A success story of Uzbekistan’s national art in Spain’s Valencia The performance of the renowned Uzbek ensemble ‘Sabo’ at the gala concert during the International Festival of Music and Traditional Dance in Valencia has been organized by the Representative Office of the Fund Forum in Madrid under the assistance of the Embassy of Uzbekistan in Spain. The beauty and uniqueness of the national Uzbek dances were given high appraisal by the foreign audience.

The International Festival of Music and Traditional Dance has been organized for ten years, annually bringing together popular folk bands from all different countries to Valencia, demonstrating their unique national art and musical culture, as well as talent and skills of participants. To the tradition, the creative competition takes place in the Plaza de la Virgen Central Square in Valencia, where more than two hundred spectators assemble.

The organization of the festival is aimed at widening and strengthening of cultural ties between peoples of the world and called promoting the development of musical and folklore traditions, as well as popularization of various national cultures. This year participants considerably grew in number – it is for the first time their art presented the Nova Geração folk group from Brazil, Krasnogorsk folk band of song and dance from Russia, Kassuomaye de Dalifort national ballet from Senegal, and Sabo ensemble from Uzbekistan.

Sabo ensemble, created in 2003, is hugely popular in Uzbekistan. It represents all the richness and expressiveness of three main schools of national Uzbek dance – the Farghona, Bukhoro and Khorazm. The ensemble demonstrates the beauty and singularity of national dances of various regions of Uzbekistan, thereby preserving and multiplying the cultural heritage of the country.

The performance of the Sabo in Valencia aroused true admiration and storm of applauses of numerous spectators. Uzbek national dances performed in accompaniment of national instruments and supplemented with bright decorations and colorific costumes enjoyed huge success with the foreign audience. At the concert the ensemble from Uzbekistan represented the special features of the national Karakalpak, Bukhoro, Surkhondaryo, Tashkent, Farghona and Khorazm dances.

Furthermore, there has been organized the presentation of the activity of the Fund Forum within the festival. The Uzbek side presented the president of the festival Manuel Kamarasa Navalon with the Bukhoro robe and book ‘Fund Forum Presents Uzbekistan.’ In his speech of gratitude Manuel Kamarasa Navalon noted that the residents of Valencia were hugely impressed of the highly professional performance of the artists from Uzbekistan. According to the head of the festival, Uzbek national dance is very rich and diverse, and the performance of Sabo ensemble is the inimitable Eastern color, combining in itself the brightness and perfect acting. He also attracted the interest of one of the local dancing ensembles to participate in the Asrlar Sadosi Festival of Traditional Culture, adding that it would serve the further strengthening of friendly ties and cultural relations between Uzbekistan and Spain.(Source: Uzbekistan Today newspaper)