Aga in the UAE

I saw a great show tonight – Freej Folklore.

Freej is an Emirati cartoon, created by Dubai’s Mohammed Saeed Harib.  It’s a cartoon that features four older Emirati women – Um Khammas (the rebel), Um Saloom (the forgetful one), Um Allawi (the educated one – with all kinds of knowledge, who LOVES gadgets) and Um Saeed (the oldest and wisest member of the group, who loves poetry and old Emirati sayings).  This is what the show is about (curtesy of freej.ae):

FREEJ is the tale of four old national women living in a secluded neighborhood in modern day Dubai. The show’s main characters; Um Saeed, Um Saloom, Um Allawi and Um Khammas try to live a peaceful life in the midst of the ever-expanding city around them, but the city’s boom unveils new social issues every day that they would have to tackle solve in their own simple way. For those four old women, there is no issue too hard to crack with a good cup of coffee at Um Saeed’s house.

I’ve never seen it on TV, but we have the DVDs in the library, and they are hilarious!  I love this cartoon, primarily because it’s basically the only truly Emirati venture.  Everything else in this country seems to be brought in, borrowed, adapted, but this is new … Emirati, through and through.

So now that you have the background of what Freej the cartoon is, here’s a video about the stage production.

Very last minute, the organizers decided to give 2 for 1 deals to all those who have purchased a ticket, so the venue was full. The performance started on time, but as usual, people were late, and the late comers were VERY loud as they were entering. That was the only real damper on the entire experience, because the show was really fantastic. Music, dance, animation, acrobatics, special effects – all combined to create a really great theatrical experience.
Dubai surely knows how to put on a spectacle.  Read more on their blog.

The icing on the cake was looking at the splendid Burj al Arab in its nightly glory. I took this picture after the performance. The view as you see was spectacular.

Burj al Arab is also known as the hotel that’s shaped as a sail or the world’s only 7 star hotel, and before Burj Dubai (the world’s tallest structure) and the man-made islands made the news – Burj al Arab was it – the icon of Dubai.

If you’d like to make a reservation for an overnight stay, or just perhaps go there for tea or even breakfast (access to the Burj is not free, you absolutely cannot just walk in – although my hairdresser told me that people make appointments at the hair salon there, and cancel them last minute, once they’ve entered the hotel – but something tells me there is a financial penalty for doing something like that ), you can click here.  Enjoy your tea, breakfast or stay.