KUCHING: The 19th Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) opened with a ‘bang’ yesterday as a cosmopolitan crowd danced the night away to enchanting music in the mystical forest of Mount Santubong.
There were seven musical groups rocking the jungle and tree stages of Sarawak Cultural Village (SCV) including Sape Sarawak, Naygayiw Gigi Dance Troupe (Australia), Unique Art Academy (Negeri Sembilan), Teada (Ireland), Dol Arastra Bengkulu (Indonesia), Krar Collective (Ethiopia) and Auli (Latvia).
The audience was treated to different types of dance throughout the night.
Naygayiw Gigi Dance Troupe of Australia showcased its traditional dance from Bamaga and Siesiasaibailgal cultures. They share the same Melanesian culture with the people of Papua New Guinea though they are from the Australian continent.
Their dance told traditional and contemporary stories, customs and daily life through movement, song and props.
Meanwhile, Malaysian performers Unique Art Academy (NS) gave the audience a taste of entrancing dance from the villages of Tamil Nadu in South India.
The speciality of these dancers is that they play their own drums while moving to the rhythm.
A traditional Irish band Teada brought the house down with their instruments of fiddle, button accordion, flutes, guitar and bodhran (Irish frame drum).
Their tunes led the audience into step-dancing which was taught to participants during the daytime workshops.
It was a sight to remember seeing foreign tourists and locals alike dancing the Irish jig in the native land of Borneo.
Continue reading (Incl. Pics) at: Sarawak Rainforest World Music Festival 2016: Dancing the night away in rainforest of Mt Santubong
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