Rhyme - Sima Dance Company

Commissioned by The Arts Center expanding on a piece originally created for Expo 2020 Dubai

Saturday & Sunday, Mar 19 & 20 @ 8pm, 2022

The Red Theatre

Past Event

Contemporary dance embodies Arabic poetry through body, language, and music.

Dubai based, Palestinian choreographer, Alaa Krimed (2014 winner of MBC’s Arabs Got Talent) presents his latest work. Contemporary dance embodies Arabic poetry through body, language, and music. Narration, movement, and music reflect Arabic poetry, breaking any possible linguistic barriers.

Watch the Trailer:

Rhyme invites the awareness of Arabic heritage and culture through an artistic lens, drawing from Arabic poetry, oriental music, and contemporary dance. Staged through an exchange of narration, where bodies and music are the main reflection of Arabic poetry.

Set to Arabic poetry, the piece makes use of this wonderful linguistic form that reflects many powerful and meaningful images, and is naturally correlated with musicality and rhythm. The beauty of the intrinsic rhythm, rhyme, letters, and music of the poetry all play a massive role in showcasing the concept of the performance, which utilizes the visual nature of the theater as a poetic page. The performance features live vocals by Zigzag Ghanim and Lama (also a current member of The Arts Center’s Numoo Artist Development Platform).

Biographies

Sima Dance Company

Sima Dance Company was founded in Damascus, Syria in 2003 by a choreographer Alaa Krimed, known for his unique works in the region. After noticing a void in the Arab contemporary dance landscape, he took the first step towards filling that gap, aspiring to expose the Middle Eastern audience to the art of contemporary dance. Alaa Krimed’s productions were performed in Damascus Opera House, Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts and various theaters in the region. In 2012, Sima Dance Company moved to Beirut and founded a dance studio there. The studio focused on promoting Arab contemporary dance in Lebanon by further developing the skills of aspiring professionals and qualified dancers. The Company’s efforts were awarded winning the title of Arabs Got Talent in 2014, the Arab version of the international show, produced by MBC. In 2015 the company relocated to Dubai and opened its own space Sima Performing Arts in Alserkal Avenue in 2017. Since then, Sima Dance Company has successfully collaborated with main cultural institutions of the UAE. Sima Dance Company engages about 20 dancers who regularly perform with the company. The dancers have been professionally trained worldwide – US, UK, UAE, Germany, South Africa, Japan, Syria, and other countries – which allows the company to benefit from various approaches to creative expression while creating its own unique artistic voice

Alaa Krimed

Alaa Krimed was born in Damascus, 1982. He graduated from the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts – Dance Department, Damascus, Syria in 2007. Alaa participated in choreography workshops in Germany and Denmark and choreographed pieces for the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts and various performances for the Damascus Opera House. He founded Sima Dance Company in Damascus in 2003. Since then the Company has moved its activities to Beirut in 2012 and more recently to Dubai in 2015, where the Company is currently established. In 2017, Alaa Krimed opened the headquarters of Sima Dance Company – Sima Performing Arts – located in Alserkal Avenue