After I saw La La Land, I practically twirled my way out of the cinema, much to my husband’s chagrin. I shuffle-ball-changed while I was making dinner, and executed some lovely arabesques while making the bed. The next day, stuck in traffic on Airport Road, I had fantasies of starting a flash mob that would break into a spontaneous ballet across the bonnets of the cars.
Wouldn’t life be better if it were a musical? Think how much fun it would be if we could lope along snapping our fingers like cast members from West Side Story, or sashay through a sandstorm like Gene Kelly through the rain, in Singin’ in the Rain, or if those dull work meetings occasionally became rollicking Bollywood ensemble pieces?
As always with a successful film, there have been criticisms. Some have pointed out that Ryan Gosling’s character is a bit of a “mansplainer”, constantly instructing Emma Stone’s about the finer points of music and romance. Others have asked why a white guy (Gosling) is portrayed as the saviour of jazz, a form inextricably connected to the history of African-Americans. And others have observed that neither Gosling nor Stone have great singing voices. I liked that they weren’t expert singers, however, because it made it seem more real, as if they were ordinary (albeit beautiful) people who occasionally burst into song.
Seb, the aspiring jazz pianist played by Gosling, wants to open a jazz club because he thinks that people will learn to love jazz if they can see the musicians improvising and responding to one another in real time. By the conclusion of the movie, Seb has renovated a dilapidated old club and filled it with musicians – as well as with paying customers, who seem to be enjoying the music.
The movie pays homage to the American musicals of the mid-20th century, but I got another message, as well: the need for cities to make sure that the arts become an integral part of their urban fabric. Dilapidated buildings lead to dilapidated neighbourhoods, which aren’t necessarily improved by just knocking down the old structures. When Seb revitalises the old club, the neighbourhood perks up too. I sometimes imagine that Damien Chazelle, the director, has read Richard Florida’s influential book, The Rise of the Creative Class, in which Florida posits that successful 21st century cities will be those that help the arts and innovation to thrive.
It may seem like a leap to go from La La Land to Abu Dhabi, but think about the great atmosphere that surrounded the opening of Warehouse421 last year, with the funky “pop-up” shops featuring the work of local artists and artisans. People from the entire Abu Dhabi community were there, mingling and exploring, and taking in the scene – it would’ve been a great moment for a song-and-dance extravaganza.
There is a new exhibit at the gallery now, and the night I was there, the place was packed with people, but when they walked out of the gallery, they didn’t have anywhere to go. I had hoped that the entire area would have become a permanent arts enclave, where one night you’d hear an evening of songs based on those of the pearl fishermen, staged near the old dhows, and the next night you’d come to listen to an open-air reading of Nabati poetry in the plaza by the gallery. When events of this sort happen at New York University Abu Dhabi, the community turns out in droves, as if they are eager for the sense of connection that the arts can provide.
At night, as you leave Warehouse421 and drive through Mina Zayed, you can catch a glimpse of the Louvre’s roof, a starry curve that heralds the arrival of another art-related endeavour. I love the gleam of that roof and although I am eager to see what treasures will be housed beneath it, I am more interested in what impact the museum will have on the city’s cultural scene. Will only tourists frequent those pristine galleries, or will the museum be like Seb’s jazz club, revitalising and educating an entire neighbourhood?
Deborah Lindsay Williams is a professor of literature at NYU Abu Dhabi
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
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
RESULTS
5pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 2,200m
Winner: Jawal Al Reef, Fernando Jara (jockey), Ahmed Al Mehairbi (trainer)
5.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner: AF Seven Skies, Bernardo Pinheiro, Qais Aboud
6pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m
Winner: Almahroosa, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel
6.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m
Winner: AF Sumoud, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,200m
Winner: AF Majalis, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh90,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: Adventurous, Sandro Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihe
Did you know?
Brunch has been around, is some form or another, for more than a century. The word was first mentioned in print in an 1895 edition of Hunter’s Weekly, after making the rounds among university students in Britain. The article, entitled Brunch: A Plea, argued the case for a later, more sociable weekend meal. “By eliminating the need to get up early on Sunday, brunch would make life brighter for Saturday night carousers. It would promote human happiness in other ways as well,” the piece read. “It is talk-compelling. It puts you in a good temper, it makes you satisfied with yourself and your fellow beings, it sweeps away the worries and cobwebs of the week.” More than 100 years later, author Guy Beringer’s words still ring true, especially in the UAE, where brunches are often used to mark special, sociable occasions.
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THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Bareilly Ki Barfi
Directed by: Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari
Starring: Kriti Sanon, Ayushmann Khurrana, Rajkummar Rao
Three and a half stars
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20M3%20MACBOOK%20AIR%20(13%22)
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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
Match info
Australia 580
Pakistan 240 and 335
Result: Australia win by an innings and five runs
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
MATCH INFO
Arsenal 1 (Aubameyang 12’) Liverpool 1 (Minamino 73’)
Arsenal win 5-4 on penalties
Man of the Match: Ainsley Maitland-Niles (Arsenal)
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
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
TO ALL THE BOYS: ALWAYS AND FOREVER
Directed by: Michael Fimognari
Starring: Lana Condor and Noah Centineo
Two stars
Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Rating: 2.5/5
Various Artists
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
Score
New Zealand 266 for 9 in 50 overs
Pakistan 219 all out in 47.2 overs
New Zealand win by 47 runs
New Zealand lead three-match ODI series 1-0
Next match: Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi, Friday
