Jewish Herald-Voice (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 103, No. 45, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 26, 2012 Page: 9 of 24
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Arts & Entertainment
Page 9
Jewish Herald-Voice
Janaury 26, 2012
Houstonian’s love for Qatar sparks book
By AARON HOWARD
Horses opened the door. When
Houstonian Diana Untermeyer arrived
in Qatar in August 2004, locals
expected the wife of the new American
ambassador, Chase Untermeyer, would
be content to mingle with the elite and
the expatriate community They didn’t
count on equine diplomacy
Her first week in Qatar, one of
the sheikhs showed Untermeyer
around A1 Shaqab, a stable that orig-
inally belonged to the emir, Sheikh
Hamad bin Khalifa A1 Thani. Now,
a public facility owned by the Qatar
Foundation, it was the stable where the
emir kept his show horses, including
the most famous Arabian show stallion
in the world, Marwan. Untermeyer was
told she was welcome to ride there.
So, she joined the riding school with
her daughter, Elly. That led to an intro-
duction to trainers at A1 Shahaniyh, a
horse farm that belongs to the brother
of the emir, Sheikh Mohammed.
Untermeyer was allowed to ride one of
the retired racehorses, Mabrook. The
horse was making his transition from
the racetrack to endurance racing.
Soon, Untermeyer was riding Mabrook
on treks into the stark desert of Qatar.
“The maseela or traditional horse
race is a central part of the Qatari
tribal culture,” said Untermeyer. “It
used to be done by the tribes in the
open desert. It is done in heats of two
riders. This sport has been revived
for special occasions like National
Day. What I did is called Endurance.
Seeing me ride, I think Qataris thought
this is somebody who has an interest
in part of our culture. I was meeting
people you’d never ordinarily chance
to meet. Many of the horse riders
were teenage boys. They would go
home to their families and tell them
the American ambassador’s wife is so
cool. Then the families would want
to meet us. If you know somebody
and see something real about them, it
makes them part of the community.
That’s what I think happened.”
American diplomats -
and their families - rarely
win the sort of access
and affection that the
Untermeyers did in their
three-year post in Qatar.
Back in Houston, Diana
of Doha, as she came to
be known, has returned
that affection with the
publication of a magnifi-
cent coffee-table book
“Qatar: Sand, Sea and
Sky” (Bright Sky Press).
The book’s photographs are by Henry
Dallal. Untermeyer will introduce the
book and speak about the country on
Jan. 31 at 6 p.m. at the James Baker
III Institute for Public Policy at Rice
University.
While serving with her husband
in Qatar, Untermeyer was active with
women and children’s programs and in
the conservation, arts and health com-
munities. She participated in numer-
ous equestrian sports and won top
rider for the 2006-2007 endurance sea-
sons.
“There’s a trail that goes out of
Doha on this 20-mile loop into the des-
ert,” recalled Untermeyer. “We tried to
ride when the heat wasn’t so terrible.
So, you started in the late afternoon.
You had the dust kicked up by the
horses milling around at the start of
the ride. Everyone, riders and horses,
are waiting for the sounding gun for
the start.
“As you set out, you try to hold
your horse back so it won’t go too fast.
Riding for distance, you don’t want the
pace too quick. You set off into the sun-
set and settle into this peaceful rhyth-
mic ride. The sun would drop over the
dunes rapidly and the darkness would
fall. The horses would spread out. And,
if the crew - who follows along in a
four-wheel drive vehicle - had to go
off and check on another
horse, you’d be riding by
yourself in the desert. I
would be totally focused
on that moment, listen-
ing to the Mabrook’s
breathing, gauging if
there is anything off with
his pace. You’re in sync
with the rhythm of your
horse in this immense
solitude. It’s a spiritual
moment.”
If it appears some-
thing of a stretch to imagine a woman
from Texas riding across the sands
of Qatar, the entire reality of Qatar is
something of a stretch. Here’s a society
that has moved from subsistence living
- a society formerly of pearl divers and
herders - to a society with the highest
GDP per capita in the world within one
generation. It’s like the entire country
won the lottery.
In her book and in conversation,
Untermeyer thinks that economically
and socially, the nation is doing a good
job moving from its pre-oil past to a
modern society.
“I think the people of Qatar have
one of those leaders who is a defining,
good leader. Sheikh Hamad was able to
look around and see some of the mis-
takes made in other oil-rich countries.
The ruling family wants their people
to have a good standard of living but
doesn’t want them to be spoiled. Qatar
has the benefit of a small population
but the Qatari people have to work.
Sheik Hamid realizes that when one
doesn’t work or have a purpose, it’s
devastating to the soul.”
If one reviews the protests and
upheavals collectively known as the
Arab Awakening (or Arab Spring), one
notes the absence of a single strike,
march or demonstration in Qatar.
For Untermeyer, Qatar differs most
from its Gulf State neighbors in the
political status of women. “If you talk
to any young woman, they are excel-
ling in school, going after these higher
degrees. There are some people who
are not taking advantage of the educa-
tional opportunities. When you have
a good standard of living, some don’t
see a need to be ambitious. But, most
young Qataris feel the need to have a
job and contribute to their nation.
“I think it helps that the emir’s
daughters both have prominent
positions. For example, Sheikha
Al-Mayassa is the chair of the Qatar
Museum Authority and the founder of
Reach Out to Asia, a foundation that
focuses on volunteerism within the
country and trying to upgrade educa-
tion all over Asia. She’s a great com-
municator on Facebook and at public
events. And, that makes her so acces-
sible to people.
“Qatar is unique because of its small
population, huge wealth and a very
enlightened leadership. I think other
Middle Eastern countries can learn
from its enlightened leadership. When
the emir came to power, he established
elections. He said women can vote
and run as candidates. The question
didn’t arise because he said ‘this is the
way it will be.’ And, with driving, he
said women may drive, and so, women
drive. When the emir came to office
in 1996, he abolished the Ministry of
Information, the censorship wing of
the government. And, he established
al Jazeera. He wanted to see openness.
You now have a Qatar that’s not so
homogeneous. And, there are some in
the society that believe Qatar shouldn’t
have this much openness.”
See Qatar on Page 10
Chase Untermeyer
Moulin Rouge’ comes to Jones Hall
Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet,
will perform its production of “Moulin
Rouge - The Ballet” for one night only,
on Saturday, Feb. 4, at 8 p.m., in Jones
Hall. Society for the Performing Arts
will present the performance.
After a 26-year hiatus, the ballet
company returns to Houston with its
full-length hit, “Moulin Rouge - The
Ballet,” featuring a French soundtrack,
cancan girls performing high-kicking
choreography by Jorden Morris
and a passionate story of love and
heartbreak. Drawn to Paris by the city’s
passion, Matthew and Nathalie tempt
fate as they seek love and destiny at the
infamous Moulin Rouge cabaret.
Royal Winnipeg Ballet commissioned
Morris to choreograph the ballet
in celebration of its 70th anniversary
season in 2009. To complement
his choreography, Morris chose a
compilation of music from French
composers at the time the Moulin Rouge
was opening, Toulouse-Lautrec was
painting and the Eiffel Tower was being
constructed. The ballet company is the
first to collaborate with the Moulin
Rouge in Paris and has been granted the
rights to use its trademarked name.
Purchase tickets at spahouston.org,
at 713-227-4772 or at the courtyard level
ticket office at Jones Hall, located at
615 Louisiana St. □
Notable pianists to perform at The Menil Collection
Da Camera’s series at The Menil
Collection transforms the museum’s
lobby into an intimate concert venue
for chamber music. Pianists Marilyn
Nonken and Sarah Rothenberg,
whose recording and performances of
Messiaen’s “Visions de l’Amen” received
rave reviews, team up again. Their
Gyorgy Kurtag: A Composed Program
takes place Tuesday, Jan. 31, at 7 p.m.
Selections from the great
Hungarian composer Gyorgy Kurtag’s
“Jatekok” “Games” for piano four-hands
and solo piano interweave with his
transcriptions of Bach chorales in this
“composed program,” originally created
for and performed with the composer’s
lifelong partner, Marta Kurtag. This
event is a deeply moving and intimate
musical statement portraying Kurtag’s
unique musical sensitivity and the
haunting memories of music from the
past that inspired him.
The Times of London describes
the program: “Two and four-hand
performances of these rare and
wonderful crystallizations out of
ancient musical bedrock are irresistibly
interspersed with the intense and
quiet beauty of Kurtag’s loving Bach
transcriptions.”
The collaboration of Nonken and Da
Camera’s artistic and general director
Rothenberg has been widely acclaimed.
The New Yorker called them “Two of
the finest of new-music pianists.” In a
review of a New York performance of
the Messiaen piece.
For tickets, contact Da Camera, 1427
Branard St., at 713-524-5050 or online at
dacamera.com. Tickets for students and
senior citizens are always half-price.
There are discounts for groups of 10 or
more. □
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Samuels, Jeanne F. Jewish Herald-Voice (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 103, No. 45, Ed. 1 Thursday, January 26, 2012, newspaper, January 26, 2012; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth544192/m1/9/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .