Medellin hosts Colombia’s one and only 5th annual International Oriental Dance Encounter lasting from September 29 until October 9, with a grand finale fantasy dance spectacular on October 7.
The official Arabian Dance performance will be held on Friday, October 7, at 8PM at Teatro Pablo Tobon Uribe. It is set to feature groups from all over Colombia, including dancers from Bogota, Cali, Pasto, Barranquilla, Popayan and Santa Marta.
The event founder and coordinator Maria Isabel Angel told Colombia Reports that the event contributes to Medellin cultural diversity because it is “it’s a distinctly different movement from the genres that are normally seen in the city, it is something to get people out of their everyday routine and enter an Arabian fantasy.
“This is the fantasy of seduction, of silk veils, the color, the magic, and the atmosphere it generates. The idea is to take people away from their daily routine and their concerns and bring them to this fantasy.”
The grand finale Arabian dance show will also be featuring world-class dancers such as Egyptian super star Randa Kamel, Mexican dance master Niral Basave, United States tribal performer Frank Farinaro, as well as guest mover and shaker Lorelei Acosta from the Dominican Republic. Tickets start at only $8 and range up to $18.
Angel explained that “the idea is to generate more interest about Arabian dance. To see oriental dancing on a big stage like that at Pablo Tobon Uribe will cause one to stop viewing it as just sensual dance, but also something deeper that has to do with the culture of the Middle East.
“It is an elegant dance, an emotional dance, and an absolutely artistic dance that dares those from Medellin to take Arabian dance classes or crave even more performances from this dance genre.”
The event kicks off September 29, with a series of free Arabian Dance classes courtesy of Maria Isabel Angel’s Academia de Danza Oriental – starting 6PM Thursday at their Poblado headquarters. The next class will be held Saturday, October 1 at 2PM at their Floresta venue.
On Tuesday, October 4 there will be a two-part class, with a children and youth class held at 5PM and adult class at 6:30PM at Poblado. Thursday, October 6, will host the last of the Arabian Dance classes, with super-star dance host Lorelei Acosta, also in Poblado.
The event ends with a two-day Dance Workshop with the international dance masters, held on October 8 and 9 from 8AM to 6PM. Colesio Colegio San Carlos will be hosting the workshop, and the entrance fee for the two-day dance seminar is $120.