As the performing arts industry gains momentum in the Emirates, many more resident production companies are popping up around town. Recent entrant to the scene is The Ripple Effect dance troupe, set up by long time Dubai-based residents Aishwarya Shivkumar and Joshua Johnson. The 15-member troupe will be taking the stage for their first hour-long production Mirage on December 12.
“We felt there was a need to enhance dance entertainment in the region,” says Shivkumar, who is trained in the classical Indian dance form Bharatnatyam. “We will be creating original concept shows that will cater to an international audience by bringing together dance forms from around the world, while promoting home-grown talent.” Their first show explores the movement of water through a mix of contemporary, hip-hop, Kathak, Bharatnatyam and Tandava dance styles. “The production is divided into three parts: mellow, alive and rapid; the different characteristics of water. That will be reflected by the different form of dance. And each segment has a story.” says the 27-year-old choreographer.
Shivkumar believes their music choice sets them apart, as the playlist isn’t made up of mainstream tunes. “Whenever I travel I pick up local albums from different countries, things that you won’t normally hear on the radio. Like I picked up a Scottish album one and I’ve included it in this performance.”
There will also be lounge music from the Buddha-Bar series and tracks from composer and sitar player Anoushka Shankar's album Breathing Under Water.
And all of this will be complemented by animated visual to boost the storytelling. “The dance and visuals will all come together to tell a specific story in each segment. For example, mellow will be depicted with a tale of lovers, while alive is the story of a fisherman at sea.”
Mirage will be staged on December 12 at the Emirates Theatre at Emirates International School from 7pm. Tickets are priced at Dh100. To book, call 056 101 2456. For more information, visit
aahmed@thenational.ae
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
The biog
Favourite book: Animal Farm by George Orwell
Favourite music: Classical
Hobbies: Reading and writing
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
