International Dance Festival gets underway in Belize City

We haven’t seen them in a while but beginning today Belize’s best dancers and some talented friends from abroad are making the stage — and our minds — come alive. Arreini Palacio reports.

Professional dancers from Cuba, Jamaica, Honduras, the Untied States and Belize have converged on the Bliss Institute for Belize’s first International Dance Forum, Workshop and Festival. From July first through to the third the dancers will gather to dance, exchange ideas and help develop a dance policy for Belize. Workshops will also be held in which dancers will both teach and learn.

Sharette Smith, Director, Dance Workshops

“The objective of the workshop is for the dance companies to exchange and share ideas of the different dance cultures from the respective countries.”

The dancers believe that the experience they gain is very valuable.

Neila Ebanks, Dancer, Edna Manley School of Dance

“Well we are here to help out as much as possible. Our teacher is here to give some suggestion on how Belize can have a dance policy as we do in Jamaica. We are here more importantly to show the practical aspect of it. We’re here to perform tonight and tomorrow night. And tomorrow at three we are going to teach some Jamaican folk forms.”

Jamila Prevals, Dancer, Teatro de la Danza del Caribe

“We have various groups here today and everyone has different culture. Today the cultural events kick off and I hope that all groups will exchange their countries culture so that we can appreciate and understand each other.”

Guy Thorne, Dancer, Edna Manley School of Dance

“They have a lot of people here from Cuba, Jamaica and Honduras and I mean everyone is totally different. Everything is all original. This coming together is going to be wicked.”

If all goes according to plan the dancers will all gain a new appreciation for their colleagues, different styles and perhaps incorporate some of them into their own work. Arreini Palacio for News Five.

The dance festival will be held at the Bliss Institute Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights at eight o’clock. Tickets are fifteen dollars each in advance, twenty at the door, while a three-night pass is forty dollars. The dance forum, a series of discussions, is being held on each of these three days from nine until six at the Belize/Mexico Cultural Institute.