The Ngalay Yang’s team hoisting the Malaysia and Sabah flags at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport before their flight.
KOTA KINABALU: After missing out on the Dance World Cup in Portugal, a group of students is raring to show what they got at the Andong Maskdance Festival in South Korea.
Calling themselves the “Ngalay Yang’s”, the group had made it into the final round of the international Dance World Cup in Braga in June but did not attend due to delays in funding.
Thanks to the Sabah government, the nine students, aged 12 and 13, finally got a chance to showcase their talents on the world stage.
Led by their teacher-manager Noorhayati Awang, the five girls and four boys, along with their parents, left for South Korea on Thursday night (Oct 5).
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The students will start competing in the qualifying rounds on Saturday (Oct 7), performing an ensemble of the traditional Sabah dance, the Limbai Bajau Samah, in the Abroad category.
“We would like to record our most sincere appreciation to Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor and the state government, as well as other donors for the contributions that enabled the team to participate in the competition,” Noorhayati said.
Speaking at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport here before their flight, she said the students would compete against 30 other teams from various countries, including Indonesia, the Philippines, Slovakia and France.
She said this was their first international dance competition.
“Some of them had never stepped foot on a foreign land, so they are eager not just to show what they can do but also to learn new cultures,” Noorhayati added.
According to online information, the competition will be held in Andong, about 190km from Seoul, from Oct 2 to 9.
