War of the Words at Cafe Scientifique

May 2014's Cafe Scientifique Dubai, held at Biorganic in TECOM, saw one of the biggest turnouts in the series' history. An audience spanning diverse age groups, genders and professions stood around, sat on chairs, or sat on the floor, to hear and talk about a topic that captivates most any inquiring mind: space exploration. In particular, planned Martian exploration through the Mars One mission.

The program commenced with opening addresses on Cafe Sci and the background of the mission by founders Rohan Roberts (left) and Raya Bidshahri (right) -- to the latter of whom we are bidding farewell, as she leaves for university abroad.

A bit of light entertainment with bits of philosophy and ethics was up next, provided by Adam Griffin (top) and Chris McDermott (bottom) locking oratorical horns in a debate on whether humans should go on a one-way trip to colonize Mars. With a show of hands, McDermott's argument against the motion seemed to have beat Griffin's argument for it -- much to my surprise.

Closing the event was Dubai resident Mikolaj Zielinski, who is on Mars One's shortlist for a future lifetime mission to land and stay on the red planet. He provided the audience with further information about the mission, including the challenges Mars explorers would face, and possible solutions. Clearly, he is not deterred at all by the outcome of the debate.

EDIT: The Cafe Sci team got Spectrum 7 TV on board to tape the event. Here's what they produced:

Dale Nichols piano concert at The Fridge

As a piano music fan, I could not miss The Fridge's latest Fridge Concert Series concert, starring pianist and composer Dale Nichols. For about an hour, Nichols played several compositions on The Fridge's stage, including "Adrift" and "Vagabond's Revenge", and most memorably, "Dreams from a Kitchen Window" and "The Sea".

His music is not typical piano concert fare; it has been described as "cinematic", and does seem to lend itself well to inclusion in soundtracks. Which is to say that it is a very mood-evoking music, incorporating themes of nature and the weather, as Nichols mentioned during his introductions. His composition also eschews repetitive motifs, and his music is distinctively dynamic, changing direction subtly ever so often.

His EP, In Full Color, includes four lovely tracks, including the haunting "October", and the calming, melodic "Blossom", with its background of nature sounds.

Thank you for your cooperation

Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde's latest exhibition, Thank You for Your Cooperation, applies bold colors and words to a urban facade. Par for the course with Turkish artist duo :mentalKLINIK, who have been known to make resourceful and novel use of modern materials. The works on glass are especially striking.

From Page to Stage poetry workshop performance

(clockwise from top left) Zeina Hashem Beck; Frank Dullaghan; Marie Dullaghan; Rosine Saad; Lara Bogdanovic

Dubai-based poet and PUNCH founder, Zeina Hashem Beck, concluded her poetry workshop at The Courtyard Playhouse with a showcase performance at the venue. The small but enthusiastic class started with a group performance of Thomas Lux's Render Render and their own responses to it, followed by individual recitals ranging from witty observational to somber emotional. Another Dubai-based poet, Frank Dullaghan, headlined the event with readings of his own works, and Beck's love poem closed the event on a saccharine note.

Blazing a theatrical trail with Draupadi

In case anyone was wondering about the week of social AWOL that preceded it, I had been immersed in this year's big theatre project: Draupadi - The Voice of Dignity. Indeed the largest production in which I have ever been involved, it was also the furthest away from my general idea of the kind of theatre in which I would be involved: music, dance, physical theatre, body paint, bodysuits, etc. Having not been an audience member myself, I can only comment on the experience of being stage-side.

Firstly, it was a huge privilege performing at the capacious and opulent Madinat Theatre. These seats would soon be packed through, and the Indian Consul General would attend one of our shows. The second show's audience was more audibly responsive than that of the first show, but I gathered that both proffered favorable reviews.

Us statues with designer and graphic artist Nivi Saha

Our makeup artists and costume designers/tailors did a fantastic job with the body paint, body suits and costumes. Especially with stage lighting, I was taken aback at just how convincing my fellow statues appeared.

(photo credit: Sarah Arfan Photgraphy)

Having to be on stage about 90% of the time, we spent most of the time on the yajna platform in stillness (but changing poses from time to time), occasionally breaking off or coordinating to act out short background scenes or be human props. Given the diversity in backgrounds and physiques of the statues, it must have been interesting to watch how each of us executed our parts (being fairly well-versed in the Mahabharata, I integrated imagery from the ongoing story into my free poses)

Classical Indian dance

(photo credit: Sarah Arfan Photgraphy)

(photo credit: Sarah Arfan Photgraphy)

The play told the story of Draupadi using both dialogue and dance theatre, focusing on her birth, her betrothal contest and marriage to all five Pandava brothers, her humiliation in the Kaurava court, and the death of her sons, the Upapandavas, in the legendary India-wide Mahabharata war. It was illustrated with spellbinding classical Indian and contemporary dance by local troupes, Tapasya and Loom Ensemble, as well as Third Half Theatre's staging of segments of a philosophical discussion between a modern-day Krishna and Krishnaa (one of Draupadi's epithets).

Although I was disappointed that the classical dancers did not wear more traditional costumes, it was a worthy sacrifice in the cause of quick costume changes, which were required in order to play different roles in different scenes. I was impressed by how, despite having to perform complex, coordinated dance sequences, the classical dancers also did a great job with acting. The show culminated in a wonderful final scene of both sets of actors/dancers performing onstage together as the ancient and modern pairing of Krishna and Draupadi.

(photo credit: Sarah Arfan Photgraphy)

And not in the least, the delightful classical/modern fusion music and singing by the Malhaar Choir, combined with Nivi Saha's glorious graphical artworks of scenes and motifs from the epic, gave a thoroughly inspiring sound and look to the production. It was hard to stay still with such great music playing right next to me, and to not move my head to watch the audio-visuals and dance. I am just so proud and honored to have been trusted with a role in this ginormous endeavor.

Draupadi: A fiery woman in a crowded theater

Being offered a part in this project came as a bit of a surprise. But knowing that Draupadi - The Voice of Dignity involved the Malhaar Choir, Loom Ensemble, and Third Half Theatre, it was not hard to say "yes". It also helped that I was several weeks into a Mahabharata mythos geek trip.

Although I, as a cast member, repeatedly witness their performances, the choir has me rapt each time we do a run-through. The instrumental array features Indian classical music instruments together with electric guitar, synth keyboard and cajon, producing hypnotic music that straddles West and East. The singing is rousing and spellbinding (a couple have become the earworms of the month), and the dancers make their well-practiced skill seem almost effortless in mesmerizing choreography; listening to the choir and watching the dance makes the countless hours of rehearsal feel not as long.

Thanks to Third Half Theatre and Loom Ensemble, these song, music and dance segments are interspersed and framed with an English-scripted philosophical/magical story that references the epic, along with contemporary dance and physical theatre.

As for my role, I don't want to give away details, except that watching fidgety me hold still for minutes at a time is in itself a spectacle. I have never done anything in this particular style of theatre, but we have a supportive and enthusiastic team. Therefore, I have high expectations of a grand performance, especially extrapolating what I have glimpsed of the production aspects.

The play stages on May 23rd/Fri and 24th/Sat, 7:30pm, at Madinat Theatre. There are a few tickets still on sale, and they can be purchased at timeouttickets.com or at the Madinat Theatre's offline box office.

Heart and Soul of Al Qasr

Their genre is not what I typically patronize, but having since long read good reviews of Heart and Soul in particular, I popped into Koubba Bar in Madinat Jumeirah's Al Qasr hotel late on Thursday night to have a listen.

Shanice Michaels does indeed have a pleasant and versatile voice, and included a fair bit of improvisation to add some individuality to the songs she sang. She and Lorendo Brown mainly did covers of popular music to playback instrumentals and sharp guitar playing by Brown. I was not too fond of the dance pop covers (maybe downbeat them a little?), but the rest was a great musical journey through the pop hits, especially the ones from the late 20th century.