Qatar- Vibrant colours of Bulgaria presented through folk dances

(MENAFN- Gulf Times) The locals and expatriates of Qatar continue to enjoy folk music and dances from different countries at Amphitheatre in Katara where the third edition of Cultural Diversity Festival is underway.
A group of performers from Bulgaria recently enthralled the audience who was present in large numbers at the open air theatre in the pleasant evening.
The young artistes both male and female danced on tunes of the folk music of six different regions of Bulgaria. Clad in colourful clothes, the performers danced in lanes often holding each other's hands. The dance performances were very rhythmical, balanced, musical and engrossing.
Each performance highlighted a story of a distinct region in Bulgaria. The music accompanying the dances was also related to folk tales of romance and heroism. In the two-day-long performance, the artistes presented 12 different dances.
The cultural festival started on October 18 last year and will continue to until March 19. In total, folk music performers from 17 different countries are taking part in the festival. So far, the artistes from Qatar, India, Oman, China, Macedonia, Turkey, Spain, Czech Republic, Iran, Kazakhstan, Singapore and Bulgaria have performed. In addition, folk dance groups from Morocco, Serbia, Sri Lanka, Bosnia, and Russia will also perform in Katara.
The Bulgarian dance group was a part of the CIOFF Bulgaria (International Council of Organisations of Folklore Festivals and Folk Arts). Their two-day performances showed dances on both quick and slow beats of the folk music.
Talking to Community, Emil Pavlov, chairman of CIOFF Bulgaria a folk dance organisation, said: 'We are an ensemble of folklore dancers from Sofia, capital of Bulgaria. We presented different dances from all the regions of our country while wearing traditional costumes. The ensemble consists of 45 people. Only 15 people performed on the stage here as per the regulations. We also have a full fledge orchestra and maybe we will visit against with our orchestra.
'We mostly presented folk dances were Sofia region. In total, we have six fold regions in the country. We have more than 15 different kinds of folk dances. All traditional music from all regions have a kind of story related to romance and weddings.
'This was our second performance in Qatar. Two years ago, we performed in Qatar but with a different group. Next time, we are thinking to bring an orchestra. With this ensemble, we have been performing in different countries. Two years ago, we performed in Indonesia. We have performed in Thailand, China, Mexico and different other countries. We also have exchange programmes with other countries. In Bulgaria, we have seven big festivals. Every year, we invited performers from all over the world. In near future, we may invite a group from Qatar. I would also like to congratulate Qatar for winning Asian cup.
Metin Kazak, ambassador of Bulgaria to Qatar, said: 'Really, it was a wonderful performance. It was colourful with vibrant Bulgarian traditional music. It was a mixture of different Bulgarian dances from different regions with different rhythms and costumes. The performers seemed to really impress the gathering.
'I would like to thank Katara Cultural Village for organising the folk dance performances. I appreciate them for hosting the diversity festival for third consecutive year. I also thank Unesco regional office in Doha for their support. Cultural diversity is something that we all have to promote. It is a kind of promotion of dialogue between different cultures. Instead of making conflicts, the dialogue through culture is the best thing to know each other better.
'This was the second time that a Bulgarian folk dance group took part in the diversity festival. I am happy to see the group that performed tonight. They are very good. They have been attending different festivals all over the world. We also plan to invite a Bulgarian folk music band to mark our national day in March for our community of 400 expatriates in Qatar. We have also been trying to increase economic ties between the two countries. We are happy to see more and more Bulgarian food products coming to Qatar and strong Qatari investments in agriculture sector of our country.
'I would also like to congratulate Qatar for making a historic win against Japan and bringing the Asian cup home.

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