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Womad Abu Dhabi UAE

 
WOMAD
 
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DESCRIPTION: WOMAD stands for World of Music, Arts and Dance and gives its name to the internationally established WOMAD Festival, which brings together artists from all over the globe. The central aim of the WOMAD festival is to celebrate the world's many forms of music, arts and dance.

As an organisation, WOMAD now works in many different ways, but its aims are always the same - at festivals, performance events, through recorded releases and through educational projects, it aims to excite, to inform, and to create awareness of the worth and potential of a multicultural society. WOMAD Festivals are family-oriented, diverse and active musical events. There are also participatory workshops, where the audience has a chance to meet and learn about the visiting artists and their music. Special events for children, including organised workshops and activities, create an experience both educational and entertaining.

The festival location in each country is as important to its atmosphere as the music and dance that it presents. We work with many different visual artists to create distinctive decorated spaces at each festival site.

Since the first festival in the UK in 1982, WOMAD has held more than 160 festivals, creating events in twenty-seven countries and islands all over the world. It has presented more than one thousand artists at its festivals, bringing the expression of more than 100 different countries to a live audience of over one million people.


The First WOMAD Abu Dhabi Festival - 23rd, 24th & 25th April 2009

In the months leading up to the WOMAD Abu Dhabi Festival, WOMAD and ADACH worked tirelessly to realise their shared vision of bringing diverse cultures and peoples closer together and promote cultural understanding among civilisations and support efforts to strengthen dialogue through the music, arts and dance of many different countries and cultures around the world, The Abu Dhabi Corniche, with its backdrop of traditional architecture juxtaposed with modern cosmopolitan towers, offered the perfect stage for ADACH and WOMAD to present the finest performing arts from around the world to the broadest possible audience.

Abu Dhabi, one of the world's most multicultural environments, is also representative of the richness of Arabic heritage, with tradition and modernity striking an exciting balance. The artistic selection for WOMAD Abu Dhabi reflected the Arabic character of the festival, with performances from acclaimed North African and Middle Eastern artists, as well as an impressive line-up of African, Indian and Pakistani performers.

WOMAD Abu Dhabi was also proved a wonderful opportunity for the artists to work beyond the festival gates, sharing inspirations, techniques, experiences and a wealth of knowledge with the Emirati community. Children of all ages worked with artists from around the world in a spirit of shared learning and cultural exchange. Day 1
The first day of the WOMAD Abu Dhabi 2009 festival saw the Zimbabwean troupe of drummers and dancers, Siyaya, open the festival with an energy-filled performance, accompanied on stage by children from local Abu Dhabi schools. Then, as the sun disappeared below the horizon, Kamal Musallam Group featuring Emirati group Sokoor Al Magabeel took up the baton, performing a magical fusion of jazz and Arabic music.

As the night progressed a range of spectacular acts, including Algerian singer Souad Massi, wowed the audience, culminating in a stunning, vibrant performance by 'the King of Rai', Algerian superstar, Khaled, who brought the night to a close in front of an enthusiastic crowd of over 25,000 people!
Day 2

After such a spectacular first day, the second day of the festival had a lot to live up to. This time it was The Dhol Foundation, with their mix of electronic dance beats and traditional Bhangra, who set the tempo for the night. The rich evocative African sound of Etran Finitawa, continued to lead the audience on a global musical journey, followed on the South Stage by the unmistakable haunting voice and beautiful theatrical stage act of Sa Dingding. The second night was closed by the innovative vocal sound of Senegalese megastar Youssou N'Dour.
Al Jahili Fort, Al Ain

On the second day of the festival there was also another stage in Al Jahili Fort, in the garden city of Al Ain. South Korean drum extravaganza, Dulsori, gave an explosive performance to the 5000 strong audience. This high-energy troupe was followed by an equally explosive performance from Siyaya and the more mellow, rhythmic Sufi music of Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali, from Pakistan. The poetic Oud performance of Tunisian, Dhafer Youssef completed the line up of incredible performances at this special additional stage.

Day 3 Day three of the festival began with a children's procession, parading the carnival arts and crafts created by the children themselves during the preceding two days of the festival. The stage performances were began in a highly energetic fashion with the dynamic Baltic and Eastern European folk songs of 'the masters of great atmosphere', Paprika Balkanicus. The huge audience were then treated to a stunning performance of a song created especially for WOMAD Abu Dhabi, by Justin Adams, Juldeh Camara and their special guest, British rock legend, Robert Plant.

The crowd's tumultuous welcome for the festival's closing act, Egyptian singer, Mohamed Mounir, shook the Abu Dhabi Corniche and as the last tones of this enigmatic performer drifted into the night air, the 30,000 people in the audience watched the skies above Abu Dhabi light up with an incredible fireworks display.