The Arts Center at NYU Abu Dhabi'S (NYUAD) new approach comes off the success of its series Reconnect.
A total of 27,000 people from around the world tuned in to watch streams of past performances and live Q&A sessions with artists. This autumn, the Center will launch its sixth season and the theme is dedicated to Abu Dhabi’s interconnected islands.
Titled A Bridge, the Arts Center plays a role in connecting the University with the Capital of the UAE and joining UAE with global audiences.
Season six will also include Off The Stage - an array of interactive events delivered as part of each artist’s virtual residency including workshops in dance and theater-making, online career chats and intimate online meals with the artists.
The performances include:
* Kid Koala - Robot House Party
The First Party: Build Your Robot Costume and Dance - Saturday, September 5 at 4pm (GST, GMT +4)
The Second Party: The Grand Video Reveal (World Premiere, commissioned by The Arts Center) - Saturday, October 10 at 4pm (GST, GMT +4)
Eric San, a.k.a Kid Koala, is a world-renowned scratch DJ, music producer, and award winning graphic novelist. He will provide a live soundtrack to make the most amazing robot costumes and get your robot grooves on. It will be a fun virtual playground for kids and grownups.
*Tania El Khoury – As Far As Isolation Goes (Online) -Wednesday, September 9 - Sunday, October 4 (Various times)
This is a collaboration between live artist Tania El Khoury and musician and street artist Basel Zaraa. As Far As Isolation Goes (Online) takes its inspiration from earlier work, As Far As My Fingertips Take Me, re-imagined as an online experience to create a microtheater piece which explores the mental health of asylum seekers through one on one Zoom performances.
*600 HIGHWAYMEN - A Thousand Ways: Part 1 - Wednesday, October 7 - Sunday, October 18 (Various times)
This is a new type of theatre played out with just two people via a phone call and designed around physical distancing guidelines. A Thousand Ways: Part 1 is an enthralling, imaginative and profound social experience from one of the world’s most acclaimed theatre companies and the first part of a planned trilogy.
*Sam Green - Short Films- Middle East Online Debut - Tuesday, October 27, 8pm (GST, GMT +4)
It will feature a collection of shorts created by New York-based documentary filmmaker Sam Green, set in a series of unconventional settings. Wander the empty corridors of the world's largest shopping mall; visit the unmarked grave of an 18-year old Hells Angels victim; explore the greatest pet cemetery in the world; watch fog envelop iconic San Francisco streets; and spend a moment after midnight at Louis Armstrong’s kitchen table.
*Ak Dan Gwan Chil (ADG7) - Middle East Online Debut - Wednesday, November 18, 8pm (GST, GMT +4)
Ak Dan Gwang Chil (ADG7) will share an online concert staged specifically for The Arts Center, featuring their reinvention of Korean shamanistic folk-roots music performed with virtuosity, charisma and pure energy.
This is being presented as part of the UAE-Korea Cultural Dialogue in partnership with The Korean Cultural Center and supported by the Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange.
*Audience favourites such as Rooftop Rhythms, Hekayah | The Story, and CinemaNA screenings all return in fresh and exciting online formats, allowing audiences to engage with both the content and the artists.
For more information, please visit: https://www.nyuad-artscenter.org/ or please find the season six program summary attached.
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