Successful festival participation in Faro/Portugal! – Folkloretanzensemble "Thea Maass"

Year after year, our participation in international folklore festivals and dance competitions as well as numerous regional performances have enabled us to further develop the cultural cultivation and artistic interpretation of German dance folklore, making us one of the most distinguished amateur dance groups in Germany even after 66 years.

In summer 2016, we were invited by CIOFF Portugal to perform with 28 ensemble members. will be the first German group to take part in the International Folklore Festival FOLKFARO in Faro/Portugal from August 19 to 29, 2016. Groups from six countries also took part:Brazil, France, Georgia, Kenya, Philippines and Portugal. The artistic level of all participating groups was very high and our diverse German folklore repertoire was perceived as an enriching contrast.

>> More photos from our festival participation …

In addition to the presentation in the opening program in the large Teatro das Figuras and in the closing program on the large harbour stage in Faro, the ensemble presented all eleven intensively prepared choreographies in a total of six programs lasting 20-40 minutes on various stages and podiums in locations in the Portuguese Algarve and even in Spain at the Festival Internacional de Danzas de Villablanca. The ensemble also organized a German folklore dance workshop with the participating groups and guests, which met with a positive response. This resulted in numerous personal encounters between the international festival participants. The members also danced together with Portuguese children, young people and senior citizens in a social center. The program also included two parades, a concert by our instrumental group and participation in a church festival ceremony on the theme of “Folklore and Peace”. The ensemble was able to strengthen its sense of togetherness during joint training sessions, but also during various leisure activities from the Atlantic to sightseeing. The international and dance-loving young dancers from Dresden, who had their festival premiere with us this time, also felt very well integrated into the group. This cultural exchange was a sustainably enriching experience not only for all the individual participants, but also for our ensemble as a whole and its positive impact beyond Dresden after FOLKFARO 2016!

Zusammengefasste Eindrücke vom Internationalen Folklorefestival FOLKFARO:

We would like to thank the Society of Friends and Sponsors of TU Dresden for their kind support of this project, at the Office for Culture and Monument Protection of the City of Dresden, at the German Embassy Lisbon with funds from the Foreign Office, at theStudent Work Dresden and the Student Council of the TU Dresden, without whom this festival trip would not have been possible in order to successfully appear as ambassadors of the Technische Universität Dresden, the city of Dresden and the Federal Republic of Germany in front of an international audience.

Project sponsor: