Moving performance at UQ/ABC International Fair
It will be chic to shake or be a sheikh at a free International Fair on Sunday October 11, jointly staged by the University of Queensland and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and featuring the Queensland Symphony Orchestra.
The exotic art of Middle Eastern dancing will be one of many folk art forms demonstrated at the UQ/ABC International Fair, a celebration of cultural diversity to be held from noon to about 7pm in the Great Court of the St Lucia campus.
The event will begin with a performance by the 80-piece University Symphony Orchestra. Other attractions include international craft and cuisine, items by folk artists of many cultures, and the Queensland University Regiment band.
The grand finale will be a spectacular Symphony at Sunset concert at 6.15pm by the 71-piece Queensland Symphony Orchestra conducted by Werner Andreas Albert. It will be accompanied by a light show designed by Woodford Folk Festival fire artist Neil Cameron.
The sandstone-cloistered Great Court will be transformed with candelit sculptures and fairy lights. ABC identities will host a diverse musical program running continuously on a purpose-built covered stage.
University co-ordinator Dr Nadja Alexander said members of the Academy of Middle Eastern Dance were preparing for the event, expected to attract more than 20,000 people. Middle Eastern dance is based on dance styles of many countries including Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon, Morocco and Greece.
UQ bachelor of physiotherapy graduate and Academy member Lorelle Hawes said the evolving dance form used "lots of hip and torso" in slow, undulating to fast, shaking movements. Beautiful handmade costumes, finger cymbals known as zills, canes, and veils were integral to the performance.
UQ Sport Middle Eastern dance lecturer "Princess Shahara" (aka Sharon Daley) said the art form was popular in the Western world as a way of keeping fit and as a "confidence builder" for people of all shapes and sizes, from small children to grandparents.
"We do have men in our classes but because there are few male teachers in Australia they tend to learn the feminine style of dancing, rather than the masculine style which includes mock fighting with canes," she said.
Other attractions at the International Fair will include performances by members of the ABC PlaySchool program at 12.30pm and 2.30pm, Brazilian drummers, street theatre and roving entertainers, and face painting. Food and craft stalls will include African, Middle Eastern, Vietnamese, Dutch, German, Greek, Cajun, Indian, British, Australian native and Australian vegetarian, seafood and Russian.
The University Bookshop, Wordsmiths Cafe, Student Union coffee shop, and the Art History, Anthropology, Classics, Geology and Physics Museums will open to the public.
People attending the International Fair are invited to come early, and participate in a separate event, the Walk for the Cure. The walk, conducted by the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, will take place at the St Lucia campus and at seven other locations around Queensland. Walkers must be at the campus by 8.30am to register. Entry forms are available at any Westpac branch in Brisbane. For further details contact 1300 363 126.
Media: For further information about the International Fair, contact Dr Alexander (telephone 3365 2219) and to find out more about Middle Eastern dancing contact "Princess Shahara" (telephone 07 3369 0832).
