DUBAI: Dubai Opera is marking its 10th anniversary with a 2026–27 season spanning opera, ballet, classical and contemporary music, theater and comedy, as the performing arts venue looks to its next decade. The season opens with the Ukrainian National Ballet’s adaptation of Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” from Sept. 17 to 19, offering a fresh take on the comic opera through choreography, elaborate costumes and theatrical spectacle. Lara Ewing, head of Dubai Opera, said the venue’s programming has evolved alongside its increasingly diverse audience. “Our programming is so diverse and that’s because of where we are,” she said recently. “In Dubai, there’s so many different cultures and people from different backgrounds and different age groups. So we really try and make sure that we put something in the program for everyone. “I think that the arts is about pushing boundaries, it’s about giving people experience for the ability to experience lots of different things. Things that challenge them and excite them and bring them joy and also bring them that sense of nostalgia,” she added. The season includes familiar favorites alongside contemporary and experimental work. The Bolshoi Theatre will make its first official UAE tour in December, bringing “The Tsar’s Bride,” “The Nutcracker” and a symphonic concert to the city. International music acts include the Gipsy Kings, Benjamin Clementine, Tony Ann and the Amy Winehouse Band, while comedy features prominently with performers including Trevor Noah. Ewing said familiar productions such as “The Nutcracker” continue to resonate because of their nostalgic appeal, while comedy has recently proved particularly successful. “I think people are really enjoying the light-heartedness and they just want to get out and laugh,” she said. Opera has enjoyed something of an uptick in media interest in recent months after Oscar-nominated actor Timothee Chalamet triggered backlash from the performing arts world after labelling ballet and opera as dying art forms in March. Ewing disagrees. “It’s storytelling, it’s beautiful music … the costumes and the visuals and the spectacle on stage is really phenomenal and I think that’s really what continues to draw people to it.” The 2026–27 program is part of Dubai Opera’s next chapter after its first decade, during which it says it recorded more than 1.5 million visits and hosted 2,500 performances involving 6,500 artists.