Fourth Nigeria Intel Solo-Duo Dance Festival adds color to Lagos

For a whole week, groups of dancers from 11 countries are performing in open air near the national theater in Lagos, Nigeria, attracting crowds of audience and young dancing fans.

Exciting dancers were dancing in free style to different melodies and they mixed together with their own nations' cultural characteristics, which added colorful dancing art to the fourth international solo-duo dance festival tagged "TRUFESTA 09" featuring professional dancers.

At the closing ceremony of the festival on Sunday, Adedayo Liadi, director of Ijodee Dance Center in Lagos and organizer of the festival, said the solo-duo dance festival achieved its aim to task professional dancers on improving their skills to meet global standard.

Liadi told Xinhua in Lagos, Nigeria's commercial hub, that this year's event spotlighted about 20 professional dancers at home and abroad.

He said the center is using the annual event to promote the country's rich culture through various shows, noting that it would also provide Nigerian youths the platform to fully exploit their potentials.

He added that this year's festival also commemorates the 10th anniversary of his dance center and 4th anniversary of the dance festival.

Sarah Boulos, founder of the Society of Performing Arts in Nigeria (SPAN), said the "TRUFESTA 09" is to create positive moods that promote peace amongst African dancers and other artistes from other parts of the world.

Boulos, a Lebanese and cosponsors of the event, expressed optimism that the solo-duo dance festival would help to create good impression about Nigeria 's way of dancing, noting that dancing carry's lot of messages.

Stephany Ugbana, a choreography from Germany, who featured at the event talked highly of the international solo-duo dance festival.

Also, Rachel Ogle, a professional dancer from Australia, said she was excited in Nigeria to be part of the ongoing "Trufesta International dance festival'' which offers her chance to learn more dancing skill from Africa.

The week long solo-duo dance festival attracted dancers from 11 countries like Nigeria, Cameroon, Germany, Australia and Canada to entertain audience in Lagos.

Source: Xinhua