Dubai, February 02: Traditions, culture and the lives of people across the world are woven together into a series of dances, songs and acrobatic stunt performances at the World Culture Stage of the Global Village.
The month-long international shows are demonstrating once again that the Global Village is definitely the place “where the world comes together.”
On nightly shows at the World Culture Stage are the Sanalimu African Dance Troupe portraying the lifestyle, culture and tradition of East Africa, the Georgian National Ensemble “Rustavi’ demonstrating in their dances the history, the festive life of the people and the unique culture and arts of Georgia, and the Chanana-Upuli Dance Troupe of Sri Lanka showing their country’s life and tradition.
Michael Owugo, coordinator and choreographer of the Pan-Africa Performers, said that every movement and dance step they perform presents a story from the African states of Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda or Rwanda. “We bring our culture, our African life and traditions, even rituals of war, initiation from boyhood to manhood, and harvest in our dances. It shows in the tempo and pace of our dances. Our presentation is the story of African nations showing to the world. Thanks to the Global Village.”
Georgian dancers of four men and two women in red costumes have also woven piece by piece the things their country stands for through dancing and the art of fencing and balancing motions. Irakli and Simon, performers from Georgia, said their performance is demonstrating their history, tradition of respect for their women, the overflowing show of love for nature in their mountain dance “Mtiuluri”, and the festive life in the city. “Tbilisi, our capital city is a melting pot of culture and business between Europe and Asia. We show this in our dances celebrating the festivity and the sports of fencing which is prevalent in our country,” Irakli said. “We treat our women second to God that we demonstrate in our dances our earnest respect for them,” Simon added.
Olympic champions showing a combination of high diving and acrobatic action in the Acapulco High Dive Show of Europe and the daredevil divers from FMX Show of France wrap up the night’s visit at Global Village. In the Lakeside Stage, performances of Chinese and African acrobats from Kenya are also going on. Pavilions of different countries are staging cultural presentations from their countries. These include presentation by artists from Thailand, Turkey, Yemen, Syria, Egypt, India and many other countries.
Abu Shaikh, show coordinator of Global Village, said this year’s target is to entertain visitors and shoppers with 4,000 shows but it has already far exceeded the target. “We have reached our target long before a month of performances. We have an average of 50 shows daily.”
A Kenyan family, Salah Abdulrahman, with wife Hannah Ali and daughter Maryam, said the rides, funfare and the events taking place inside the Global Village are really good for families. “I love everything inside, and these are the things my daughter should see,” Salah said.
A major component of DSF, the Global Village is more than a village of the best wares and goods from 45 countries. It has turned itself into the largest outdoor venue of well-known family entertainment brand in the region that combines authentic architecture and shopping in addition to unique cuisines from around the world. Leila Tenemark and her husband Heinrich from Denmark arrived in Dubai last week and were amazed to see what the Dubai Shopping Festival and the Global Village offered to them.
“I love shopping, and to see shoes, dresses and chocolates at a very low price. Who can ever resist not to buy them? We are amazed to see how clean and fabulous is Dubai. So do with the buildings, and the events going on in Dubai are just perfect.”
Her sister Mona and husband Sonny cannot believe the very cheap cars and to find out for themselves that luxurious cars are for the taking to lucky shoppers. “Excellent” she said.
“I love shopping around, and this Global Village even has something from each of many countries putting up their pavilions here,” she added. “We just started. We are staying here for more days to enjoy. I love cars as they are very expensive in Denmark. For instance, a car costing Dh100,000 is worth a million Danish Krone,” Sonny said. “If I buy a car here, it is not also feasible because the government will slap me huge taxes by the time it reaches Denmark.”
–Agencies–