The origins of the Riverdance show, much like its storyline, is made up of different parts, mapped out in a few places.
Currently playing a 22-night run at Expo 2020 Dubai, a part of show can trace its roots back to a previous Expo in Seville in 1992.
Bill Whelan, the show's composer, and John McColgan, co-founder and director, told The National they created a piece called Seville Suite for the Ireland Expo pavilion at Seville 92, based on a voyage undertaken from Ireland to Spain by a 16th century Irish nobleman called Red Hugh O'Donnell.
“We did two concerts in Seville and there we found Maria Pages, who was the original flamenco dancer in the Seville Suite, which we then worked into Riverdance and grew out from there,” said Mr Whelan.
The very first rehearsal Omar Tekbilek did with and our band, he played a beautiful Arab tune, and everybody just burst into applause
Bill Whelan,
composer, Riverdance
Separately, they created a dance piece called Spirit of Mayo the following year for a cultural celebration inspired by the discovery of a Neolithic site in the west of Ireland, which involved US step dancer Jean Butler and Michael Flatley – the original Riverdance lead dancers.
“They were not connected yet. We saw them on stage and an idea sparked,” said Mr McColgan.
Riverdance made its debut at the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest at Dublin's Point Theatre. The name was inspired by the venue's location, beside the River Liffey in Dublin.
The seven-minute set performed during the Eurovision show's interval – featuring Flatley and Butler – was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 300 million and earned a standing ovation from the 4,000 people in the theatre.
Riverdance returned to the same theatre 10 months later, in February 1995, for its full-length debut and has been to all four corners of world since then.
This month, the show made its Middle East debut in Dubai at Expo 2020– 29 years after the Seville Suite was created.
Multicultural show
As well Spanish and Irish dancers, the show features American tap and Russian Dervish dancers, creating a multicultural cast.
“When we did the original seven-minute piece for the Eurovision, the motif was the river, but then when we took it off into a tour show, we stayed within notion of a river going on a journey and interacting with other cultures. The cross-cultural thing has always been there since the very beginning of Riverdance,” said Mr Whelan.
“I think when people are talking about this new idea of cross-cultural entertainment or cultures exchanging, that was ingrained into our concept from the very beginning."
Mr McColgan said: "The thing that we really talked about in the very beginning was that whatever we did, we wanted to open it up and make it accessible. But we did not want to lose the foundation, the roots of our form and the dance, and that we could elaborate on that and we could make it more entertaining for an audience.”
The cast includes dancers who were trained with Irish dance schools outside of Ireland, including Morgan Bullock, from Rochester, Virginia.
One of many black Irish dancers in Riverdance, she was recruited for the show after she became a TikTok sensation for her dancing.
Unique to Expo 2020
Ms Bullock is one of 15 new dancers in the show at Expo, which is the first outside of UK and Ireland since the pandemic. The current UK tour is one of their most successful in its 25-year history, running at 92 per cent capacity.
Riverdance at Expo is billed as a somewhat unique show, with musical elements that audiences on the other tours will not have seen.
The Middle Eastern flavour is provided by the talented US-based multi-instrumentalist Omer Tekbilek, who plays the ney – a Middle Eastern end-blown flute – during certain parts of the show.
"We have tried, where we have gone around the world, to find those common threads in traditional music, which actually unite people," said Mr Whelan.
"For instance, when we were in Beijing, we brought in some Chinese musicians. When we go to somewhere like here, we like to try to do something like a cultural handshake.
“The very first rehearsal Omer did with our band, he played a beautiful Arab tune, and everybody just burst into applause."
Opening night received the customary standing ovation that comes with a Riverdance show but Mr McColgan said they have never done a show at a venue such as the Expo and are intrigued as to how the UAE audience will receive it.
"We have been in 50 countries around the world but we have never been in the UAE. There are no tickets sold for this event, so we are not sure in advance how many people are going to be attracted and turn up,” he said.
"We have never played to UAE audience before, so this will be a first to see how they respond. I expect them to respond the way every country normally does, but you don't know."
Riverdance at Expo will continue its month-long residency at the world's fair at Jubilee Park over the coming weeks. Full details and dates are on the Ireland pavilion website.
Entry to Riverdance is included in your Expo pass and no booking is required.
Anxiety and work stress major factors
Anxiety, work stress and social isolation are all factors in the recogised rise in mental health problems.
A study UAE Ministry of Health researchers published in the summer also cited struggles with weight and illnesses as major contributors.
Its authors analysed a dozen separate UAE studies between 2007 and 2017. Prevalence was often higher in university students, women and in people on low incomes.
One showed 28 per cent of female students at a Dubai university reported symptoms linked to depression. Another in Al Ain found 22.2 per cent of students had depressive symptoms - five times the global average.
It said the country has made strides to address mental health problems but said: “Our review highlights the overall prevalence of depressive symptoms and depression, which may long have been overlooked."
Prof Samir Al Adawi, of the department of behavioural medicine at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, who was not involved in the study but is a recognised expert in the Gulf, said how mental health is discussed varies significantly between cultures and nationalities.
“The problem we have in the Gulf is the cross-cultural differences and how people articulate emotional distress," said Prof Al Adawi.
“Someone will say that I have physical complaints rather than emotional complaints. This is the major problem with any discussion around depression."
Daniel Bardsley
If you go...
Etihad flies daily from Abu Dhabi to Zurich, with fares starting from Dh2,807 return. Frequent high speed trains between Zurich and Vienna make stops at St. Anton.
Bert van Marwijk factfile
Born: May 19 1952
Place of birth: Deventer, Netherlands
Playing position: Midfielder
Teams managed:
1998-2000 Fortuna Sittard
2000-2004 Feyenoord
2004-2006 Borussia Dortmund
2007-2008 Feyenoord
2008-2012 Netherlands
2013-2014 Hamburg
2015-2017 Saudi Arabia
2018 Australia
Major honours (manager):
2001/02 Uefa Cup, Feyenoord
2007/08 KNVB Cup, Feyenoord
World Cup runner-up, Netherlands
The Written World: How Literature Shaped History
Martin Puchner
Granta
Game Changer
Director: Shankar
Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram
Rating: 2/5
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Teaching your child to save
Pre-school (three - five years)
You can’t yet talk about investing or borrowing, but introduce a “classic” money bank and start putting gifts and allowances away. When the child wants a specific toy, have them save for it and help them track their progress.
Early childhood (six - eight years)
Replace the money bank with three jars labelled ‘saving’, ‘spending’ and ‘sharing’. Have the child divide their allowance into the three jars each week and explain their choices in splitting their pocket money. A guide could be 25 per cent saving, 50 per cent spending, 25 per cent for charity and gift-giving.
Middle childhood (nine - 11 years)
Open a bank savings account and help your child establish a budget and set a savings goal. Introduce the notion of ‘paying yourself first’ by putting away savings as soon as your allowance is paid.
Young teens (12 - 14 years)
Change your child’s allowance from weekly to monthly and help them pinpoint long-range goals such as a trip, so they can start longer-term saving and find new ways to increase their saving.
Teenage (15 - 18 years)
Discuss mutual expectations about university costs and identify what they can help fund and set goals. Don’t pay for everything, so they can experience the pride of contributing.
Young adulthood (19 - 22 years)
Discuss post-graduation plans and future life goals, quantify expenses such as first apartment, work wardrobe, holidays and help them continue to save towards these goals.
* JP Morgan Private Bank
Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Cargoz%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EDate%20started%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20January%202022%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Premlal%20Pullisserry%20and%20Lijo%20Antony%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2030%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Seed%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
Racecard
%3Cp%3E6pm%3A%20The%20Madjani%20Stakes%20%E2%80%93%20Group%202%20(PA)%20Dh97%2C500%20(Dirt)%201%2C900m%3Cbr%3E6.35pm%3A%20Graduate%20Stakes%20%E2%80%93%20Conditions%20(TB)%20Dh100%2C000%20(D)%201%2C400m%3Cbr%3E7.10pm%3A%20Longines%20Dolcevita%20Collection%20%E2%80%93%20Maiden%20(TB)%20Dh82%2C500%20(D)%201%2C400m%3Cbr%3E7.45pm%3A%20Longines%20Legend%20Driver%20Collection%20%E2%80%93%20Maiden%20(TB)%20Dh82%2C500%20(D)%201%2C600m%3Cbr%3E8.20pm%3A%20Longines%20Master%20Collection%20%E2%80%93%20Handicap%20(TB)%20Dh105%2C000%20(D)%201%2C200m%3Cbr%3E8.55pm%3A%20Longines%20Record%20Collection%20%E2%80%93%20Handicap%20(TB)%20Dh87%2C500%20(D)%202%2C200m%3Cbr%3E9.30pm%3A%20Longines%20Spirit%20Collection%20%E2%80%93%20Handicap%20(TB)%20Dh87%2C500%20(D)%201%2C600m%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs: 2018 Jeep Compass
Price, base: Dh100,000 (estimate)
Engine: 2.4L four-cylinder
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Power: 184bhp at 6,400rpm
Torque: 237Nm at 3,900rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.4L / 100km
Coming 2 America
Directed by: Craig Brewer
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Jermaine Fowler, Leslie Jones
3/5 stars
Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
AUSTRALIA SQUAD
Aaron Finch, Matt Renshaw, Brendan Doggett, Michael Neser, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (captain), Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Jon Holland, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle
Alita: Battle Angel
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Stars: Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Keean Johnson
Four stars
About Housecall
Date started: July 2020
Founders: Omar and Humaid Alzaabi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: HealthTech
# of staff: 10
Funding to date: Self-funded
The specs
Engine: 3-litre twin-turbo V6
Power: 400hp
Torque: 475Nm
Transmission: 9-speed automatic
Price: From Dh215,900
On sale: Now
How the UAE gratuity payment is calculated now
Employees leaving an organisation are entitled to an end-of-service gratuity after completing at least one year of service.
The tenure is calculated on the number of days worked and does not include lengthy leave periods, such as a sabbatical. If you have worked for a company between one and five years, you are paid 21 days of pay based on your final basic salary. After five years, however, you are entitled to 30 days of pay. The total lump sum you receive is based on the duration of your employment.
1. For those who have worked between one and five years, on a basic salary of Dh10,000 (calculation based on 30 days):
a. Dh10,000 ÷ 30 = Dh333.33. Your daily wage is Dh333.33
b. Dh333.33 x 21 = Dh7,000. So 21 days salary equates to Dh7,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service. Multiply this figure for every year of service up to five years.
2. For those who have worked more than five years
c. 333.33 x 30 = Dh10,000. So 30 days’ salary is Dh10,000 in gratuity entitlement for each year of service.
Note: The maximum figure cannot exceed two years total salary figure.
Brief scores:
Liverpool 3
Mane 24', Shaqiri 73', 80'
Manchester United 1
Lingard 33'
Man of the Match: Fabinho (Liverpool)
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Company: Instabug
Founded: 2013
Based: Egypt, Cairo
Sector: IT
Employees: 100
Stage: Series A
Investors: Flat6Labs, Accel, Y Combinator and angel investors
