MONDAY 29 APRIL 2013 • [email protected] • www.thepeninsulaqatar.com • 4455 7741 inside P | 8-9 COMMUNITY • Spanish and Latin ladies hold Colin Firth: From cultural event royal to ordinary P | 6 HEALTH • Bacteria shows promise against pancreatic cancer, says study P | 7 WHEELS Fire of • Sporty A-Class comes to Mercedes-Benz showroom in Doha Anatolia P | 10 INTERIOR DESIGN • How to put your paint in order for future use P | 11 TECHNOLOGY • BlackBerry diehards finally get a keyboard • App of the day P | 12 LEARN ARABIC • Learn commonly Nearly 40 dancers performed to used Arabic words the beats of broadband music and their meanings from the Black Sea to the Balkans and showcased the diversity of Anatolian culture. P | 13 2 PLUS | MONDAY 29 APRIL 2013 COVER STORY Fusion of West and East from Turkey he Open Air Theatre at routines and music from each corner Katara Cultural Village of Anatolia, making the audience feel hosted ‘Fire of Anatolia’, with as though they travel through time to Tthe attendance of the creator live an experience of crisis and war. As and general art director of the project, the dances continue, the second scene Mustafa Erdogan’s, from Turkey. The starts preaching the end of war and huge theatrical output from Erdogan’s the beginning of a period of peace, joy inspiration was presented by nearly and victory. 40 dancers to the beats of broad- The dance troupe had the goal to band music from the Black Sea to the deliver a high value message through Balkans. its dances: The fire that burned Troy The director used many theatrical and brought tragedy and ruin to its tools to transmit his concept, such as people lit a candle of hope for the com- lights, music and sounds, as well as ing peace. This emerged through the illuminated pictures accompanied by illuminated picture that opened the dancing. With these tools, he epito- show. It was portrayed by the rumbling mized the diversity of Anatolian cul- of a volcano lava and fire, which had a ture, which is a fusion of West and road crossing it and rising towards the East. top. On this road, walked a man carry- The dances offer a unique perform- ing a torch of hope and peace, as if he ance with a mixture of Turkish folk wanted to say that hope is born from heritage ballet, modern and oriental the womb of pain and that the fire that elements and countless motifs of other burns is the same that cleanses the dance disciplines, with a focus on the earth and bestows life and light to it. selection of appropriate clothing for The dance show was viewed by a each scene matching with its significa- large crowd of different nationalities tion as though the director wanted to and ages. The attendees expressed mix history and geography to confirm their admiration and interacted with Turkey’s historical interaction with the applause that followed each scene. rest of its neighbours. The show coincided with the fall of With the rising of the music pattern, light rains, which fell in a dialogue the dancers’ dabke (Arab folk dance) between war and peace played to the escalates and the speed of their move- rhythm of life Symphony with all its ments increases with numerous dance Vicissitudes. PLUS | MONDAY 29 APRIL 2013 3 The Fire of Anatolia has been on display 3,000 times for 20 million audience in a large number of countries The ‘The Fire of Anatolia’ has in 2002 encouraged him to set out on been on display 3,000 times for 20 a world-wide tour. million audience in a large number At the beginning, Mustafa Erdogan of countries, including Germany, said: “The epic Trojan is old as the the Netherlands, Switzerland, stories mentioned in the Bible. The Lebanon, Russia, Hungary, Greece Western civilisation condemns the cul- and Bulgaria among others, and it tural heritage of the Trojan legend and was nominated for the Guinness nothing else. An Anatolian poet had Book of Records. returned this story to human memory, Combining the momentum of which is believed that its events took Anatolian culture, mythology and place in the year 1180 BC. This story impressive history of the region with was recorded by Homer — who was dance, the choreography is fraught born in Izmir — in his immortal books with the elements of folk and modern Iliad and the Odyssey, and has taken its dance. This has been the first dance place as one of the best-known compo- group to present its folk dance in the sitions in the world.” Chinese parliament building. Mustafa Erdogan was born in Despite the roaming of Erdogan’s Hakkari in 1965, studied in the field dance group east and west to perform of philosophy at the University of their artistic concert dance, critics Hacettepe and in the area of public have agreed that the ‘Fire of Anatolia’ management in the Gazi University. is considered one of the most famous His studied in the Bilkent University dance groups in the world and the most in 1997 the field of folk dances. literal and skilled. He is credited with establishing Mustafa Erdogan founded this dance dance groups, particularly specialised group in 1999 and it achieved great suc- in local and folkloric dance, in many cess in Turkey for three years, which regions of Turkey. The Peninsula 4 PLUS | MONDAY 29 APRIL 2013 CAMPUS Texas A&M at Qatar brings together experts Player mascots for Al Rayyan club to discuss IT innovations exas A&M University at Qatar, in partnership with TEducation City branch cam- puses and Hamad Bin Khalifa University, hosted the third annual Technology in Higher Education (THE) conference recently at Qatar National Convention Centre. The theme for THE 2013 is ‘Today, Tomorrow and Beyond: Innovation in Teaching, Technology and Learning.’ THE conference, co-chaired by Dr Othmane Bouhali, research associate professor and director of Research Computing at Texas A&M at Qatar, explores how to effectively meet the challenges and opportunities in edu- cation practice today while anticipat- ing the possibilities of tomorrow. The annual conference was attended by more than 280 leading educators, IT professionals and stu- dents representing universities across Education city in Doha. Welcome remarks were presented on the first Sherborne Qatar is one of the strongest supporters of neighbouring Al Rayyan sports club. This season they guaranteed to be day of THE by Bouhali, Steve Kenny, the “12th man” of Al Rayyan, not only for the QSL competitions but also for their Asian Champions League matches. Eleven chief administrative officer at Weill Sherborne Qatar pupils were selected to be player mascots at the HAC semi-finals against QSL Champions Al Sadd SC. Cornell Medical College in Qatar, and Sharon Hollinsworth, director of Education Computing at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar and co-chair of THE 2013. SIS winners Philip Long, who has served as chief information officer at Yale University, delivered the event’s keynote address entitled ‘Learning Unleashed: Innovation in Teaching and Learning Achieves Critical Mass.’ THE conference was an opportu- nity for educators, IT professionals and students to discuss educational and technological advancements. The conference focused on identifying the shifts, challenges and opportunities for educators and IT professionals as they explore ways to adapt and inno- vate their practice in a constantly changing technological and higher education landscape. It was designed to foster learning, innovation and practice in the use of technologies in higher education and discuss chal- lenges and strategies for technology integration. The Peninsula The medal winners of Shantiniketan Indian School (SIS) in the School Olympics Programme with the school officials. Bhavan’s marks World Earth Day Bhavan’s Public School observed World Earth day at both Matar Qadeem and Wakra campuses by con- ducting a seminar on earthquake and global climatic changes. Dr G Manulal, principal, stressed the impor- tance of the topic. Saleem Ponnambath, presiding over the function, emphasised the significance of creat- ing awareness about protecting the planet earth and added: “We have the responsibility to handover the earth to our children and next generation as a safe home for all its inhabitants.” The two presentations at the venue extensively covered the causes of global warming and earthquakes and global climate change. COMMUNITY PLUS | MONDAY 29 APRIL 2013 5 Spanish, Latin ladies Michalis Economou to hold cultural event conduct last concert as QPO music director panish Ladies in Qatar and Spanish Speaking Ladies organ- Michalis Economou (pictured) con- Sised a cultural event to meet ducts his last with members of the Egyptian Ladies public per- Society and Qatar Women Association. formance of The event took place April 22 at Al the Qatar Jasr Boutique Hotel in Souq Waqif. Philharmonic The Al Sambouk restaurant was the Orchestra as selected venue which, coincidently, is music director being decorated by a Spanish architect on Wednesday, who is member of the group. May 1, 2013, Approximately 100 people attended at 7:30pm in the event which kicked off with a Katara Cultural Village Opera House. brief introduction from a member of Sonja Park will be the guest soloist each of the groups participating. The in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Piano program continued with Spanish and Concerto No. 27 in B Flat Major. The Latin folk dances and a short fashion second half of the programme is a show of traditional Latin and Spanish symphonic fantasy built around the clothes, followed by an exhibition of 1001 Nights, the Arabian Nights, by traditional Egyptian outfits. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, called There was also a raffle before the Scheherazade.