Your daily guide to community and cultural activities across the Emirates for February 17, 2017, including performances, festivals, art exhibitions, film screenings, health and fitness events, talks, classes, workshops and family fun. Ellen Fortini rounds up 10 things to do today in the UAE.
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Dubai
Performance
Get tickets for West Side Story at Dubai Opera and experience the New York-set story featuring romance, conflict, dances using Jerome Robbins’s original choreography, and a score composed by Leonard Bernstein with timeless songs such as Tonight, Maria, Somewhere and America.
Today and tomorrow, 3pm and 8pm, from Dh250, Dubai Opera, Downtown Dubai, www.dubaiopera.com
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Abu Dhabi
Performance
Make plans to attend I Am My Language, a theatrical show as part of an Emirati-French cultural programme with theatre training called Trance-Forms. UAE-based actors and comedians from various backgrounds and countries present a performance that encapsulates the evolution of Abu Dhabi as a city and the UAE as a country through the concepts of youth, memory and love through an assembly of dances, music, poems, stories and recitals of Arabic and French literature.
February 25-28, 8pm, Manarat Al Saadiyat, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, www.abudhabievents.ae
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Abu Dhabi
Music festival
Enjoy the final day of Barzakh Festival, the outdoor music event featuring diverse cultural performances by a Ukrainian art-folk quartet, Cambodian psych-pop and Indian bhangra funk. Pictured: Dengue Fever
Today, 6pm, free with registration, East Plaza, The Arts Center, NYU Abu Dhabi, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, register at www.nyuad-artscenter.org
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Abu Dhabi
Kite festival
Attend the second Annual Kite Festival at Desert Islands Resort & Spa by Anantara. Take part in kite building and flying, with great prizes for the most unique creations. Enjoy music, beach activities, a complimentary sausage sizzle and soft drinks.
Today, 11am to 5pm, from Dh150 for adults; from Dh100 for children; complimentary for hotel guests, Anantara Sir Bani Yas Island Resorts, Al Ruwais, Abu Dhabi, register at [email protected]
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Nationwide
New movie
Fist Fight is a comedy starring Charlie Day as Andy Campbell, a mild-mannered English teacher who, on the last day of school, is accused of getting his fearsome colleague Ron Strickland (Ice Cube) fired, and is challenged by Strickland to a fist fight after school. Also starring Christina Hendricks, Jillian Bell, Kumail Nanjiani, Tracy Morgan and Dean Norris.
Screening at cinemas across the UAE (15+)
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Dubai
Happiness Festival
The Happiness Festival is an event that lets you tailor your own experience around the concepts of positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, accomplishment, children’s well-being and well-being for men, including yoga, talks, workshops, meditation, games, group personal training, music and more.
Today, 11am to 6.30pm, free with registration, Dubai Polo and Equestrian Club, Dubai, www.thehappinesshub.me
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Dubai
Family fun
Visit Global Village for the launch of the three-week Kids’ Fest festival with a programme of activities, games and entertainment featuring costumed characters from Angry Birds and Chhota Bheem, face-painting, balloon modellers, shows from Shaabiyat Al Cartoon (pictured) and Globo, the dance show City Jam and much more.
Daily until February 25, 4pm to midnight, Saturdays to Wednesdays; 4pm to 1am Thursdays and Fridays, Global Village, Dubai, www.globalvillage.ae
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Dubai
Performance
Catch a performance of the final weekend of Aladdin. Creativiva Worldwide brings their production of the family musical to Dubai with exciting choreography, witty dialogue, circus acts and comedic scenes in the story of a young street boy who finds a magic lamp, releases a genie and is granted three wishes.
Today, 11am, 3pm and 7pm; tomorrow, 1pm and 7pm; Sunday, 7pm. From Dh180, Madinat Theatre, Souk Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai, www.madinattheatre.com
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Dubai
Theatre
Get tickets now for the Short+Sweet Theatre Festival 2017 and see a series of 10-minute plays in various genres presented by top independent theatre companies from Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Dubai. The audience is eligible to vote for the best play at each show, giving the winner the chance at a spot at the People’s Choice Final on February 25.
Today and tomorrow and February 24-25, 7.30pm to 9.30pm today; 2.30pm to 4.30pm and 7.30pm to 9.30pm tomorrow; 3pm to 5pm and 8pm to 10pm on February 24 and February 25, from Dh100, The Junction, Al Quoz, Dubai, www.tixbox.com
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Dubai
Film screening
See the docu-thriller The Imposter as part of the Work in Progress series presented by Cinema Akil and Alserkal Avenue. The 2012 UK film directed by Bart Layton is about a young man in Spain who claims to be the 16-year-old son of a grieving Texas family who has been missing for three years.
Tonight, 7pm, free on a first-come, first-seated basis, A4 Space, Alserkal Avenue, Al Quoz, Dubai, www.cinemaakil.com
