PENAMPANG: Russia has been crowned the overall champion at the 10th Sabah International Folklore Festival this year.
Apart from winning the premier award presented by Head of State, Tun Juhar Mahiruddin, Russia also bagged three awards for the best choreography as well as best male and female dancers.
Second place or the winner of the Chief Minister’s Award went to the Philippines and the third place or the Cultural Minister’s Award was won by Slovakia.
The Sabah Cultural Board made the five-day festival a little bit different this year with its theme centred on marriage.
As the festival ended on Saturday night here at the Sabah Cultural Centre in Penampang, the 16 participating countries including Malaysia amazed the crowd with performances that featured their respective cultures and traditions in a marriage ceremony.
Russia, did not just win the hearts of three judges headed by Dr Joseph Gonzales from ASWARA Dance Company Malaysia and consisted of Hamid Chan and Yana Samsudin, but the crowd was wowed throughout their performance.
Set against the backdrop of an upbeat tempo, the troupe successfully staged a wonderful wedding celebration in a dance, the Russian way.
Everyone was so immersed in the performance, many did not notice the female dancers had a quick costume change in the middle of the show at centrestage.
The audience only realised the quick costume change when the female dancers did a change the second time.
Continue reading at: Russia takes crown at 10th Sabah International Folklore Festival
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