Vila Real de Santo António’s SPLASH dance school took first prize in the prestigious Kirovograd Dance Festival held in the Ukraine from April 19 to 21.
The dance school from the far east Algarve beat tough competition from 16 other schools from the Ukraine, Slovenia, the Crimean Peninsula, Russia and Belarus.
The Kirovograd Dance Festival, which this year followed the theme “Friendships and Unity Between Communities”, was an opportunity for SPLASH to display their dance skills to an international audience.
As well as winning the festival, the Portuguese entourage accompanying the dance group also took home the Congeniality Award. José Carlos Barros, Vice-President of the Vila Real de Santo António Câmara, received the award from the festival organisers, an accolade that was given by the public attending the various dance performances.
While in Kirovograd, José Carlos Barros met with members of the local town hall to discuss potential cultural partnerships.
The SPLASH dance group is part of the Cultural and Recreational Association Animashow, which encourages youngsters to take up dancing as an educational art form that enables thew to expand their horizons by participating in national and international contests.
