In partnership with the UAE’s Ministry of Tolerance and The Arts Center at NYU Abu Dhabi, over 80 school children will create and perform an original opera in celebration of Year of Zayed. The partnership between Cranleigh Abu Dhabi and the Office of His Excellency Sheikh Nahayan bin Mabarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance, will deliver an ambitious youth project, a new opera called Water in the Desert: A Zayed Legacy. The groundbreaking production will be given its world premiere in The Red Theater as part of The Arts Center’s fourth season on October 25, with a matinee reprise on October 26.
After the success of the school’s 2016 pilot opera project, Beautiful World, inspired by a poem of the same name by the late Sheikh Zayed, preparations for this second opera are well underway, led by British director Karen Gillingham, while the score will be written by Composer, Hannah Conway.
This opera, supported by The British Council as part of its legacy programme following its UK/UAE Year of Creative Collaboration 2017, aims to celebrate the UAE’s heritage in a memorable way, allowing youth to connect with the UAE’s history through collaboration. Water in the Desert is based on the late Sheikh Zayed’s vision and foresight into the importance of environmental conservation and sustainability, and his belief that water is the UAE’s most valuable resource.
His Excellency Sheikh Nahayan is enthusiastic about the potential impact of Water in the Desert and remarked “I expect that the messages of tolerance and peaceful coexistence embodied by this wonderful opera will have global reach. The beautiful music and libretto (words) of this opera are both profound and universal. It is hoped that Water in the Desert will be performed regularly outside the UAE as an on-going reminder of the tolerance-promoting leadership of the late Sheikh Zayed, our nation’s great founding father and his legacy of building a tolerant, peaceful society.” His Excellency Sheikh Nahayan also paid tribute to the creators of the opera and noted that “Water in the Desert is the product of a diverse, collaborative team of young UAE citizens and residents who worked together under expert guidance to create this beautiful opera. I am very proud that the UAE’s spirit of tolerance and peaceful coexistence led to the creation of this opera here in the UAE”.
Planning for this project commenced in June 2018 when Cranleigh students aged between 11 and 17 years – along with dancers from BISAD and Brighton College Abu Dhabi – took part in four days of devising workshops. This creative process saw them work with the project’s director, composer, designer and librettist, as well as an acclaimed locally-based choreographer, to brainstorm and capture the essence of the storyline, music, design and dance composition. Devising was further informed and inspired through the involvement of a number of experts in the fields of Emirati social history and environmentalism, including Dr Michele Bambling, Creative Director of Lest We Forget and Tatiana Antonelli Abella – Founder & Managing Director of Dubai-based Social Enterprise, Goumbook. The creative team then took the ideas generated by the children and finalised the libretto, the music and the design ready for these same students to start rehearsals and commence work on the set and costumes this month.
Michael Wilson, Cranleigh Abu Dhabi’s Headmaster said, “We are delighted to have our students take part in a unique and collaborative production. This experience will inspire and develop their understanding of the UAE’s heritage and history through performance and visual arts. We are deeply grateful for the support of His Excellency Sheikh Nahayan bin Mabarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance, on this project, which will commemorate the Year of Zayed in an original way showing tolerance, a strong work ethic, collective responsibility, and a deep respect for the UAE’s heritage and culture.
“Creative arts form an important part of our skills-rich, whole child approach to education, helping young people grow in confidence and develop all kinds of important capabilities from teamwork to empathy, and risk-taking to problem solving.”
Karen Gillingham, Director of Water in the Desert said, “I am very pleased to return to Abu Dhabi to work on this second original opera. Giving students the opportunity to explore environmental, historical and social themes through art, music, drama and design is a truly meaningful experience and supports their educational development. This year’s project celebrates the Year of Zayed and will be a wonderful way to shine a light on the UAE’s heritage and culture. I feel privileged to take part in it and look forward to seeing it come alive at The Arts Center’s state-of-the-art performing arts venue, The Red Theater.”
In 2016, Beautiful World, a multimedia opera was created entirely by Cranleigh Abu Dhabi students in less than five days. The project incorporated both performing arts and calligraphy design, with an exhibition of new artworks, curated by Zayed University’s College of Arts and Creative Enterprises, by Emirati-born artist Narjes Noureddine, based on the late Sheikh Zayed’s poem, Beautiful World. This pilot project was widely praised and won the Drama/Arts Programme of the Year 2017 award at the Education Journal Middle East Awards.
