By Isabel Ovalle
Enana Dance Theater is a Syrian ballet company founded in Damascus in 1999. Following the outbreak of violence in Syria, the management and almost half of its dancers moved to Qatar last year, in search of the peace they needed to continue dancing, and living.
The company opened an office in Doha, a city where they have performed several shows in the past, the last being Julia Dumna, the story of a Syrian princess. The company performed at Katara’s Drama Theatre for three consecutive nights, staging two shows in Arabic and two in English.
Jehad Mufleh is the founder and manager of the troupe, a director and choreographer who is considered the pioneer of theatrical dancing in Syria.
Albina Belova is the artistic director of Enana, which she joined in Syria, where she moved from her native Russia to teach ballet. She is now choreographer, instructor in modern and classical dancing, and chief of Enana’s dance department.
“When we first started, we only had 18 dancers and we made a different show every year, sometimes it was a good show, others only an okay show,” she admitted. To find dancers the company held auditions, with the number of candidates growing yearly and reaching up to 2,000 people.
When Syria was still peaceful, Belova and her dancers had the same routine every day: From 4pm to 5.30pm they gave lessons to new dancers and then rehearsed until 10pm. The new dancers learned quickly; some didn’t even know how to walk on stage, but soon they were moving like professionals, said the choreographer.
“It became a dance school that many people wanted to join because from the beginning they could take part in the shows, mostly backstage, and after a few years they could play minor roles, depending on how talented they were.” Gradually, the company grew to the point that two years ago it had 100 dancers.
In 2006, Enana staged its first performance in Doha, during the Asian Games. “We started to do different events here and one year ago an office was established because of the situation in Syria. Now half of our dancers live here, the rest in Lebanon or Egypt,” added the artistic director.
The company has other departments and hopes to open a ballet academy in September or October. “That way we will be like in Syria, plus dance companies always need to renew dancers and that is our plan here: To have new students,” said the professional dancer.
Teaching children has always been her love and it was something she did when she first moved to Syria. “I worked in a ballet school for almost ten years and always wanted to do a show for children,” she added.
Belova said a professional dancer has to work on his body every day. The company doesn’t have any Qatari dancers yet but hopes to have some once the ballet school opens.
The work Enana staged in Doha this week was Julia Dumna, a ballet the company has performed in all Arab countries, as well as in China, the United States, Canada, Russia and Ukraine.
“I can feel that Arabic audiences love the show, that’s why we did two performances in Arabic and two in English. I noticed the first two days there were a lot of Qataris,” said the choreographer, noting that “anybody can understand body language, especially because in any show there’s love and hate, topics which are always popular.”
The Russian dancer also commented on the difference between ballet in Europe and the Arab countries. “In Russia, I saw beautiful lines and dancers with perfect technique, but sometimes they are not enthusiastic. When I first came to Syria, I saw something I had never seen before: it was a new art to them,” she concluded.
Enana’ artistic direction team researches Arab history and culture and presents Syrian and Arab folklore in a style that matches the spirit of the present times.
Enana depends on many foreign experts specializing in classical and modern dance and seeks help from specialists in popular dance forms, besides Arab experts in local popular and folk dances.
The company tries to blend reality and myth, and ancient and modern history to present traditional dance and folklore incorporating the beauty and discipline of classical dance.
The music mixes oriental melodies with western beats and is enriched by audio effects, retaining its local character without rejecting modernity. The costumes have a celebratory, carnival look, with designs and fabrics chosen to suit the nature of the work.
The Peninsula
