Lebanon's Beiteddine Festival kicked off with a brand new musical theatre performance by the internationally-famed Lebanese dance troupe Caracalla. According to its director Ivan Caracalla, the son of the theatre's founder Abdel-Halim Caracalla, the performance titled "Kan Ya Ma Kan" is inspired by the history of the Beiteddine Palace itself, a 19th century Lebanese architectural masterpiece, in the Chouf Mountains. Today Caracalla theatre is coming back with a new show prepared specially for the Beiteddine Festival. When you come here to the Beiteddine Palace, you will be inspired to present new and special work. "There are many new artistic aspects different from all the previous shows, but the most important and special one is that for the first time Caracalla is performing with live music, and this really raises the level of art and culture not only in Lebanon but in the Arab world. We've become like any European group" For the first time in the Middle East, a balletic musical production is performed with a full-fledged orchestra. Caracalla attributes its worldwide success to its ability to combine both modern and oriental dance styles in a single performance. The Dance Theatre burst onto the scene in the early 1970s and remains the only theatrical dance troupe in the Arab world. Caracalla put on four performances of "Kan Ya Ma Kan" at the annual Beiteddine International Festival, which takes places from June 28 - July 28 in the Ruins of the Beiteddine Palace. By: Reuters

• published: 03 Jul 2012
• views: 803
• author: AlArabiya