Puppets, Music, Songs, Dance and Percussion
Cairo, 16th of April: April comes along and brings music and art performances to El Genaina Theatre audience; it’s time for the launch of the summer season.
This year, the opening program includes a variety of music and art performances. On the 20th of April, El Genaina Theatre presents the great puppet musical El Laila El Kebira, written by Salah Jahieen, Sayed Mekawe’s music and Nagy Shaker’s puppets. This show is directed by Salah Al Sakka and will be presented for three nights till the 22nd of April.
Rima Khcheich, the distinguished Lebanese singer will present for the first time in Egypt a unique and unconventional duo concert with the Dutch bassist Tony Overwater. Rima Khcheich, after a 25-year career in solo Tarab singing, decided to go back to the roots of musical experience: a voice and an instrument.
Rima graduated from the Lebanese American University in Beirut and the National Conservatory of Music where she has been teaching for the last ten years, Rima has performed live throughout the Middle East, Europe and the USA specializing in Arabic traditional vocal repertoires.
Rima is invited on a yearly basis to Massachusetts, USA where she teaches voice and classical Arabic singing at” Mount Holyoke College” under the framework of the “Arabic Music Retreat” program directed by renowned musician and composer Simon Shaheen.
She released her solo Album “Yalalalli” in the Middle East in 2006 which includes well-known musicians such as Ziad Rahbani on piano and the Dutch musician Tony Overwater on Double Bass with compositions especially composed for her and old Muwashahat re-arranged in a modern style. Rima released her new album “Falak” in year 2008 in which she collaborated with great Dutch jazz musicians such as Yuri Honing on the saxophone, Maarten Van der Grinten on Guitar and Tony Overwater on Double bass. “Falak” includes new compositions as well as old songs of Sayyed Darwish and Wadieh El-Safi.
Rima Kcheich and Tony Overwater will perform at El Genaina Theatre on Friday the 24th of April.
El Genaina Theatre in collaboration with The Spanish Embassy in Cairo presents The Second Mediterranean Urban Cultures Gathering on Sunday the 26th of April. This event includes different groups from Egypt and Spain presenting Hip Hop music and dancing. Hip Hop is the most popular music genre between young people around the world and it is mainly characterized with it’s rebellious spirit and witty lyrics.
The program concludes on Thursday the 30th with a unique percussion show performed by seven different percussionists form different bands such as Wust El Balad, Eftekasat, Sahara and Ressalah. This project is considered the first of its kind in Egypt and the Middle East. The group consists of Bob, Ahmed Bahaa, Ahmed Hesham, Ahmed Ali, Mizo, Moe Arkan and Shams.
