Turkish Riverdance!

Last night I went to a performance of a Turkish Dance Troupe (previously blogged as a "Syrian" dance troupe) called Fire of Anatoni.   As the blog title implies, it was a regional version of the famous Irish "Riverdance" or "Lord of the Dance".  The audience was treated to belly dancing, formation dancing and sword fight-dancing.  Very energetic and fun.  The crowd LOVED it and kept asking for encores. 

It was held in the Outdoor Amphitheatre at the Katara which I have reported on in a prior blog or two.  I was wondering how comfortable it would be to sit on the marble steps for two hours during a performance, but I forgot about the Qatari hospitality!  They provided very comfortable cushioned seats with backs (the Arab version of portable stadium seats, except these were upholstered in velvet, of course).  The audience trickled in and it was like a big social hour - people greeting each other and those around them.  There was a lone British fellow in front of me so we struck up a conversation, feeling a bit silly to be there without a group of acquaintances.  I had a young family next to me with two small children (an infant and a 3-year-old).  The 3-year-old dozed off in the middle of the performance and laid across my lap. It was somewhat endearing!

Stadium Seats - Qatari style



Amphitheatre in daylight without seats.

 



Same view at night with seats.



Funny cultural observations: 

1. The tickets to the event said no one under the age of 7 would be admitted.  There were slews of families with children there (who all were really well behaved, by the way).

2. Also, several normal announcements were made about no photography being allowed, no filming, no flash, etc. - all of which were disregarded globally by the Qatari, who would walk up to the front of the audience, take their photos, then return to their seats.



3. "Qatari Time"   All of the expats in the audience were in their seats and ready for the performance to begin at 8:00pm.  There were many open seats still at 7:58pm when the announcement came that the performance would begin in 20 minutes.  Over the next 45 minutes, even after the performance began, the Qatari "moseyed" in at their leisure, as though the show was an afterthought to their evening.  This was the majority of the crowd and it gradually filled in.  My photos were taken at about 7:55pm, so you can see how many empty seats there were at that time. 

The Performance Stage during the daytime.



The Performance Stage at night.