The young American dancers rehearsing with Debbie Allen in Oman picked up a little Arabic during their time in the Middle East.
Just the basics, really — “yes,” “no” — but enough to help build a bond with their castmates in Allen’s new production, “Oman ... O Man!” choreographed for the Arabesque festival.
Festival organizers knew they wanted to include something from Oman in their lineup, but they couldn’t find a troupe that was quite right, according to Alicia Adams, head of international programs at the Kennedy Center. So they asked Allen, a longtime artist-in-residence, to come up with an original piece that would reflect Omani culture and intertwine traditional and modern dance.
“I was not given any kind of mandate about what to do other than be creative,” recalls Allen, who made two preliminary trips to the country to explore the customs and aesthetics of the land. “And I was so inspired by the art that I saw and the antiquity and the people, especially, that I felt I could create something that would be a cultural fusion, if you would, between East and West.”
Allen cast 10 young, male Omani dancers, between ages 11 and 26, and brought 12 of her American dancers to the coastal country on the Arabian Peninsula for an intense, three-week training session this winter. Soon the Omani dancers will travel to Washington for five performances with their new American friends. “Oman ... O Man!” will be performed March 12-15 in the center’s Eisenhower Theater.
“It is truly a cultural exchange,” Allen says. “It’s interesting, because when they’re all together, you can’t tell who is who — you can’t tell the difference ... and that’s the world of arts and dance.”
