CNMI holds 1st annual dance fest

Five local dance groups showed up at the First Annual Marianas Traditional Dance Festival held Saturday at Kilili Beach Park.

Despite “minor glitches,” the Commonwealth Council for Arts and Culture, which organized the event, was pleased with the outcome of the project.

“It’s pretty good today despite a couple of dropouts,” said Robert Hunter, executive director of the arts council.

Seven groups were originally set to perform, but Hunter said two groups “called in sick.”

As a result, the program which was originally scheduled to run until 7:00 PM packed up four hours earlier.

A good crowd gathered at the park during the first few performances, but it dispersed due to “gaps in between the performers’ preparations,” Hunter said.

Nevertheless, Hunter said the council was more interested in taking the project off the ground and launching it to become an annual event for Chamorro and Carolinian dances.

“With this event, we hope to encourage the formation of more dance groups, and the inclusion of traditional dance programs in school, ” Hunter said.

“We want this to grow huge eventually and we hope to get more people involved next year,” he added.