The Arts Center at NYU Abu Dhabi Podcast | Powered by afikra
A collaboration between afikra and The Arts Center at NYU Abu Dhabi, this series features interviews with performers and artists who appear at the venue. Episodes range from musicians like Meklit Hadero to choreographer Herve Koubi, covering music, theater, drama and poetry. Guests discuss their creative process, influences and the stories behind their work. The series also highlights the Arts Center's role in connecting performance with scholarship and community life in Abu Dhabi and at NYUAD.
Episodes
Gnawa, Hip Hop & Nass El Ghiwane | Choreographer Fouad Boussouf
Choreographer and artistic director Fouad Boussouf traces his path from listening to hip-hop and regional Arab music in the French suburbs to directing a national choreographic center. Influenced by North African heritage, contemporary dance, and circus arts, he explores how non-verbal expression allows him to address social commentary, immigration, and spiritual identity through movement. Boussou
When Dance Becomes a Solution to Language | Youness Atbane
Navigating the intersection of institutional power, identity, and postcolonial discourse, artist and choreographer Youness Atbane examines how contemporary art spaces shape cultural narrative. Through performance works like Untitled 14 km and Waterproofed Artists, Atbane interrogates the elitism of the global art world while drawing on his roots in Moroccan pottery traditions and choreography to m
The Djembe, Diaspora & the Sound of West Africa | Djembe Virtuoso & Bandleader Yahael Camara Onono
Master djembe player and composer, Yahael Camara Onono, discusses his musical journey and his mission to elevate West African percussion. Growing up in London, the djembe served as an umbilical cord to his Manding heritage, allowing him to blend traditional sounds with contemporary influences like grime and hip-hop. He founded the Balimaya Project in 2019 to challenge the pigeonholing of African m
Music as Resistance, Healing & Prayer | Flautist, Vocalist & Composer Naïssam Jalal
Music serves as a vital sanctuary and a form of spiritual recovery in a world frequently defined by violence, injustice, and fatigue. Flautist, vocalist & composer Naïssam Jalal shares her profound reflections on a career shaped by the search for belonging and the transformative power of sound. Growing up in Paris as the daughter of immigrants, she recounts facing persistent racism and discriminat
Why Live Theater Still Matters | Ahmed El Attar
Playwright and director Ahmed El Attar explores the evolution of the Egyptian independent theater movement, tracing its roots from the 1990s counterculture to its role as a precursor for social change. He discusses the crisis of state-run institutions in the Arab world, marked by bureaucracy, censorship, and a disconnect from contemporary audiences. Through his own work, such as "The Discrete Char
Arabian Fuzz & Revolutionary Poetry | Thomas Attar from Al-Qasar Band
Thomas Attar of Al-Qasar Band joins The Arts Center at NYU Abu Dhabi Podcast ahead of their performance at the Tamaas Festival on January 29th. Attar strives to make music that reflects the complexity of modern, multicultural, and transnational identities. Growing up in Paris before moving to the US, he shares the origins of Al-Qasar, a collaborative project that was an intentional response to a "
Yasmine Hamdan on the Spotifyification of Music, the Diaspora Experience & Finding Her Center
In the lead up to her performance at Tamaas Festival on January 29, musician Yasmine Hamdan joins Mikey Muhanna on The Arts Center at NYU Abu Dhabi Podcast to discuss her return to music after a significant hiatus. Yasmine, who's considered an icon of music for a generation of Arab listeners, explains that her time away was essential for reconnecting with her purpose, moving beyond career strategy
Dear Children, Sincerely: A Sri Lanka-Rwanda Performance | Ruwanthie de Chickera
The artistic director of "Dear Children, Sincerely," which was performed at The Arts Center at NYU Abu Dhabi joins us to talk about this powerful theater collaboration between Rwanda and Sri Lanka. Ruwanthie de Chickera shares the inspiration behind the project, its unique approach to intergenerational dialogue, and the profound impact of connecting with elders who witnessed pivotal historical shi
Widad Mjama on Moroccan Rap & Aïta Mon Amour's Performance at the Tamaas Festival in Abu Dhabi
In this episode of the NYUAD Arts Center podcast, we're joined by Widad Mjama, one-half of the musical group Aïta Mon Amour, in the lead-up to their performance at the Tamaas Festival in Abu Dhabi. The pioneering rapper from Morocco explores her musical experiences, her early exposure to various music genres in Morocco, and her eventual gravitation towards rap. Widad discusses the Moroccan rap sce
Beytna Dance Performance Over a Banquet at the NYUAD Arts Center | Omar Rajeh
In this episode of the NYU Abu Dhabi Arts Center Podcast, we delve into the intrinsic philosophy of dance with dancer and choreographer Omar Rajeh. The conversation spans his journey from founding dance company Maqamat in Beirut in 2002, to developing contemporary dance awareness in Lebanon and organizing the influential BIPOD festival. Omar discusses the transformative power of dance, its societa
Comedian Maysoon Zayid Performs on Two Nights in Abu Dhabi at The Arts Center's Red Theater
In the lead up to her two-night comedy show performance (in English on January 15 and in Arabic on January 17) of Bint Balad at the NYUAD Arts Center, Maysoon Zayid joins us on The Arts Center's podcast to chat about performing in Abu Dhabi, working with NYUAD, and the importance of creating an accessible future for individuals with disabilities. She provides insight from her multifaceted career a
Chrystèle Khodr on Lebanon, Theater & Her Play Augurs
Creating intimate worlds through theater, reckoning with Lebanon's state of play, and paying homage to two of her home country's leading actresses: a conversation with theater maker Chrystèle Khodr. Khodr's play Augurs follows actresses Hanane Hajj Ali and Randa Asmar as they retrace their theatrical journeys from the moment they decide to work in theater in the early 1980s. Using her play as a ba
Bill Bragin & Maya Allison | 10 years of The Arts Center
We’re kicking off the third season of the NYUAD Podcast with Bill Bragin, founding executive artistic director of The Arts Center at New York University Abu Dhabi, and Maya Allison, founding executive director of The Art Galleries and senior research scholar and chief curator at New York University #AbuDhabi. They tell us all about what this year holds at NYUAD’s Arts Center with reflections on th
Finding My Sound in My Tunisian Identity | Emel Mathlouthi
The last episode of this season of the NYUAD Arts Center Podcast is with Emel Mathlouthi – who has been called this generation’s Fairuz. We ask her how she feels about this comparison, her rise to fame during the Tunisian revolution, and performing at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony. She shares her insight into her “musical universe”, how she approaches song writing — and how songs sometimes write
Unified Through Music From the Nile to Rio | Dina Elwedidi
In this new episode of the NYUAD Arts Center Podcast, Egyptian musician, composer and producer, Dina El Wedidi takes us through the different eras of her musical career, reflecting on her mentorship and collaboration with Brazilian legend Gilberto Gil, her experience with the Nile Project, and "Slumber/Manam" — what she calls her most meaningful project to date.Dina El Wedidi is an Egyptian singer
FRONTERA: Dance Theatre That Crosses Borders | Dana Gingras
In the lead up to the performance of FRONTERA at NYUAD’s Red Theatre, we talk to Dana Gingras, the choreographer of the show and founder of multimedia dance company Animals of Distinction. Dana talks about her creative process and how she strives to produce shows that are viscerally engaging, experiential and kinetic. She shares how she balances and tweaks her choreography to accommodate different
Breaking Down Stereotypes Since 1993 | Asian Dub Foundation's Steve Chandra Savale
This conversation with Asian Dub Foundation’s longest-standing member, Steve Chandra Savale, covers a lot of ground: ranging from the band’s agenda and core values of an educational-based philosophy to East London in the 90s and re-scoring the movie La Haine. Steve shares what it was like emerging out of the post-punk and acid-house era and how the band developed their unique soundscape while hono
Abu Dhabi's Performing Arts: Present & Future | Bill Bragin
Bill Bragin – executive artistic director of the NYUAD Arts Center – talks to us about the center’s upcoming season, how it's impacted the city of Abu Dhabi so far, and what he envisions for the future of both the center and its ripple effect on the country as a whole. Bill shares his approach to curatorial work and practice, as well as the importance of responding to a space/venue when programmin
Spoken Word in Abu Dhabi | Rooftop Rythms at the NYUAD Arts Center
Dorian Paul Rogers, Salem Al Attas, & Maryam Alshehhi talk about Rooftop Rhythms and how it aims to add life and positive energy in to the UAE community with culturally-appropriate performance arts and nightlife concepts.Rooftop Rhythms was founded in March 2012 by award-winning poet and educator, Dorian Paul Rogers, Ed. D. What started as a poetry open mic night in Abu Dhabi quickly grew into a v
Processing Life & Death Through Performance | Amir Nizar Zuabi & Samar Haddad King
Amir Nizar Zuabi and Samar Haddad King talk about the inception and process behind Yaa Samar!'s dance theatre performance: Last Ward which follows one man’s journey towards death in a hospital room. They also share with us how they met and began collaborating and discuss how far identity extends into their work.This episode is in collaboration with the Arts Center at NYU Abu Dhabi.Amir Nizar Zuabi
What The Day Owes To The Night | Hervé Koubi at the NYUAD Arts Center
Hervé Koubi spoke to us in this special collaboration episode with NYUAD about What The Day Owes To The Night, which tells the story of a young boy from Yasmina Khadra's novel through highly physical, stunningly fluid, gravity-defying piece that combines capoeira, martial arts, urban, and contemporary dance.Hervé Koubi is a dancer at the National Choreographic Center of Nantes Claude Brumachon and
Reem Almenhali and Joanna Settle | Al Raheel at the NYUAD Arts Center
Reem Almenhali and Joanna Settle spoke to us in this special collaboration episode with NYUAD about their play, Al Raheel | Departure, which is about the depth and diversity of life as a woman in the UAE.Reem Almenhali is an Emirati performance artist and a playwright. Her body of work includes two performances Deliberately and in Cash and Al Raheel | Departure. Reem received a B.A in theater with
Mekhlit Hadero | Movement Live at the NYUAD Arts Center
Meklit Hadero spoke about her career as a singer, this episode is in collaboration with the NYU Abu Dhabi Arts Center.Meklit Hadero, known simply as Meklit, is an Ethiopian-born American singer and songwriter based in San Francisco, California. She is known for her soulful performing style, and for combining jazz, folk, and East African influences in her music. She sings in her native Amharic, and
