The National logo, global utilities Primary navigation main content Katie Boucher Dancers with Fantasia Ballet perform at the National Theatre in Abu Dhabi on
Tuesday. In a rainbow of glittering tulle, the Fantasia Ballet took on an ambitious 48-piece programme at Abu Dhabi’s National Theatre on Tuesday to perform their show Let’s Change the World for the Better. The evening was a charity event for the Donate a Brick campaign, which aims to raise money for a state-of-the-art school for children with special needs. At Dh5 a brick, they must sell five million bricks to reach their target, Dh17m of which remains. The children’s troupe, whose members ages range from five to 18, is directed by Svetlana al Neyadi, the Ukranian ballet master who has been instrumental in bringing the classical dance form to Abu Dhabi. She started holding classes in the city’s Cultural Foundation in 1998 and has since opened her own studio. “Every country deserves to have high culture,” she says, “and I believe that ballet is very important for that.”
Dancing styles from around the world kept the repertoire fresh. Spring Bells, a Slovenian dance, combined jaunty bell ringing with traditional outfits from the region. And in Russian Souvenir, a group of older girls – all ice-blue goddess gowns and domed headpieces – ambitiously told the history of the country through dance. The highlight of the first half was Latin Fiesta, a tumbling, whirling carnival of colour that combined the age groups in an impressive tango-tinged finale.