Dear Fairyfan!
I have recently returned from United Arab Emirates, where I have been on tour in Dubai and Sharjah performing at “Dubai Shopping Festival” and “Sharjah Fringe Festival”. On paper it sounds really exciting to be on a month long tour in United Arab Emirates with sunshine, shows and hotels. In reality, it was challenging to be there and keep up the good mood. The system’s oppressive effects on the people is hard to ignore. There is a very strong hierarchy, in which all of the Emiratis are above the foreign workers, and the workers living conditions are extremely poor with no rights. Men are superior to women, and most things are forbidden; sport activities in parks, loud music and dancing, bacon, public kissing and hugging, consumption of alcohol, tight clothing and of course any critique of the leadership. On the other side of the coin, you can find enormous amounts of delicious cake, endless streams of shawarma and all the people I met were friendly, curious and helpful.
A great experience
It was exciting and a good experience to perform in both Dubai and Sharjah. It seemed like people had never seen anything like it before, and that our shows made a positive difference for the people. To see the children’s faces light up, when they met the fairy was the sweetest, and they looked at me as if I was really magic. It was inspiring to see the other performers’ shows and see how people came together and enjoyed laugthing like everywhere else in the world. It was interesting to take part in the first fringe festival in the Middle East, and there is a potential for the festival to grow big and become an exciting annual event.
Rules as inspiration for kids play
The past month have been eye-opening, and I am so happy that I grew up in Denmark with democracy, freedom, welfare system, and all the opportunities that those things have given me. All the strict laws in Dubai, and specially the rules against sport activities in parks, inspired me to continue working on my children’s play “Princess Two Legs, Dennis the Unicorn & the grumpy grown-up”, where the grumpy grown-up wants to stop all fun in the world. Luckily no one can stop Princess Two Legs and Dennis to make people laugh.
Back at home I’m excited to work on the following projects
Theater & Workshop: Princess Two Legs, Dennis the Unicorn & The Grumpy Grown-up
A unique fusion of a clown show and workshop in one. The children meet Princess Two Legs and her best friend Dennis the unicorn, two adult champions of childhood joy. The Princess alternate between showing clown tricks and instructing the children to try out circus on their own, teaching them courage, imagination, concentration and coordination, all while having fun.
Paper Maché Workshop
I offer open paper maché workshops for the whole family. I arrive with either just the raw materials, or else a skeleton of the project. Everyone and anyone can participate in the creation of a giant papermache figure for as long as the like, over the course of the event.
With new inspiration picked up in the Middle East I am excited to work on my different creative projects and to perform at the events and festivals, coming up this year.
