Macau | Over 600 take part in Youth Dance Festival

Indonesian dancers

Vibrant colors and music filled the streets on Sunday to kick off the International Youth Dance Festival 2016, with dancers parading from the Ruins of St Paul’s to St Dominic’s Church. The event will continue until Thursday.
The performances of the International Youth Dance Festival 2016 include a parade, outdoor performances, two indoor performances, and artistic performance workshops.
More than 600 young dancers from Macau and 17 different regions are performing in the event, including dance groups from Australia, Greece, Indonesia, Israel, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Malaysia, New Zealand, Norway, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, Sri Lanka, Yunnan Province, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
The 10 local groups joining the dance festival this year include, amongst others, Hou Kong Middle School Dance Team, Imprint Macau Dance Association, and the Kao Yip Middle School Dance Team.
In order to allow youngsters from around the globe to know more about Macau’s culture, a cultural tour will be arranged for the participants.

A group from Australia

The Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Alexis Tam, told reporters that performances would be brought to Nam Van Lake, hoping to raise awareness of such activities.
“I believe it will make students more interested in this kind of entertainment and culture,” said Tam.
Meanwhile, several audience members of the performances told the Times that such festivals should be conducted regularly to further entertain and attract the region’s tourists.
“It’s really nice. Maybe it could be held annually,” said one attendant. “It takes away our stress because it’s not always that we see these kinds [of activities] and it allows us to enjoy ourselves too on a Sunday,” said another.
The International Youth Dance Festival 2016 is organized by the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau in collaboration with several departments.