New directions

Stepping outside your comfort zone is a risky thing to do. It can, of course, have catastrophic consequences but it can also be very rewarding. In our own ways we all do a bit of it. This year I intend finally to learn to ride a Harley Davidson and go speeding across the desert with the wind in my hair, and, if I have time, take guitar lessons and learn some Arabic.

These will be modest achievements should they be fulfilled, and nobody but myself is going to care either way. When an Oscar-winning actress such as Juliette Binoche decides to push herself in an entirely different direction, however, she has so much more to lose than any of us. Her downfall would be so much more public and her hard-won reputation as an artist could take a bit of a dent. Well into her 40s and never having danced before, she teamed up with the acclaimed dancer and choreographer Akram Khan to produce a show in which she dances to a professional level. The French star of The English Patient - for which she won an Oscar - and Chocolat is in Abu Dhabi this week for two performances of In-I, which is all about relationships between a man and a woman.

It was an amazingly brave thing to do and I admire her for it. She could have walked away after the original three days she spent working with Khan in a London studio. Nobody would have thought any less of her for saying: "Sorry I just can't do this." Instead, she drove herself mentally and physically for weeks on end until she and Khan were satisfied that they weren't going to make fools of themselves. In many ways, Khan had even more to lose, as he is the professional dancer, but he clearly saw something in Binoche that convinced him she could do it. Their world tour has been a huge success and they still have four more months on the road that will see them perform in Australia, Korea, Hong Kong, Japan and the UK.

Binoche is someone who would die rather than stand still artistically. She constantly needs to test herself. With her slender dancer's body, enchanting elfin features and natural grace, she had a head start in learning to dance, but neither she nor Khan are without ego, so when he tactfully talks about the challenges he faced, and she casually mentions that he had to find "a new way of working", it makes me think that there must have been some interesting artistic clashes behind closed studio doors.

I can't wait to ask them face to face, and it will my great pleasure to interview them both on stage tonight after their final performance. It's a unique opportunity for me and for the audience, who will also get a chance to ask questions. How many stars would do that? For last-minute tickets to the show, go to www.itp.net or call 800-4669. To read my full interview with Juliette, published on Tuesday in The National, go to www.thenational.ae.

The last time I was on an all-girls' weekend was many years ago at Girl Guide camp in Tollymore Forest Park in Northern Ireland, where I turned up clutching a copy of Scouting for Boys that turned out disappointingly to be all about knots and fires. I was better at map-reading in those days and had a badge on my arm to prove it. On the weekend, three girlfriends and I went to a spa in Musandam, Oman, and it could have been a recipe for disaster as all four are fairly strong-minded and outspoken women. As it happened, it was a hilarious experience, during which complaining became an art form. It was Grumpy Old Women meets the Ya Ya Sisterhood with a touch of Thelma and Louise thrown in, especially where map-reading was concerned, although in their case the final launching of their car off a cliff was deliberate.

Interestingly, none of us wanted to be in charge. As I was the driver, I abrogated responsibility for map-reading but fairly quickly fired our "pathfinder", whose idea of instructions involved telling me "that was the turning" as we sailed past it. What followed was a discussion that came straight out of those reports about women being lousy map-readers. There were several ways of getting to our destination, the Six Senses Hideaway at Zighy Bay, I was informed. I should perhaps have taken that other road but since we're going this way, we might as well continue.

I hate being a stereotype, but as someone who has a problem with left and right to begin with and can only follow a map if it's facing the way we're going, I fear I'm right up there with the guy who refuses to stop to ask for directions. In our defence, many of the roads we found ourselves unexpectedly exploring haven't yet attracted the attention of a cartographer, possibly because, as we discovered, they led to nowhere.

My marriage has lasted more than 30 years so far, and although I tend to introduce my beloved as "my first husband" just to keep him on his toes, I never take anything for granted. However long you've been married, you still have to work at it. When we were starting out, there were no classes like those the General Women's Union is about to launch in Abu Dhabi. Like all our friends, we just sort of muddled through.

Dr Fatma Sayegh, a professor specialising in women's issues at UAE University, believes that young people need to be better prepared. She says too many marry too young and don't take it seriously. While I tend to disagree with her about youngsters not taking it seriously, I do think they have a much more cavalier attitude towards divorce if it goes wrong. Divorce is just too easy these days. Which is why I think that England's Prince Harry and his South African girlfriend, Chelsy Davy, are being sensible in splitting up at this time. The 21-year-old prince is just starting his career in the British Army, which is going to mean long periods of separation. He needs to knuckle down and show his commanders that he is serious about it, and he needs to establish himself professionally before he even thinks of settling down.

The three messy public divorces of his father, his uncle and his aunt will also have played their parts in influencing him not to rush into a marriage when his girlfriend is clearly not enamoured with his choice of career. As it is there is nothing that says this is the end of the road for their romance. They could easily get together again in a few years. Perhaps young people attending the new classes in Abu Dhabi might spare a thought for them. These young men and women need to take the time to get to know each other and also to work out what they want in life. They also need to know that perspectives change as you get older, and that getting married to escape from parents is just exchanging one set of problems for another.