"Art Alle" Children’s Troupe Wows Mercato

How do you keep 24 hula hoops spinning at the same time as you dance to a popular number with a fast-paced beat? Or ride a unicycle while an acrobat balances on your shoulder and performs all sorts of tricks? The answer: with a lot of dedication and hours of practice. And talent to start with.

At Dubai’s Mercato mall, where the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) comes alive every day with European themed entertainment, a Russian troupe of 25 kids and one adult, called “Art Alle”, is regaling visitors every evening with their show of superb acrobatics, dances and gymnastics.

The team’s trainer, Yasmine, who is from Armenia, said the kids, who are between nine and 19 years of age, train daily for approximately four hours to come up with the sort of awe-inspiring performances that they are putting up at Mercato. A huge amount of hard work goes into achieving the perfection that the performers have achieved, she added, and said she was proud of the kids’ dedication. She said the troupe has already toured Turkey, the USA, France, Britain and Belgium with their performances to rave reviews.

“Art Alle” performance includes a bit of jugglery, hula hoops, acrobatics, balancing acts and dances, all choreographed together into a beautiful half-hour ensemble. At Mercato, they performed on a stage set up specially for the purpose in the mall’s main atrium, while a crowd gathered around and lapped up the show, their appreciation clearly evident by the frequent and generous applause.

The performance started with a group of girls dancing to a lively musical piece while wearing colourful costumes. One of them used metal hula hoops in the performance and at one point she kept around 24 of the hoops spinning around her body from head to toe while she swayed to the music. The audience let out a collective gasp of admiration at this sight before breaking out into an applause that lasted a long, long time.

One of the most entertaining parts of the show was a circus-themed act where a teenager lifted a nine-year-old girl high into the air and spun her around very fast like a fan. Other interesting acts included two of the kids balancing on a ladder while performing various acrobatic routines. Balancing and acrobatic acts with the performers riding unicycles also had the audience cheering and exclaiming in wonder.

Emirate:  Dubai

Date: Jan 28, 2013

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