Tuesday, March 19, 2024 | Ramadan 8, 1445 H
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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Playing with fire

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A 15-member troupe from Serbia and Belarus entertained the Salalah Tourism Festival (STF) visitors with dazzling show of fire dance. Their shows were not only eye catching, they were one of the biggest crowd pullers at the STF venue in Itin. The event was like heating up your evening at this year’s festival. The performers gave breathtaking high-energy shows that featured choreographed fire acts that amazed everyone watching. Their diverse sets were made up of highly skilled circus performers who perform fire acts involving fire hoops, poi, acrobatics and fire breathing.


The group members from Serbia included Natalia Lishik, Naya Mekorevich, Arten Somolyak and Luka, while Djurdja Pavlovic, Olvic Dusko and Artem were from Belarus. All of them mesmerised the audience with their dancing stunts.


The performers were amazingly enthusiastic about their job. Luka from Serbia enjoys her job of playing with fire, dancing with the people, visiting countries through her job and the most important she has been doing the job with love. The event company she is associated with performs all over Europe and many other countries.


Djurdja is a passionate theatre artist from Serbia. She loves dancing and does performances in alternative theatre. She has done many performances in many countries and loved to be in Oman, particularly Salalah where she got to witness authentic Omani heritage and culture.


Luka does at least 12 performances in a year. She has a family business of making traditional clothes, mainly T-shirts. Though fire show is her hobby, she does it on a professional level.


Among the Belarusians, Naya is a professional fire show artist and a leader of fire and light events. She has expertise in doing fire and light setting for international events and she takes classes in fire show as well.


Her Salalah experience was very good due to fine weather and very hospitable people. While starting from her country, she was not prepared for such a nice treat that she received in Salalah.


Natalia has been doing the fire shows for the last five years. She loves her work that led her to countries like India, Oman and Germany. She writes programmes for children about hunting and ecology. Travel and tourism is her first passion which took her to so many countries that she herself fails to count.


Some of the first timers doing the fire shows were Dusko and Jovana Bozic. Dusko did a candid admission that he was not very fond of doing the show. “Little bit, I can say. Basically I am a traveller. In course of travel this show came in my way and I thought like trying this new thing… I keep on moving from one place to another. Though I am born in Belarus, I keep on moving in search of ‘my home’ and this is called ‘traveller syndrome’. I love this syndrome, my wife and son also move along with me,” he said.


Jovana is an actress. As a classic theatre artist, she has done a few serials. She likes to explore new skills and participation in this fire show was also part of that. “I liked it because the movements here are similar to acting and dancing. Moreover, it allowed me to see a new country. I liked Oman for many things, mainly for its respect for heritage and culture.”


Artem from Belarus was most wanted by the children at the festival ground. His balancing act on long stilts kept everyone awestruck. He has been doing the stilt fire show for the last four years and this was his third visit to Oman. He came twice to Muscat to take part in Muscat Festival.


With so many diverse artistes, the fire show turned out to be one of the best programmes in the festival. The show was a key moment for the visitors, as they were found waiting for it in advance.


Kaushalendra Singh


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