Metro

Saturday November 7, 2009

Dance contest to be part of Monsoon Cup activities


THE Monsoon Cup organisers are holding a dance competition — 1Malaysia 1Budaya — to create awareness and promote the various traditional dances of multi-ethnic Malaysia.

The competition is open to individuals and groups from all over Malaysia, and winners will walk away with cash and holiday packages worth over RM20,000.

Held for the first time since the staging of the Monsoon Cup five years ago, the event is poised to educate and entertain local and foreign tourists visiting Kuala Terengganu for the sailing event.

Gilmour

Monsoon Cup organiser Datuk Peter Gilmour said: “This cultural dance competition is a great way to showcase the multi-ethnic background of Malaysia and it fits in well with the Karnival Monsoon held in conjunction with the Monsoon Cup this year.

“1Malaysia 1Budaya will provide a platform for young individuals or groups to showcase their talent in a bigger arena. Rather than inviting dance groups to perform for the tourists during the event, having a dance competition would be much more interesting as it would bring about interaction with the crowd,” he said.

Gilmour added that so far the event had attracted encouraging response with a multitude of performances encompassing the Malay, Indian and Chinese groups.

“We hope to make this a yearly event if there is demand both from the competitors and visitors,” he said.

The 1Malaysia 1 Budaya dance competition will be held on a round-robin format with preliminary rounds being held at Dewan Bahasa Dan Pustaka in Kuala Lumpur for two days on Nov 14 and 15.

The semi-finals will be held from Dec 3 to 5 with the finals culminating with the grand finale of the Monsoon Cup on Dec 6.

Both the events will be held in Pulau Duyong, Kuala Terengganu, during the staging of the 5th Monsoon Cup.

Colourful: A cultural dance performed at the previous Monsoon Carnival.

Accommodation for participants throughout the competition in Terengganu is sponsored by the Monsoon Cup organisers.

It is open to Malaysians as well as both professionals and amateurs. So far, 15 participants have registered comprising Malay dances, bharatanatyam, Indian village folk dance, bhangra and lion dance.

Each routine should be 15 minutes. Criteria for the selection are based on creativity, performance and costumes.

The first prize winner of the dance competition will walk away with cash and prizes worth RM7,000 which includes holiday packages in Teluk Batik Resort.

Entries are limited to only 30 for the prelimenary round. Participants have to pay an entry fee of RM200 for each performance.

For details, on the Monsoon Cup, visit Monsoon Cup website at www.monsooncup.com.my.

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