Students from the Malaysia Arts School of Johor (SSeMJ) were the Grand Prix Award winners at the International Competition & Folklore Dance & Music Festival Prague Stars 2017 in the Czech capital over the weekend.
Impressively, twelve participants, six each in dance and in music categories, beat 59 other competitors from more than 10 countries at the two-day festival, that began on November 2. The students were aged between 13 and 16.
New Straits Times was at KLIA when the school’s senior assistant landed from the competition. He told them that it was “the first win by a Malaysian team at the competition organized by the European Association of Folklore Festivals.”
SSeMJ’s winning dance performance featured the unique saucer dance from Negri Sembilan.
In the music portion, the six students played a combination of traditional instruments including the tabla, gendang, rebana, seruling, caklempong and gabus.
He added that the biggest challenge that the students faced during the competition was the cold weather in the Czech Republic, compared to balmier temperatures back home. Averaging between 10 – 12 degrees Celsius, the team used hairdryers and heaters in their hotel to ensure that their instruments stayed at their ideal temperature.
Congratulations SSeMJ – the entire country is cheering.
