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WELCOME TO STAR TOO

About us

Founding members of the STAR TOO arts collective are long-term residents of the U.A.E., some dating back to 1985, witnessing the region’s phenomenal growth and developments in the cultural sector.

To the knowledge of project members and contrary to uninformed viewpoints, Emirati theatre societies existed decades earlier, but at the time of STAR TOO’s inception in 2010, the expatriate theatre community had not counted avant-gardism as commonplace.

It was after attending Mnouchkine’s workshop on improvisation at Théâtre du Soleil a year prior that group founders returned to the Emirates, determined to create a base for laboratory-style theatre and original performance art mode to blossom. 

Collaborative creations that are the result of group study and training periods can be typified as abstract, stylistic, or even primal. 

#sansjurynirécompense

MISSION
  • Make a positive impact on the region’s cultural landscape
  • Bridge gaps between the arts, inviting community talent
  • Learn about past practices and freely explore alternative approaches
  • Foster a deeply egalitarian & independent collective
  • Balance individual expression & group work
STYLE
  • Experiment with staging: 360 in the “white majlis” installation box
  • Multimedia: Interaction with projections
  • Physical: choreography using custom parachute & shadow-play
  • Minimalism: cloth & specially designed sticks to transform objects & set pieces
  • Sanctity of space: observing a connection to the playing area
Short video series on multidisciplinary, physical training sessions with a sample of guest, practicing artists in the community + their applications:
Modern
Dance

Capoeira
Authentic Movement
Silk
Dancing
STAR TOO/ACT TOO group has featured at DUCTAC, The Fridge, Traffic Art Gallery, Eastwing Gallery, in Bastakyia Heritage site for Sikka Art Fair, Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, Dubai Knowledge Park, and Al Serkal Avenue locales.
STAR TOO workshops offered over the years in France and the U.A.E. include Creative Thinking modules, fusion dance, performance and devising courses for adults, acting in Arabic, film appreciation, as well as training for corporate.
Find descriptions of training programmes on: www.acttoodubai.com
STAR TOO is a registered association in Paris, France published in Journal Officiel des Associations et Fondations d‘Entreprise Identification R.N.A. W75217034 . Association administrators:: Sol Abiad, Flora Diaz-Hurtado, Sarah Dufayard.
IN THE MEDIA
Blue Jinni Media
Weekend Magazine
Tempo magazine
Khaleej Times
Dubai Eye Radio
Gulf News
The National
The National
In the press March 2016 during Dubai's Art Week in FEMINA Middle East magazine
STAR TOO founder, director

Sol Abiad

STAR TOO founder, director Sol Abiad teaches theatre at Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi and Acting for Adults at various locations in the U.A.E.

Licensed Director, Instructor
Registered at Dubai Knowledge Park
​Permit & designations from Dubai Creative Clusters & Dubai Development Authority

Details on: https://solabiad.wordpress.com

* « …on n’a pas de pétrole mais on a des idées » – comme notre nom l’indique (tout du moins au plus futé ;), étant donné la où on est, c’est de l’irone, pure… Quand le zeitgeist (et non pas, seulement, le lieu, a vrai dire) prime le mélodrame, de s’exprimer n’est pas évident. Alors, on esquive avec l’abstrait. A travers les décennies, on verra des fois nos idées reprisent, mieux réalisées avec de plus gros budgets par des commerciaux plus musclés, se sentant plus en sécurité pour adapter ou tenir des propos déjà lubrifiés pas des plus petits, des anonymes. Quelque part, c’est tout simplement un microcosme du monde ; pas grand chose a déclarer- sauf que la, un ersatz-Zola se doit de défendre et honorer le courage de ces anonymes, qui eux, ont fait preuve de beaucoup de vaillance, a énoncer plus qu’un « j’achète » complaisant, sans subventions, sans soutien, sans filet, où la chute peut être un peu plus caverneuse. A contre-courant d’une amnésie coloniale systémique, il sont remerciés, jamais oubliés, mais non-plus hautement nommés…pour des raisons ironiques. Vous ne nous connaissez pas ? Tant mieux 😉