Cultural Extravaganza

I went to watch the Cultural Extravaganza at UMS last night. It was a cultural celebration with dance/cultural performances from various countries including one from Sabah of course.

The event supposedly starts at 7.30pm and ends at 10.30pm. Well, that's what they put in the program book. But....... it started an HOUR late. Imagine for us who came at 6ish (the seats were based on free-seating) and we had to wait freakin' 2 hours to watch the performance! Considering they're having the event on school/work nights, in my case Sunday Night, I wish they would start on time.

The event started with local dances: Pankulian Nabuluh, Ramatuo Rahaling, Igal-igal and also Medley of Kadazan-Dusun Murut dances. One local dance that I particularly like is the Pangkulian Nabuluh dance which was performed by children which I assumed around the age of 7-9 years old. They wore colorful and sparkly outfits, and they danced so gracefully (youngsters are easier to bend their bodies huh?). The other local dances I thought were just ok. Few of performances I thought were too many dancers on the stage at one time, that it looked a bit crowded. Con said it might be that they wanted to show the "EXTRA-VAGANZA-ness" of our local culture.

After the local dances, it was time for other countries performances from Scotland, Ireland, Poland, Spanish Castanuelas, Maori, and Kenya. I like... the Spanish dance!!! The moves are soooo sexy.. Heheheh... It made me wanted to learn to speak Spanish and dance like J-Lo in Dance with Me!

At 10pm, they had intermission giving way to local artists performing few songs. I wish they didn't have the singing-part, it just put me to zzz-land. I realized almost half of the audience especially those with kids left the auditorium during the intermission. By the time they finished singing, it was already 11pm!

I started feeling sleepy and dizzy during the singing part. When they continued the international performances, the big hype was gone since half of the audience have left. They continued with the other performances: Viva Brasil, Safari Cats-Kenya, Maori NZ, Ireland and Spanish. By the time all the international performances finished, the clock already stroke midnight! I had been yawning many times and my head was heavy trying to fight off sleepiness.

I didn't stay until the end of the show. I went home at midnight, and reached home before 12.30am. I can't imagine if I had stayed until the end, I'd reach home at 1am and had to force myself to wake up at 7am this morning for work!

Overall, I enjoyed some of the performances. I said some because I felt some dances were repetitive and too long :) But for those who want to watch this show, they have scheduled performances for tonight and tomorrow night. My last advice is don't go on the final day, they have speeches and everything, you wouldn't want to go home at 2 am right?

Go check it out if you want to be cultured...