SIBU, May 11: ‘Jejak Angin’ is the theme for the 9th Sibu International Dance Festival (SIDF) that is making a comeback after a two-year absence due to the pandemic.
This prestigious event will be held from June 9 to 11 at the Civic Centre, and promises a three-night event featuring eye-catching performances by 100 participants from around the world.
Speaking at the launch of the festival last night, festival director Chen Ing Kuang said these participants include those from six foreign troupes.
Present to launch it was permanent secretary in the Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Ministry, Hii Chang Kee.
The foreign dance troupes are Madhumita Raut Odissi Dance Group (India), Surya Medal Puteri Kencana (Indonesia), No. 3355 (Japan), Albert Tiong Ing Siong, SCAPE Dance Residency and Singapore Chinese Dance Theatre (Singapore), and Team Vibe Worldwide from the Philippines.
The local troupes are from Sibu, Sabah, Bintulu, Kuala Lumpur and Perak.
“Initially we were planning to have between 10 to 12 local troupes but with the opening of our borders on April 1, and with the approval of the Ministry of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts, we finally invited foreign groups,” said Chen.
He added that some of these foreign artists had performed in previous SIDFs. Among them are Surya Medal Puteri Kencana who had performed in 2017, Team Vibe Worldwide in 2018 and the Singapore Chinese Dance Theatre in 2012.
“It is hoped that with the addition of dancers from overseas to local troupes, the audience will get to see and experience for themselves a worldwide variety of performing arts in Sibu,”he said.
This festival is aimed to bring more dance enthusiasts together without taking into account their races, cultures and ethnicities; to communicate and establish a connection amongst themselves and spread the love for dance arts to a larger audience.
Chen said the event consists of various programmes which include welcoming night, dance concert, outdoor site-specific performance, workshop, and seminars.
For the dance concert, it will be held for two nights from June 10 to 11 at Sibu Civic Centre, featuring performers invited by the organiser.
The dance workshop and seminars are to be held at RH Hotel Sibu’s function rooms in the day on June 10 and 11, conducted by the professional dance instructors.
Entrance 3 at Central Market Sibu will be the venue for the outdoor site-specific performances on June 11 before noon.
Chen said they are now offering promotions for early bird tickets, which are on sale at RM35 each from May 5 to 20. The normal price is RM50 and RM100 for VIP tickets.
The event is organised by Hornland Dance Theatre and supported by the Ministry of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Sarawak (MTCP) and Sibu MunicipalCouncil (SMC). — DayakDaily
