طرب / Tarab

Still little known in the Western Hemisphere, the singer Umm Kulthum – the “Callas of Egypt” – is one of the great icons of classical Arabic music. Her sometimes 45-minute-long, profound songs and her concerts, lasting up to four hours, took on operatic dimensions in the second half of the 20th century and captivated audiences across the Middle East, transcending boundaries of age, faith, and origin.

Today, it seems more important than ever to activate the cross-border power of this extraordinary artist and to transport people in Berlin-Neukölln into a trance-like state of shared ecstasy. This is what is known in the Arab world as “tarab”: when bodies are seized, enraptured, and enchanted by music.

To achieve this, Nesrine Belmokh and Sjaron Minailo create a collage of diverse Umm songs for an all-female Umm trio on stage, accompanied by the Berlin ensemble transmusica.

WITH Rita El-Achkar, Waed Bouhassoun, Basma Jabr

MUSICIANS ensemble transmusica – Valentin Link (Bass), Bernd Oezsevim (Schlagzeug)

ARRANGEMENTS / COMPOSITION Nesrine Belmokh DIRECTION Sjaron Minailo SET DESIGN Shahrzad Rahmani DRAMATURGY Raphael Amahl Khouri OUTSIDE EYE Dennis Depta ASSISTANT DIRECTOR / PRODUCTION MANAGMENT Joelina Spiess