Latest news with #MagicintheAir
Sharjah 24
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Sharjah 24
Frenchman Philibeg Bougard brings magic to SCRF 2025
Bougard, who first rose to fame on France's Got Incredible Talent , used beloved characters from classic tales, including Ali Baba , in his routines. Each act, a display of illusion, also gave a playful nod to childhood legends, allowing children to connect deeply with the stories they knew. In one unforgettable moment, Bougard called a young girl from the audience and, like a scene straight out of Sleeping Beauty , made her levitate midair as she floated gracefully above the stage in her sleep as the crowd watched in breathless awe. Meanwhile watching Ali Baba conjure gold coins or unlock secret treasures kept the young audience hooked. 10-year-old Fathima Laiba, said: 'It felt like I was watching real magic! I loved it when he made the girl float — it was like a fairytale coming true.' For her school friend Fathima Amna, 13, also from India, watching it all unfold in front of his eyes was no less intriguing. "I've seen magic tricks on TV before, but seeing it live for the first time, with all the music and lights, made it feel like we were part of a magical story." 'What makes Philibeg's show special is how he marries magic with music and interactive storytelling," said Raissa Mohammed, a teacher accompanying students to the hit show. "He doesn't just perform tricks; he invites children to journey through fantastical worlds." With every sleight of hand and musical beat, Magic in the Air delivered on its promise – celebrating the limitless imagination that SCRF champions. Bougard's infectious energy and crowd engagement made sure that for three quarters of one magical hour, everyone – young and old – truly believed in magic.
Sharjah 24
09-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Sharjah 24
Get ready for stories, science and entertainment at SCRF 2025
Now in its sixteenth edition, the festival, organised by the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) at Expo Centre Sharjah from April 23 to May 4, under the theme 'Dive into Books'. This year's agenda features a curated selection of standout events that blur the lines between art and education. Among the highlights are 'A Musical Evening with the Rouh Al Sharq Choir' and the 'Greatest Science Show', immersive experiences that weave together performance, creativity and discovery in ways that resonate with audiences of all ages. A musical evening with the Rouh Al Sharq Choir Visitors are invited to experience a nostalgic musical journey with the Rouh Al Sharq Choir, an ensemble founded by maestro Mahmoud Mohsen in 2020 during his time at Ain Shams University in Cairo. Comprising thirty gifted young performers, the choir quickly gained widespread recognition, winning over social media audiences with its seamless blend of classical and contemporary Arabic music that continues to resonate across the region. This one-night performance will be staged in Hall 5 on April 25, 2025, from 7:00 to 8:00 PM. The evening promises a stirring repertoire of cherished generational songs, performed live with a renewed spirit and emotional depth. Ticket prices are AED 300 for diamond, 200 for platinum, 150 for gold, 100 for silver and 75 for bronze. Tickets are available through Platinumlist: Greatest Science Show Bringing science to life through spectacle and surprise, the festival will feature the Greatest Science Show, hosted by Abdullah Annan, a celebrated science communicator followed by more than 18 million fans. This family-friendly experience will showcase dramatic experiments such as exploding hydrogen balloons and vast nitrogen clouds, designed to fascinate audiences of all ages. The show will take place in Hall 5 on April 26 from 6:00 to 7:30 PM. Ticket prices are AED 200 for diamond, 150 for platinum, 100 for gold, 50 for silver and 30 for bronze. Tickets can be booked through Platinumlist at: To ensure a seamless experience, doors will close ten minutes before the show begins, and late entry will not be permitted. Visitors are encouraged to arrive early and confirm their booking details. For further information, please contact Hanan Al Baloushi at 06-5140132 or Theatre and roaming performances The festival will also host four theatrical performances: Magic in the Air, Marty in the Putz, UNKLANDIA, and AIR FOOT WORKS, alongside six roaming shows including Masked Wonderland, Winged Wonders, Dancing with a Robot, Magic in the Air, The Nutkins and the Ducks, and appearances by the festival's mascots. Nursery SCRF offers a nursery area for children that takes them on a journey around the world of science through five themed corners: the Dinosaur Corner, Machines Corner, Science Corner, Arcade Corner, and the Stage Shows Corner. Each space offers hands-on learning and immersive experiences, from VR dinosaur adventures to Newton's elevator and interactive drum tables. Ticket prices are AED 100 for two hours and 200 for four hours.
Los Angeles Times
07-02-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
The heady history of the slam dunk (and how street style stormed the NBA)
Chances are you've heard of Julius Erving and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. You would have to be culturally illiterate to be unfamiliar with Michael Jordan. But I'd bet money that you don't know the story of Jack Inglis, who shares space with the legends in Mike Sielski's new book 'Magic in the Air.' Inglis played pro basketball in the World War I era in the New York State League and Pennsylvania State League. This was when basketball courts were wrapped in wire fencing, or cages (hence the use of the word 'cagers' to describe basketball players). Inglis, a superb athlete for his day, was known to climb up the fence alongside the basket, grab a pass with one hand, and drop it into the hoop from above. It was, as Sielski writes, 'an early version of the slam dunk.' This is the kind of hoops history you didn't know you craved, and which Sielski's fast break of a dunk study delivers in abundance. But 'Magic' does more than provide juicy tidbits. In lacing up a lively history of the slam dunk, Sielski, a sports columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer who writes with his profession's characteristic flavor and flair, digs into the social and racial implications of sports' most exciting play. He uses the stories of key athletes and moments to paint a bigger picture of a sport's evolution from earthbound (and rather slow) competition to sky-high (and very fast) exuberance. 'Magic in the Air' honors the dunk as a great feat of American improvisation, probably not as significant as jazz but not entirely dissimilar. Like most revolutionary developments, the rise of the dunk struck fear in the establishment's heart. The NCAA even banned the dunk from 1967 to 1976, which, when you think about it, is remarkably stupid: Hey, let's eliminate the most kinetic part of the game, the play that makes fans stand and cheer like no other. As Sielski writes, 'The rule seemed first and foremost a way to squelch the individual expression and athleticism that characterized the sport throughout urban America and that was intrinsic to the manner in which Black athletes played it.' In short, the dunk was just too street. The ban was loudly championed by legendary Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp, whose all-white squad had just been spanked in the finals by a Texas Western (now University of Texas at El Paso) team that made history by starting five Black players. 'It wasn't just that players were dunking,' Sielski writes. 'It was that Black players were dunking. And they were dunking while they were beating his team.' (Ironically, the best player on that Kentucky team, Pat Riley, would go on to preside over the dunk-happy Showtime Lakers teams of the '80s). There are many approaches one could take toward writing such a book. A stats and analytics obsessive, like Henry Abbott, might unfurl a study of leaping launch points and game situations in which the dunk makes the most sense. A run-of-the-mill aggregator could produce a glorified, book-length blog post ranking the best dunks and dunkers. Sielski chooses to apply a refreshingly human, old-school touch; 'Magic in the Air' reads like a series of deeply reported, interconnected feature stories, rich in history and authorial voice. When Sielski writes about the saga of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault, a 6-foot-1 New York playground legend who soared among the giants but couldn't stay away from heroin and other lures of the streets, he's also writing about why Manigault's story is catnip to (usually white) journalists looking for a certain kind of story — a story Manigault was always happy to tell. 'Go ahead,' Sielski writes. 'Pull up a chair or knock on his door, if you could pin down where he lived. He would tell you all about it, be genuinely wistful about his missed opportunities, open up and give you the goods. No athlete was in the passenger's seat for more reporter ride-alongs than The Goat.' There are, of course, bigger names here as well. They include Jordan, whose style, hang time and acrobatic dunking were as popular in corporate boardrooms as they were on playgrounds; Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain, who shook up the game with their athleticism and size in the '50s and '60s; and David 'Skywalker' Thompson, who, at 6-foot-4, dominated college basketball while starring for North Carolina State but had to settle for gently laying the ball in due to the dunk ban. (Did we mention how stupid the dunk ban was?) This has quietly been a great era for basketball books, including Rich Cohen's 'When the Game Was War,' Chris Herring's 'Blood in the Garden,' Jeff Pearlman's 'Showtime' (about those Riley Laker teams), and Hanif Abdurraqib's 'There's Always This Year.' 'Magic in the Air' belongs on the top shelf with those. For a study of life above the rim, its tone is down-to-earth and also briskly colloquial and infused with infectious passion for the sport. Chris Vognar is a freelance culture writer.
