East meets West in dazzling Moscow musical
Published 16 September, 2008, 12:52
What happens when you mix Broadway music, modern jazz, hip hop, samba and belly dance into one colourful brew? The answer is “The Images of Love”, an exotic Arabic musical full of colour and costume, which premiered on the Moscow stage this week.
The show is an oriental fantasy tour, showcasing Arabic music and eastern dance traditions. It takes the audience back to childhood, reviving memories of Sinbad, Scheherazade and Aladdin.
“We have a lot of elements from different countries, from Morocco, Lebanon, Egypt, Turkey and we even have some costumes from Brazil and Tailand,” says Angelika BellyDance, one of the author of the musical.
She is an internationally acclaimed belly dance star. She has travelled a lot around the Arabic world, learning from the keepers of the rich dance tradition and studying the culture of the region.
Apart from directing the show, Angelica also created the costumes and wrote the lyrics. And she is also playing the title in this picturesque musical.
“Russians, Europeans and Americans – they don't know the Arabic culture really good and we want to show the greatness of this culture,” she adds.
A spellbinding belly dance is of course one of the main elements of the show. The entrancing body moves combined with exotic music and glittering costumes would captivate any audience.
Angelica and her team are always searching for something new, cooperating with the best vocal specialists as well as top scene and costume designers.
It’s a unique show, which takes the audience on a journey to The Arabian Nights.
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