São Paulo – The city of Aracaju, capital of Sergipe, will host its festival of Arab dance in the weekend of September 5th and 6th of this year. The programming includes presentations of groups and dance schools coming from the states of Sergipe, Bahia, São Paulo and Pernambuco, besides a course taught by dancer Adriana Bele Fusco, from São Paulo state. The information was provided by the festival’s director, Flavia Kahyna, founder of Carpe Diem company, which promotes the event.
The presentations will take place at Tobias Barreto theater, the largest in Aracaju. Kahyna says that the Arab community is not very large in Sergipe, but that there are a lot of followers. So much so that the place of the presentations, which can hold 1,300 people, is usually sold out for the event.
Sergipe’s Arab Dances Festival is in its eighth edition and is organized annually since 2008. The director says that normally they do dance competitions but that this year brings a special programming due to the 15 years celebration of the Carpe Diem dance company.
In the opening, the group itself will present a show with Arab dances, telling a little bit of its history through the presentation. It was founded by Kahyna, who is not of Arab descent, but someone who have always studied and appreciated the culture of the region. It was her who invited the other members to be part of the initiative. Currently, the company has 11 dancers, among men and women.
The festival’s goal is to get more people to know the Arab culture. The programming brings various dances, classical and folk, from belly dancing to dabke. On Saturday, the activities start at 7 PM. On Sunday, from 9 AM to 1PM takes place the course with Adriana Bele Fusco, also at Tobias Barreto theater. According to the event’s director, it was designed for both the public in general and professionals of Arab dance.
The admission ticket costs R$ 20 (US$ 5.71) plus a 1 kg of non-perishable food, which will be forwarded to a social project. The tickets can be purchased at the event’s ticket office in case they are still available. Thus, it’s advised to purchase it in advance. The course costs R$ 100 (US$ 28.56) for those dancing and presenting at the event and R$ 150 (US$ 42.85) for the public in general.
Service:
8th Arab Dance Festival of Sergipe
September 5th and 6th, 2015
Presentation at September 5th, at 7 PM, and the course at September 6th , at 9 AM
At Tobias Barreto theater, avenida Tancredo Neves, 2209 – Aracaju – Sergipe
Ticket office open from noon to 7 PM, Tuesday to Friday
Information: 55 79 3179 1490 (theater) – 55 79 9954 6422 (Carpe Diem)
Website: http://ciacarpediem.wix.com/danca-arabe-sergipe
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
