Christmas Carols

(The following is an experimental critique on the show "An Eastern Christmas. Please share your opinion on whether this style should continue in the comments)

 The Dozan wa Awtar Establishment had brought a decidedly unique performance to Jordan by showcasing old and new Christmas carols in Armenian, Coptic, Syriac, Byzantine and numerous other languages. It was conducted by Missak Baghboudarai (who did an absolutely fantastic job), directed by Nedy Muna, managed by Mercedes Alonso, choreographed by Lana Abu-Khader and composed and arranged by Nareg Abajian and Quassi Al Daker (who should both be commended especially for their incredible effort in the monumental task of collecting the songs and, at times, composing all new music for them). Now that we have the boring stuff out of the way, let’s get started. As this is an amateur production, I will make some exceptions and be lenient in some criteria (even though I often don’t need to be) and I will refrain from commenting on the segment done by the sub-group Atfal Dozan as they are children and I happen to have about a quarter of heart.

Let’s start from the beginning. From the start you had a video projected on a background behind three dancers while music played. It was a galactic themed video (which was actually pretty cool) and the music was fitting, though not for a Christmas Caroling event. The dancers were two women and a man. One of the women appeared to have been dunked in a bucket of silver glitter before coming on stage.

I'm essential to the show!

The women were often graceful in their movements and at times were in unison, the man seemed to be trying very hard to not do “the robot” and failing. The dance ended rather abruptly and was followed immediately by the choir group that got on stage and began to sing with no pause in between, leading me to wonder whether it was a new song or the continuation of the old one (a trend that would continue throughout the first half of the performance and often leave me very confused). The first song (which was definitely not space age) started a wonder in me that would continue for the vast majority of the performance. The choir was often perfectly in tune and in harmony with one another and the music (a great testament to the conductor) and the music was well attuned to the choir and fitting. If I had a complaint it would be that the costuming of the singers which didn’t seem to be fitting or even planned. It was apparent that somebody just told them “get some white clothes and tan pants, I don’t care.” One lady was even just sitting there wearing a white skirt. The minimal costuming that was given was given to the men who were wearing black robes which, when combined with the music, made them seem straight out of Hogwarts.

The second song (or the fourth, I couldn't tell if the first three were separate or parts of the same, very long, song) was one of the highlights of the evening. It had a distinctly Roman feel and was very different from the previous compositions. It had minimal musical accompaniment but was counterbalanced by a choir that accommodated many different tenors and tempos. It was also characterized by what appeared to be Emperor Palpatine and a KKK member gone rogue (in black) suddenly appearing on stage a Bible in hand. It would later be discovered that these would be the soloists for this song and the reverse-KKK guy produced a marvelous solo which complimented the background choir greatly. The final song in the repertoire sounded like Caribbean Jazz and was extremely fun to listen to as it was very upbeat, something that some in the choir acknowledged by moving to the beat but many didn’t, leaving them looking like total fucking stiffs.

After an intermission the audience was greeted by a beatboxer who looked not unlike a Jamaican drug lord accompanied by the Glitterina.

If I could dreadlock my nose hairs, I would.

He was a good beatboxer individually, she was a good ballerina/dancer individually but they were not good together and the harmony often seemed forced. Also, while the man’s beatboxing was excellent I must comment that saying “Merry Christmas” at the end of a song does not a Christmas carol make. This was followed by the type of music you hear at the really Christmassy part of a cheesy Christmas special. For this one I feel as though the music was without a doubt done well, but it asked for much movement which the choir was mostly unwilling to give, instead giving the impression of singing trees. At some point I swear about ten people dressed as Death Eaters came in and started praying upon what I assume was Mother Mary. While I was unaware that Death Eaters were devout Christians I am glad to have been exposed to that knowledge.

Praise our Lord, Jesus Chirst

This was followed by four Arabic songs, two of which were performed by children, that were done quite well and the lead female soloist involved was pretty goddamned decent. The last song was the Arabic classic “Laylet 3eid”. Although it did not appear that the audience agreed with me, I found the choir tremendously flat for once and although they put more effort into the costumes (Santa fezzes), it still felt like I was at an Arabic Christmas reunion with an extremely intoxicated hive-mind.

After a further intermission, we were greeted by an actually costumed choir. I was so proud.  The good archaic Arabian costumes were complimented by a nomadic desert-montage type of song that brought back faith into the show. It ended with the Glitterina climbing a rope all trapeze style and hanging on for dear life while acting like the star which guided the wise men to baby Jesus.  The performance ended with a nativity scene that was given the music of Silent Night but without any kind of singing, only humming. It gave a certain dramatic tension to the air and gave the performance a very smooth ending. In retrospect, while it had its ups and downs in terms of aesthetics, one should keep in mind that it was a musical event and from the auditory aspect, Dozan wa Awtar gave an absolutely stunning performance.