Boldly Go Solo

The singer Nawal from the Comoros Islands played at the Kennedy Center last night. The hour-long performance was free. Nawal's music is described as "Indo-Arabian-Persian music meets Bantu polyphones, with syncopated rhythms and Sufi trance." Not your every day radio station fare, eh?

Nawal was at the Kennedy Center as part of Arabesque, a festival celebrating the arts of the Arab world. My friend Sid suggested going, knowing how intrigued I was by my recent trip to Egypt.

It was a great idea and one that would have been a natural for any solo traveler to Washington, D.C. And, indeed, we connected with two people who had come to the performance on their own.

The Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage is a performance space wedged into the red-carpeted Grand Foyer, between the theater and opera stages on one side and the outdoor terrace overlooking the Potomac River on the other.

Every night at 6 pm, year round, a free show is offered. First-come, first served. (Get there early. There aren't too many seats, though you can stand at the back.)

Last night we had trouble getting seats together so Sid saved one seat while I hung out closer to the stage, near some reserved seats for the disabled. I assumed those seats would be given away if not occupied by 6 pm by those who needed them. While hanging out, a man originally from Colombia struck up a conversation with me.

Eventually, Sid and I got our seats together. As did the Colombian man. A woman arriving on her own sat down to our right. She asked to take a look at my program, and started talking to us about the festival.

She told us she is originally from Lebanon, and she taught us some interesting things about the differences between the Arabic spoken in the various countries represented at the festival. And, she recommended good Lebanese restaurants in the area.

Being a frequent solo traveler, I'm always conscious of others around me who are alone. I try to be as inclusive as possible, whether I'm alone or not, especially if they reach out to me. Sid joined right in, asking the woman next to me about Lebanon.

Later, when the singer invited the audience to dance in the aisles, the Colombian guy, seated behind us, tapped me on the shoulder and pointed out how much the dancing was like the cumbia style of dancing done in Colombia. I nodded.

When the performance was over, the Colombian guy was gone in a flash. We said our good-byes to the Lebanese woman, who recommended we buy tickets to the Lebanese dance performance the next day.

Arabesque continues for a couple of more weeks, if anyone happens to be coming to Washington.

The show's description in Arabic, just because it's cool to view: 

Photo by mj*laflaca