Arabesque Ballet Center – the capital’s first dedicated dance studio – celebrates its first birthday, welcoming students of all sizes

The chatter of young voices echoes down the hallway, bubbling out of the lobby between the two studios of Arabesque Ballet Center. Teenaged girls in tights and leotards sit on the floor stretching, whispering about the cute boys lounging on the couch waiting for their hip hop class to begin. As two classes of younger children near an end, the lobby is thronging with parents and kids coming and going.

The social atmosphere at Arabesque – a school that is sponsored by Shaikha Salama Bint Tahnoon Al Nahyan – is just one element that sets it apart from other dance schools in the capital, says proprietor Samarra Abu Samra.

“When I decided to open a dance studio in Abu Dhabi, I said I wasn’t going to do it unless we had our own location, our own waiting room,” says 25 year old Samarra, who has been dancing since the age of two. “On Saturday morning, you’ll see up to 50 people in this waiting room, people on sofas, dads on the floor on their laptops – between classes, it’s insane. The kids come in, they have their snacks, they play and they can stay longer or hang out with their friends.

“Most dance classes in Abu Dhabi are in a hotel or a community centre and as soon as your time’s finished, you have to get out – that’s not the environment I grew up in. I really valued the community feel of my dance school when I was growing up, especially when I was a teenager. I’d rather our students hang out here than in other places. It may have cost me more and it was harder to get a license but it was worth it.”

In fact, when Samarra opened the school exactly one year ago, it was the culmination of a difficult process of finding just the right location and obtaining the first dance school license to be issued in the capital.

“We were the first dance school in a dedicated location – everyone else just rents. We broke the boundary when we went to the registration office. They said, ‘We don’t know what category you fall under.’”

Samarra has a long history as both a dancer and a teacher, starting dance as a toddler. She spent ten years competing and she attended a performing arts high school in her native Canada, where her dance teacher training began.

Earning her degree in education gave Samarra the option to teach primary school – it was a teaching position that brought her to Abu Dhabi – but when she discovered the dearth of dance here, she took matters into her own hands.

“We offer the Royal Academy of Dance programme which starts from pre-primary and goes all the way up through foundation and intermediate to the advanced level. Our little kids start from before that, learning the building steps to start pre-primary.

“In April, we host an examiner from London – she does a tour of the Middle East of all the dance schools that offer the RAD programme and she sits with her little bell for eight hours and watches each group do their routine and bar work.”

Serious ballet students – under the watchful eye of Arabesque’s specialist head of ballet Jesse Harron – scored well in the school’s first grading session this past spring.

“Our older kids are quite competitive. With the exams, they can earn a mark of pass, merit or distinction – last year we had 59 kids do their exams and most of them scored merit or distinction. Those kids are here every day – they’re here six, seven, eight hours a week taking two and three classes in a row.”

While the hard core ballet students follow a progressive ballet programme preparing them for those all-important exams, Arabesque also offers other types of dance on a less strict basis – everything from jazz and tap to hip hop, Yogalates and Capoeira.

“New this year we’re offering musical theatre and piano lessons. We’ve expanded and we’ve hired a new teacher. We only had 35 classes a week last year but this year we have 60,” says Samarra who teaches the littlest students at the school. “We offer a programme for two year olds called Tiny Twos which teaches pre-ballet, dance and movement for boys and girls. For four to six year olds, we have a class called TBJ which is tap, ballet and jazz all in one class – it’s good because it allows the kids to try everything.”

In addition to the many classes for kids, Arabesque is now offering even more classes for adults. This year will see supplementary classes held at Sas al Nakhl four days a week and more may be coming to Khalifa City A. Continuing from last year’s success will be the yoga/pilates combination called Yogalates and Capoeira, the traditional Brazilian martial art that combines dance with singing and music.

“We’re also hoping to start ballroom and an adult ballet class. We’ve had so many adults come to us saying, ‘I always wanted to be a ballerina’ and now there’s enough interest to justify having a class.”

The door to the baby’s room bursts open and miniature ballerinas spill into the lobby, alive with the buzz of activity. As the tiny dancers skip away, the older students take their places in the studio across the hall. Watching the students prepare to rehearse for their first performance of the year coming up in several weeks time, we’re reminded of the words of the Hopi Indians: “To watch us dance is to hear our hearts speak.”

Laura Fulton

Registration for the new school year is currently open until the first week of October. Interested in an adult class? Shoot Samarra an email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it – let her know what would be the ideal class, time and location and she can plan accordingly. To find out more, visit www.abudhabidance.com

Dance schools

Looking for other options? Check out a few other dance schools in town.

• Expressions of Dance and Drama: Also offering the Royal Academy of Dance programme, you can find all kinds of unusual genres with Expressions, including Diddy Dancer and Cheerleading. And with locations across Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, you’re sure to find a class convenient to you. www.expressions-dance.net
• Dance Abu Dhabi: While most dance schools cater mainly for the little ones, the experts at Dance Abu Dhabi offer plenty of classes for adults including Latin American, ballroom, Street Latin and New Vogue. Social dance night and classes for children also available at several locations. www.danceabudhabi.com
• Zumba: Presented as a fitness class, Zumba has taken Abu Dhabi by storm. Developed by Colombian fitness instructor Beto Perez, Zumba blends the hottest music with the funkiest steps to create a super fun dance party – that just happens to be a great workout. Plenty of classes on offer for adults and parties available for kids. www.zumba.com