25). All dancers are required to retire at the age of 42, whether or not they want to.
So what differentiates a great dancer from a good one, I ask Novis, who was himself a celebrated member of the ballet company before becoming a teacher there? “Technique, precision, physique and musicality are the main ingredients needed to produce a great ballet dancer,” he says. “But these elements alone are not enough; endurance, sustaining one’s health, stage presence and the capacity to cope with pressure are what make someone great.”
Paquette is, by all accounts, one the greats. He joined the Paris Opera Ballet School at the age of 10, was admitted to the corps at 17 and has spent the last 20 years rising steadily through the company’s rigidly hierarchical ranks. In 2009, after an impeccable performance of The Nutcracker, he was named “étoile”, the highest order of dancer at the company, a much-coveted and lifelong honour that can only be bestowed by the director of the opera.
He talks me through his average week. “We usually have a class every day, which begins at 10am. Then we have rehearsals from 12 to 7pm. If we perform in the evening, we stop rehearsals at 4pm to give ourselves time to prepare. We are supposed to have one or two days off during the week; it depends on the schedule, but we often dance on Saturdays and Sundays.”
Paquette attributes his success to remarkable teachers. “I had the chance to have Max Bozzoni as a teacher and Claude Bessy as Paris Opera Ballet School director. They gave me a true love for ballet. They taught me how hard ballet could be, but with passion it was so much easier. Today, I still love dancing and that is what allows me to perform so much all over the world. Without passion, dancing ballet is too hard.”
There’s a break as the ballerinas stop to put on their pointes. They pull out carrier bags filled with cotton wool, which they proceed to delicately wrap around their toes before slipping their feet into the notoriously unforgiving satin shoes. Then it’s into the leaps – giant, gravity-defying jumps that take the breath away, figuratively, in my case, and literally, in the case of the dancers – before rehearsals begin in earnest. Paquette, Hannah O’Neill and Germain Louvet take to the stage for a run-through of the pas de trois from Swan Lake, in which the black swan, aided by the evil sorcerer, Rothbart, seduces the unwitting prince. Novis sits behind me in the auditorium, issuing instructions when things are done wrong – ironing out unsteady lifts and misplaced elbows – and offering hearty cries of “voila” when they are done right.
Sweat, frustration, laboured breathing and ballerinas limping off stage; this is not ballet as I know it. But that somehow makes it all the more mesmerising – a reminder of the sheer physicality of this most demanding of art forms; a rare insight into the tenacity and athleticism of these dancers, which can sometimes be overshadowed by the dazzling lights, fixed smiles and glittering costumes of a performance.
“Paris Opera Ballet dancers are trained in a very specific way and they dance in a very specific style. It is a very intensive training programme,” Joseph Fowler, theatre and entertainment manager at Madinat Jumeirah, points out. “The dancers are exactly what you would expect the French to be – elegant and streamlined, refined and elongated. This level of dance has never been seen in the UAE before.” As a former member of the Royal Ballet and Frankfurt Ballet himself, he should know.
Ballet is not without its fans in the UAE – the few performances that do take place each year are, for the most part, sell-out successes. “Ballet is very popular,” confirms Fowler, who headed up DUCTAC before joining the Madinat Theatre. “It has no boundaries, no language barrier. The language that is used is universal, the music is beautiful and it is a very family friendly art form. Everybody, at some stage, has seen The Nutcracker, or knows the music from Swan Lake, even if they don’t know that it’s from Swan Lake.
“Also, a lot of the expats here come from parts of the world where theatre is a very accepted thing. Ballet is something that I would like to see more of and is definitely high on my agenda.”
And yet, apart from a few token performances of Swan Lake and The Nutcracker around Christmas time, UAE residents are treated to very few high-quality ballet performances. Fowler attributes this, in part, to a lack of appropriate venues; anyone who saw the Royal Moscow Ballet perform Swan Lake at the World Trade Centre last year or has bemoaned the absence of an orchestra at any other ballet recital would probably be in agreement. “Ballet needs to be performed in a theatre,” Fowler insists.
News that Emaar plans to build a multi-million-dirham, 2,000-seat opera house in Downtown Dubai may radically change things – although the state-of-the-art facility isn’t due for completion until 2015. But once that is ready, says Fowler, there’s no reason why the UAE couldn’t even establish its own national ballet company. “It’s a wonderful way for a country to fly its flag – touring the world, dancing. It’s an incredibly powerful tool and it unites people, culturally.”
Reiko M-Cheong, the woman responsible for bringing the Paris Opera Ballet to our shores, has long lamented the lack of high-quality ballet performances in the Emirates. Founder of the Dubai Dance Academy, M-Cheong was herself a professional dancer; at the age of 19, she won the National Ballet performance title in her native Japan, which enabled her to study dance in France.
It was here that her love affair with the Paris Opera Ballet began. “For me, it is the best ballet company in the world,” says the former ballerina. “The dancers are so fluent and elegant.”
M-Cheong spent 15 years working with the Paris Opera Ballet, organising performances and workshops across Asia, before bringing the company to Dubai for four performances in mid-January. “I decided that it was time to introduce a higher level of dance in the UAE. People want to watch ballet, so why not bring them high quality dancers to watch? People need to start understanding the difference.”
For the company’s first performance in the UAE, M-Cheong opted for a gala – a series of excerpts from a number of different ballets – rather than one, full-length performance. It was an inspired mix – excerpts from classics such as Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet and Don Quixote were interspersed with bold, contemporary pieces, such as the unashamedly evocative Adagietto by the Argentinian choreographer Oscar Araiz, performed for the first time in Dubai with heart-wrenching tenderness and synchronicity by the dancers Sabrina Mallem and Alexis Renaud, and William Forsythe’s In the Middle Somewhat Elevated, a robust, high-energy pas de deux set against a crescendo of 1980s-style electro-beats.
“We wanted to make it broad,” M-Cheong explains. “Because that’s how the Paris Opera Ballet is; it’s not stuck in the 19th century, like some ballet companies. And it takes a lot of skill to perform such a variety of styles.”
The gala, both during rehearsal and when I watch the actual performance a few nights later, does indeed turn out to be a breathtaking display of the versatility of the Paris Opera Ballet – and in its seamless merging of the classic and the contemporary, is a reminder of why this company has managed to remain relevant and accessible for three centuries.
“I think that ballets such as Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake and The Nutcracker will continue to flourish and remain relevant. They are based on strong stories with beautiful scores; they are timeless masterpieces,” says Novis when I ask whether there are still misconceptions surrounding the world of ballet and whether it still has a tendency to be viewed as outdated and elitist. “Like Hamlet or Phaedra in theatre, they will cross centuries, being revisited and reinterpreted by generations to come. We must preserve such classics and demand that they are performed at a high level if we want to keep the magic alive. At the Paris Opera, there is a programme for teenagers who can watch both rehearsals and classes. These teenagers are given the opportunity to meet and interview not only the dancers but also the costume designers, lighting crew and stage managers. They are introduced to all elements of production. We must open the doors and go outside to embrace our audiences, especially in big opera houses, which are often very intimidating.”
Their Dubai debut over, the Paris Opera Ballet dancers fly off to perform on more familiar stages. I ask Paquette, via email, to reflect on his Middle East outing. “It was a wonderful experience,” he enthuses. “We had a very warm welcome from the people and the audience. I hope we can come again and show a new project.”
Given the steely determination behind M-Cheong’s petite frame and dancer’s posture, I feel like that’s almost a given.
sdenman@thenational.ae
Neymar's bio
Total club appearances 411
Total goals scored 241
Appearances for Barca 186
Goals scored for Barca 105
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The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
if you go
Getting there
Etihad (Etihad.com), Emirates (emirates.com) and Air France (www.airfrance.com) fly to Paris’ Charles de Gaulle Airport, from Abu Dhabi and Dubai respectively. Return flights cost from around Dh3,785. It takes about 40 minutes to get from Paris to Compiègne by train, with return tickets costing €19. The Glade of the Armistice is 6.6km east of the railway station.
Staying there
On a handsome, tree-lined street near the Chateau’s park, La Parenthèse du Rond Royal (laparenthesedurondroyal.com) offers spacious b&b accommodation with thoughtful design touches. Lots of natural woods, old fashioned travelling trunks as decoration and multi-nozzle showers are part of the look, while there are free bikes for those who want to cycle to the glade. Prices start at €120 a night.
More information: musee-armistice-14-18.fr ; compiegne-tourisme.fr; uk.france.fr
SQUADS
UAE
Mohammed Naveed (captain), Mohamed Usman (vice-captain), Ashfaq Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Imran Haider, Tahir Mughal, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed, Fahad Nawaz, Abdul Shakoor, Sultan Ahmed, CP Rizwan
Nepal
Paras Khadka (captain), Gyanendra Malla, Dipendra Singh Airee, Pradeep Airee, Binod Bhandari, Avinash Bohara, Sundeep Jora, Sompal Kami, Karan KC, Rohit Paudel, Sandeep Lamichhane, Lalit Rajbanshi, Basant Regmi, Pawan Sarraf, Bhim Sharki, Aarif Sheikh
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20NOTHING%20PHONE%20(2)
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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Read more about the coronavirus
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
TEST SQUADS
Bangladesh: Mushfiqur Rahim (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Liton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Mominul Haque, Nasir Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Mehedi Hasan, Shafiul Islam, Taijul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed.
Australia: Steve Smith (captain), David Warner, Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Matthew Wade, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Renshaw, Mitchell Swepson and Jackson Bird.
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Company profile
Name: Steppi
Founders: Joe Franklin and Milos Savic
Launched: February 2020
Size: 10,000 users by the end of July and a goal of 200,000 users by the end of the year
Employees: Five
Based: Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai
Financing stage: Two seed rounds – the first sourced from angel investors and the founders' personal savings
Second round raised Dh720,000 from silent investors in June this year
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What drives subscription retailing?
Once the domain of newspaper home deliveries, subscription model retailing has combined with e-commerce to permeate myriad products and services.
The concept has grown tremendously around the world and is forecast to thrive further, according to UnivDatos Market Insights’ report on recent and predicted trends in the sector.
The global subscription e-commerce market was valued at $13.2 billion (Dh48.5bn) in 2018. It is forecast to touch $478.2bn in 2025, and include the entertainment, fitness, food, cosmetics, baby care and fashion sectors.
The report says subscription-based services currently constitute “a small trend within e-commerce”. The US hosts almost 70 per cent of recurring plan firms, including leaders Dollar Shave Club, Hello Fresh and Netflix. Walmart and Sephora are among longer established retailers entering the space.
UnivDatos cites younger and affluent urbanites as prime subscription targets, with women currently the largest share of end-users.
That’s expected to remain unchanged until 2025, when women will represent a $246.6bn market share, owing to increasing numbers of start-ups targeting women.
Personal care and beauty occupy the largest chunk of the worldwide subscription e-commerce market, with changing lifestyles, work schedules, customisation and convenience among the chief future drivers.
How does ToTok work?
The calling app is available to download on Google Play and Apple App Store
To successfully install ToTok, users are asked to enter their phone number and then create a nickname.
The app then gives users the option add their existing phone contacts, allowing them to immediately contact people also using the application by video or voice call or via message.
Users can also invite other contacts to download ToTok to allow them to make contact through the app.
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
The Details
Article 15
Produced by: Carnival Cinemas, Zee Studios
Directed by: Anubhav Sinha
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa, Sayani Gupta, Zeeshan Ayyub
Our rating: 4/5
A list of the animal rescue organisations in the UAE
T20 World Cup Qualifier
October 18 – November 2
Opening fixtures
Friday, October 18
ICC Academy: 10am, Scotland v Singapore, 2.10pm, Netherlands v Kenya
Zayed Cricket Stadium: 2.10pm, Hong Kong v Ireland, 7.30pm, Oman v UAE
UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Rameez Shahzad, Darius D’Silva, Mohammed Usman, Mohammed Boota, Zawar Farid, Ghulam Shabber, Junaid Siddique, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Waheed Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Zahoor Khan
Players out: Mohammed Naveed, Shaiman Anwar, Qadeer Ahmed
Players in: Junaid Siddique, Darius D’Silva, Waheed Ahmed
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champioons League semi-final, first leg:
Liverpool 5
Salah (35', 45 1'), Mane (56'), Firmino (61', 68')
Roma 2
Dzeko (81'), Perotti (85' pen)
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Scorecard
Scotland 220
K Coetzer 95, J Siddique 3-49, R Mustafa 3-35
UAE 224-3 in 43,5 overs
C Suri 67, B Hameed 63 not out
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
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.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Barcelona v Liverpool, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE).
Second leg
Liverpool v Barcelona, Tuesday, May 7, 11pm
Games on BeIN Sports
EGYPT SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Ahmed El Shennawy, Mohamed El Shennawy, Mohamed Abou-Gabal, Mahmoud Abdel Rehem "Genesh"
Defenders: Ahmed Elmohamady, Ahmed Hegazi, Omar Gaber, Ali Gazal, Ayman Ahsraf, Mahmoud Hamdy, Baher Elmohamady, Ahmed Ayman Mansour, Mahmoud Alaa, Ahmed Abou-Elfotouh
Midfielders: Walid Soliman, Abdallah El Said, Mohamed Elneny, Tarek Hamed, Mahmoud “Trezeguet” Hassan, Amr Warda, Nabil Emad
Forwards: Ahmed Ali, Mohamed Salah, Marwan Mohsen, Ahmed "Kouka" Hassan.
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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United States
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
The biog
Name: Ayisha Abdulrahman Gareb
Age: 57
From: Kalba
Occupation: Mukrema, though she washes bodies without charge
Favourite things to do: Visiting patients at the hospital and give them the support they need.
Role model: Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Chairwoman of the General Women's Union, Supreme Chairwoman of the Family Development Foundation and President of the Supreme Council for Motherhood and Childhood.
