NYU Abu Dhabi Announces 10th Anniversary Season

The Arts Center at NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) has announced its milestone 10th season, with a calendar of events themed Looking Back and Looking Forward, featuring returning favorites bringing new projects, alongside groundbreaking new acts.

Highlights include the world premiere of Reem Almenhali and Ahmed Almadloum's Hamour Doesn't Leave the Cubicle; UAE debuts by Gaye Su Akyol (on a bill with TootArd); Cimafunk and futuristic Congolese/French collaboration KOKOKO!; Abosahar and Aita Mon Amour at the Tamaas Festival; and the first UAE performances of Cie. Hervé Koubi's Sol Invictus, Chrystèle Khodr's Augurs, and Cie. Omar Rajeh & Maqamat's Beytna. Returning appearances include Trisha Brown Dance Company, Maysoon Zayid, and Yahael Onono Camara of Balimaya Project.

Executive Artistic Director of The Arts Center Bill Bragin commented: “The Arts Center is a place for discovery and inspiration. As we celebrate our 10th anniversary, we reflect on a decade of memorable collaborations that have positioned us as an international leader while also playing a vital role in developing the UAE's arts landscape. We're thrilled to have built strong and lasting relationships with both artists and audiences through a commitment to fostering creativity and serving as a vibrant hub for intercultural dialogue. The positive experiences of returning artists are a testament to the quality of engagement by our public audiences, and with the university community. Looking ahead, our commitment to developing NYUAD as a major cultural resource, on Saadiyat Island and for the UAE as a whole, remains a priority as we continue to champion innovation, diversity, inclusion, and artistic excellence.”

For the full list of events, click here.

Looking back

Over its first decade, The Arts Center has been a pioneer in bringing new work and serving as a place for artistic discovery. It has invested in commissioning 46 new works, presented 20 world premieres, and introduced 86 UAE debuts or premieres. Opening its 10th season, the Cie. Hervé Koubi returns with their new show Sol Invictus on September 5 and 6. Presented with the support of Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels, Koubi blends imaginative contemporary dance and kinetic urban movements, fusing ballet with hip-hop physicality. In addition to public performances, the company will also perform a matinee for invited school groups as part of its ongoing partnership with the US Mission to the UAE to expose students to the performing arts.

The 10th season also features NYUAD alumni artists, who started at The Arts Center as students and now return to its stages with their work. On October 18 and 19, Reem Almenhali (NYUAD Class of 2021) directs a new work Hamour Doesn't Leave the Cubicle (هامور لا يغادر المكتب), written by Ahmed Almadloum, commissioned by long-term partners the Abu Dhabi Music & Arts Foundation (ADMAF), and supported by the UAE Ministry of Culture. Almenhali won of the 2020 Gulf Capital ADMAF Creativity Award for her writing of Al Raheel | Departure, which premiered at The Arts Center in 2020 and was reprised in 2022.

The Trisha Brown Dance Company also returns to The Arts Center for the first time since 2017, presented by Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels, in the UAE premiere performances of In The Fall on a bill with Working Title on November 15. The 2023 work In The Fall is choreographed by Noé Soulier, whose previous work for CNDC d'Angers was part of The Arts Center's 9th season. Soulier's new choreography explores the physical act of falling, pushing the boundaries of bodily control. Paired with this piece, the company will perform Working Title by pioneer of postmodern dance, Trisha Brown, offering a look back to the iconic 1985 piece.

Two artists who performed in past seasons at The Arts Center will return to teach courses for NYUAD students, culminating with public performances. 

Stand-up comedian and disability advocate Maysoon Zayid returns to The Arts Center with Bint Balad, a laugh-out-loud tale of beating the odds and bouncing back in the face of failure, exploring her family, global culture, and her life with cerebral palsy. A performance in English on Wednesday, January 15 is followed by an Arabic show on Friday, January 17. Both will feature sign language interpretation. An additional performance at a site to be announced in a Northern Emirate will also take place.

Another returning artist is British/West African percussionist and bandleader, Yahael Onono Camara, a former UAE resident who first came to The Arts Center in a homecoming concert with his contemporary band Balimaya Project in March 2023. He performs on Thursday, January 16, with a traditional ensemble Hakili Koura: A New Mentality, featuring a night of song, dance, discovery, discussion, and history, rooted in the folklore of the Mandé peoples of West Africa.

Looking forward

A brand-new lineup of trailblazers will also present their works during the season. The first music concert will feature two dynamic artists who are reshaping the global musical landscape. On September 19 and 20, Turkey's Gaye Su Akyol blends Turkish psychedelia with her Anatolian folk roots, alongside TootArd's distinctive SouthWest Asian blend of disco and dance music, fusing global pop hooks with quarter-tone melodic lines.

On February 13, the first-ever Tamaas Festival builds on the legacy of the Barzakh Festival and other programs that focus on border-crossing music. Tamaas, meaning “Contact”, brings new global sounds with artists who merge cultures, styles, and genres. The exciting lineup features four artists who are each making their UAE debuts: Cuba's electrifying Cimafunk and futuristic Congolese/French collaboration KOKOKO! in a double bill outdoors on The East Plaza, followed by a late night double bill in the Black Box by Egyptian electro-shaabi artist Abosahar, and indie-electronic meets North African heritage artists, Aïta Mon Amour.

Continuing its commitment to multilingual theater, The Arts Center will host a diverse range of plays in various languages. Written and directed by Lebanese playwright Chrystèle Khodr, Augurs, in Arabic with English titles, will be performed for the first time in the UAE on September 28 and 29. The charming “two-hander” play sees Lebanese actors Hanane Hajj Ali and Randa Asmar retrace their professional journeys in war-torn Beirut of the early 1980s.

Meanwhile, Francesca Bizzarri and Goffredo Puccetti present La Lezione di Teatro | The Acting Class on October 11, a joyful lesson in theater and a comic tribute to Italians' theatrical talent for connecting to anyone, transcending language barriers.

On January 30, The Arts Center's support of contemporary Arab dance and performance continues with Cie. Omar Rajeh | Maqamat's Beytna, in which four dancers/choreographers and four musicians meet over a banquet of food prepared onstage. Created by renowned Lebanese dance figure Omar Rajeh, the performance, whose Arabic title translates to “our house”, depicts an invitation to another's home and the artist's profession as a symbol of diversity, personal history, and togetherness.

Building on Abu Dhabi's selection as the host Capital for International Jazz Day, The Temple's debut in the city on May 17 continues with The Arts Center's commitment to showcasing dynamic, genre-crossing performances. Curated by drummer Ratish Chadha, this event, featuring many of the UAE's most creative improvisers, brings together members of NOON, Abri & the Everlasting, Sanaa & Friends, and others such as Aleksandra Krstic, Hamdan Al Abri, Jerome Deligero, Mohamed Hosny, Nikhil Mukhi, Sanda Ivette, and Steven Craig Bedford. The Temple, a hidden gem from Dubai's Al Quoz district, is renowned for blending diverse musical traditions—Arabic, Spanish, and English, with a rich blend of Jazz, Hip-hop, Reggae, Afro-funk, Oriental fusion. With its unique approach to genre and culture, The Temple embodies the spirit of jazz as a universal language, making its arrival in Abu Dhabi a fitting tribute to this global celebration.

Building an Arts Ecosystem

Continuing its mission to promote interaction between artist and audience, Off The Stage presented by Mubadala returns with another full schedule designed to contribute to the ever-changing story of the arts in the UAE. Highlights include dance workshops with Cie Herve Koubi; Trisha Brown Dance Company; Maqamat, dance and multi-media performance workshops with Purring Tiger; “Theater 101: The Mask Before the Script” with Francesa Bizzarri; and “Striking Chords: A Workshop Investigation of Tension & Vibration in Performance” with Aishia Lin & Matthew Dean Marsh.

Bragin added: “Our partnerships with the business community of the UAE have allowed us to really increase our ambitions. The Arts Center is grateful to our lead sponsor Mubadala, who also present our Off The Stage series, revealing their long-term commitment to building the nation's arts ecosystem, and investing in talent and capacity development through panels, discussions, and workshops. We also thank the US Mission to the UAE, who support artist development and youth educational activities; and Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels, our partner in promoting contemporary dance in the UAE. And of course, we are grateful to NYU Abu Dhabi's leadership for their ongoing commitment and support for our mission.”

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