Aida in China The dazzling opera Aida was performed in China to celebrate the upcoming launch of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games (8-24 August). Held at the Beijing Opera for four consecutive days, Aida, directed by Abdel-Moneim Kamel, saw the participation of 120 Chinese performers who played the roles of soldiers and slaves. In the ever-famous victory scene, the Beijing Children Ballet Company contributed 16 of its talented boys and girls. However, the role of Aida was played by none other than Egyptian Soprano Iman Mustafa, while Reda El-Wakil excelled in his role as the great priest. � Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee paid a visit to Egypt recently and was received by President Hosni Mubarak. The Indian minister met with his Egyptian counterpart, Ahmed Abul-Gheit, and Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, and was keen to visit the Pyramids and the Egyptian Museum before returning to New Delhi. � As part of the cultural cooperation between the United States and Arab countries, US Ambassador to Egypt Margaret Scobey last week congratulated a group of 115 Foreign Language Teaching Assistants (FLTAs) from countries throughout the Middle East who will travel to the United States to teach Arabic to American university students. This year 15 Egyptian teachers were selected for the programme, whose primary goal is to strengthen Arabic language instruction at US colleges and universities while providing future teachers of English the opportunity to increase their English language proficiency. Addressing the teachers, Scobey said, "You will make a difference. In the last six years, the number of US students studying Arabic at American universities has doubled. Clearly, you are going to have excited students waiting for you who are eager to learn Arabic." Established in 2004, the FLTA programme is funded by the US Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA). Scobey also met 12 Egyptian students who won scholarships offered by the State Department before they travel to the US to pursue their studies. "Now you are Egypt's ambassadors. You will provide the Americans with a different perspective about your life, families and about what you want to achieve for your country," she told the students. � This month, the English translation of the book that has gained national acclaim, Taxi, was published by Aflame Books, which is specialised in publishing literary works from outside the Western world. The book is distributed by Dar Al-Shorouk, the sole distributor agent in the Arab world. The 10th Arabic edition of Khaled El-Khamissi 's Taxi, first published in 2007, has recently made its way to national book stands. The 218-page book is translated by Jonathan Wright, a journalist with the Reuters news agency in Cairo. The book has been described as an urban sociology, ethnographic account of Cairo's contemporary history, as it reveals uncommon features of an important sector of Cairo's workforce: taxi drivers. An Egyptian journalist, scriptwriter, film director and producer, El-Khamissi is now busy writing his debut novel. � On the occasion of the beginning of shooting of the second part of the Ramadan TV series, El-Dalli, directed by Youssef Sharafeddin and starring Nour El-Sherif, Sawsan Badr and aspiring actresses Maye Nour El-Sherif, Ayten Amer, Reem El-Baroudi and Inas Kamel, a celebration was held at the Samanoudi Studio in Shabramant. � Lebanese singer Carole Samaha gave a thrilling concert performance at Costa resort in the North Coast as part of the culture activities organised on beaches this summer. � At the Cairo Opera House's Open-Air Theatre, Egyptian pop singer Medhat Saleh, accompanied by the Amr Selim band, mesmerised his audience with a repertoire of old classical Arab songs, as well as his own old and new songs. � At the closing ceremony of the Third National Festival of the Egyptian Theatre, Culture Minister Farouk Hosni, director of the festival Ashraf Zaki and head of the jury committee Ezzat El-Alayli, presented awards to the distinguished shows. The Al-Eskafi Malikan (The Shoemaker as King) play won the best prize shared with Romeo and Juliet, while the best actor award went to Maged El-Kedwani and best actress to Nermeen Zaazaa shared with Iman Imam. The best group show award was given to Qahwa Sada (Unsweetened Turkish Coffee), a black comedy that reflects the negative incidents that took place recently in Egypt, directed by Khaled Galal. (see Culture p.2) Last Friday witnessed the debut concert of young and promising singer and composer Ahmed El-Haggar, son of the popular, well-established singer Ali El-Haggar, writes Rania Khallaf. El-Sawy Cultural Wheel's Word Hall was unexpectedly almost full. Though the concert started half an hour late, the mere appearance of El-Haggar and the accompanying young musicians swiftly changed the mood. "Thanks for your presence, I did not expect you all to come," joked the 20-year-old singer modestly. He looked embarrassed, but confident. That the audience warmly applauded his mere presence on stage is no coincidence. He has occasionally performed during the last couple of years in Ali El-Haggar 's concerts, in addition to his participation in singing the Yamama Beida (White Dove) song last year. He has succeeded in distinguishing his work from his father's musical performances. Most of his romantic songs that stimulated the admiration of the audience are written by the young, vernacular poet Ahmed Haddad, such as Summer Night and Tell You A Secret. In Finito La Musica, a light and sarcastic song also written by Haddad, and composed by El-Haggar, Westernised melodies were used. To show off his other skills, he sang Raise me Up by Josh Groban, and a famous Italian song, among others. To conclude the merry night, El-Haggar sang and played on the piano Ahu da Elly Sar (This is What Happened) by Sayed Darwish. Ali El-Haggar did not show up for the concert, most probably to confirm the individuality of his son.
