Dubai Street Festival 2012 @ Dubai Marina Mall

today is the LAST day of dubai marina street festival, after 10 days of excitement! this awesome event ran from 22nd march to the 31st, held at dubai marina mall. it features LIVE street performances from international acts of UK, US, australia, spain and many more – some juggle, some play weird musical instruments, some do dangerously daring acrobatics, some sing, and most are really funny – but all mesmerized the crowds with their talents.

 

 

we live pretty close by so we went so often to catch ALL the performers – which differs each day. there are probably 6-8 acts per day starting from 4 to 10, and we just watch anything we can.

these are street performances so, naturally, all shows are done outdoors in this fine weather that dubai is having (though changing from cool winter to warm summer). they’re all FREE for all so the crowd gathers around the foyer that looks out to the marina at the dubai marina mall to catch the shows.

 

the kids sits on the floor to enjoy the show!

 

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…and these are some of the many acts that we managed to go see :

 

this is sam wills from new zealand. he did some juggling and lots of silly tricks. his show is never boring because he's funny and always try to get the *passive* dubai crowd to cheer louder! seriously you can see his effort to get the crowd to participate, with his jokes and wide grin. kasi support lah sikit weh!

 

this is dennis dove from new york. he plays drums using pails, pots and pans and he's REALLY good. but so kesian his show is always the last one of the night, on a week day, so he plays to a small crowd since most have gone back. however, he was still so very enthusiastic, and a positive entertainer. i guess being a STREET performer, he should get use to being rejected on the streets, and having passive crowds. so he knows how to get the crowd going, even a small one.

really, he plays one mean drum. pails and all!

 

this dude calls his act 'hang in balance' - he plays the 'new' musical instrument called the 'hang' shaped like a UFO, with nothing but air inside the instrument. "only 100 of these are made.. bla bla" making it sound like it’s so special, but the sound is exactly like our traditional malay musical instrument 'gamelan' - and they call this NEW. sheesh.

 

however, dude did sound good. but i’m just saying that this instrument HAD been around for very long now…haha. well, my boys (in matching blues) had fun – just kicked back and relax enjoying the street show with one blonde chick and a cute brunette haha.

 

this is 'reuben dot dot' from melbourne - half chinese, half polish. he's fun to watch! heart-stopping acrobatics on a pole! and he’s funny too – spewing clever one-liners to ease the tension, especially when some kids go running around while he’s about to do a dangerous stunt.

he straight away said, “i’m really going to kill you kids, if you let them run around like that” – meaning, they might really be killed should his stunt go wrong while they’re let loose. so be safe, and keep your kids safe while enjoying the show!

 

'reuben dot dot' from melbourne - half chinese, half polish. comel!

 

this is my favorite act, the one that i’ve been wanting to see ever since i saw the list and description of each performer – lili la scala from UK! she sings vintage songs with funny lyrics. her voice is incredible, reaching new heights! love her, especially her gorgeous retro style too! i mean, look at her cute dress!

 

the beautiful lili la scala with my awe-struck son hihi. love her outfit! and she’s so comel!

 

this is mr. khairul's favorite! haha. nigel blackstorm from the states. magic + heavy metal = HEAVY MAGIC! silly, funny, n mental! he tries to be all ganas and heavy-metal-y but he sounds so funny! "ladies, control yourselves!" he picks random strangers from the audience n claims you to be his long-lost band-members! his magic tricks are not THAT impressive, but his quirky personality made him very fun to watch.

 

these life-size 'soft people' knitted puppets are all over dubai marina mall! it was so funny when khaleef had fun spotting them as we were walking around the mall! they are also part of the ‘street performers’!

 

where are they from?

 

the ‘soft people’ puppets from UK are these soft sculptures from the highly acclaimed exhibition ’off the hook’ by rita mcgurn. whether in the glasgow subway, the paris metro, or an open air market, the work begins with people who catch the artist’s attention and are then transposed in colour and texture to ‘soft people’. wow.

creepy, actually! life-sized dolls that look eeriely weird – no thanks of having that in my living room!

 

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we’ve had so much fun these past week watching the street performances at dubai marina mall.

one thing we noticed is that eventhough there are many expats in dubai, which means the crowd is INTERNATIONAL, watching INTERNATIONAL acts – the crowd is not SO lively, unless they’re encouraged by the performer – “clap louder!” or “you guys better cheer when i do this!” or “you can do better than that!”

because we’re in the middle east? but i thought dubai is more liberal…seriously, most of the time, it’s mr. khairul who kept cheering and shouting and clapping loudly in support of the performers!

oh well, we’re hoping to catch more shows next year when they come back for another run. till then!