On Wednesday and Thursday, September 12 and 13, the intimate space of The Black Box at The Arts Center at NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) will transform into a dance floor, ignited by the distinctive Electronic Dance Music sounds of Beirut’s Love and Revenge and Canada’s A Tribe Called Red, as the two groups raise the pulse of the Capital’s music scene with unique audio-visual shows.

In Love and Revenge, Lebanese hip-hopper Rayess Bek and video artist La Mirza merge their media as they offer an electro-modern spin on the golden age of Egyptian cinema. The duo explore this timeless silver screen era with a tribute to the popular idols of a kitschy Arab world passionate in its dramas and melodramas. Rayess Bek’s remixes and La Mirza’s visuals are joined by the bass of Julien Perraudeau and the electric oud of Speed Caravan’s Mehdi Haddab.

Sharing the bill each night in their UAE debut are Native producer and DJ crew A Tribe Called Red (ATCR), who have made an impact on the global electronic scene with their groundbreaking sounds for the past decade. Currently comprised of Bear Witness and 2oolman, the duo encompass a broad range of musical influences based in modern hip-hop alongside traditional pow wow drums and vocals, blended with edgy electronic music production styles. They are part of a vital new generation of artists making a cultural and social impact in Canada alongside a renewed Aboriginal rights movement called Idle No More. A Tribe Called Red’s performance is supported by the Embassy of Canada to the UAE.

Over the two nights, each group will open one night and close the other, with Love and Revenge followed by ATCR on Wednesday, and ATCR followed by Love and Revenge on Thursday.

Like all artist residencies at The Arts Center, complementing the performances will be an expansive selection of Off The Stage audience engagement events as the artists share their skills and knowledge with the UAE community. On Monday, September 10, A Tribe Called Red will host a DJ workshop giving those with DJ experience the chance to discover something new, and Love & Revenge will share their video mixing creative process.

“These two shared bills are designed to welcome the community back to The Arts Center in ecstatic style. Each of these inventive multi-media EDM artists creates powerful beats accompanied by live-mixed video which draws from a wealth of pop cultural sources to create insightful commentary on identity, all while rocking the dance floor.”