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The Brides of the Nile, Atif Aniess and Taheya Zarouk: A memorable evening in Toronto
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By Mohamed Khaled
The celebration of the Sudanese Women Union in Toronto was a unique night of Sudanese women performance.
The Brides gave us a big surprise, but most important they offered an example of how creative and competent are our Sudanese females. From the very beginning they were able to capture the audience attention and communicate a message that something unusual is taking place on the stage. Non of the audience took a breath through out the performance which so smoothly toured all regions of Sudan and linked up our heritage, presence and future aspirations. While performing, the Brides were typically seeking challenges and taking all kinds of risks which thew all of us into an incredible situation of excite and ... confusion! I was surprised of their ability to attract the children's attention, who had a considerable presence in the event and usually take the advantage of such events to play in the side halls and corridoors. Unlike other events, this time the Brides were able to say, in their own language, something to the kids who suddenly gave up playing and crowded in front of the stage in deep silence with their eyes fixed on the Brides! Next morning, my three years old daughter was repeating most of the dance. The valuable present of the event was the appearance of Taheya Zaroog who was among the honored guests of the event and was awarded by SWU in Toronto as one of Sudanese women pioneers in the field of theatre. Taheya had a joint theatre performance with Tamador who was able to convince her to make it. Having warmed up, Taheya appeared again on the stage in an individual performance. At this point, I should say my words remain disabled to describe what has happened. Being away from the stage and her Sudanese audience for several years, Taheya acted in a way, I believe, she never did before! The audience response was beyond immagination. It was enough to run Taheya tears which found their way to mix with many of the audience's who crowded to receive her as she was stepping down from the stage. It was a full of meanings moment which stimulated more and more of Taheya tears!
Another surprise was Atef Anis. The guy is just wonderful! Together with the Brides, Tamador and Taheya, he represented another unique feature that added to the event's flever and placed it as Toronto's most unique event. Though not known before to the Sudanese community in Canada, he managed to tell them from the first moment who is he! Eventually, he gained their unlimited love, started pulling the audience one by one from their chairs and ended with all of them standing, clapping, dancing and sharing his singing azza, falaq alsabah and ya matar iz alhareeg! I can confidently say Atef has perfectly setablished himself among the Sudanese community in Canada and become part of it.
Well, I guess that may be enough to give you some of the event's features though there is still a lot to say especially the audience comments which I may post in due course. The event will be aired by CFMT TV, one of the major Canadian TV chanels on Sunday March 24 between 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. Toronto time.
However, let me tell you that we have a valuable treasure named Tamador and not forget of course her wonderful brides Sarah, Serien and Nahid! Let us join hands in their support as they are speaking out our minds and have gained the courage to take the responsibility of doing a great work which every Sudanese should be proud of.
The members of SWU in Toronto are wonderful great ladies of different ages and backgrounds who have worked hard for several months to produce an excellent work. They have undoubtedly succeeded in introducing themselves as a poweful force to the Canadian society and other communities.
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