Ornina Dance Theatre’s The Silk Route comes to Oman

Muscat: A new production by The Ornina Dance Theatre, The Silk Road will be performed at the Royal Opera House Muscat.
It is an enactment of the tale of an Arab sailor who travels through an array of countries along the Orient’s ancient overland trading route.
During this epic journey, the different cultures encountered by the intrepid sailor come alive with traditional dancing and fabulous costumes.
The work, presented at 7.00 pm at the Royal Opera House Muscat on Thursday and Friday, the 25th and 26th of February 2016, will be performed by Ornina’s highly trained troupe of sixty dancers, who honed their skills under the tutelage of professionals from the famous Kiev Ballet, the National Ballet of Ukraine.
This colourful dance enacts a story similar to that of Sinbad the Sailor, who, according to Omani legend, came from Sohar. The show will resonate with local audiences and evoke the enduring magic of Oriental cultures along the Silk Road, which was actually not a single road, but a network of trade routes connecting the West and East from China to the Mediterranean Sea.
Though silk from China was the major commodity traded, many other goods were involved, along with technological and cultural exchanges. The main traders during antiquity were from China, India, Persia, Armenia, Syria, Greece, Rome and Somalia. With the rise of Islam, Arab traders became prominent.
The relevance of the Silk Road endures and, in 2014, a corridor (Chang’an-Tianshan) in the old Chinese portion of the Silk Road was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Originally from Damascus, Ornina is a sophisticated theatrical dance company that mixes traditional music, choreography and costumes of various exotic Eastern cultures.
In performing the great epics of the East, Ornina serves as an ambassador of global heritage and culture, demonstrating expertise in a spectrum of world folkloric dances.
Since 1993, Ornina has performed more than twenty-five theatrical works and some 3,000 dances. This is a show that is sure to delight The Royal Opera House Muscat’s audiences.