Creative Family and Under Top Government (UTG) dance crews, emerged as Teso North and Teso South, champions, respectively, during auditions at Amagoro KNUT Hall, sponsored by Talanta Express in partnership with the Young Women Founders Network.
The competition, which targets to nurture dance and music talents across the county, according to Emmanuel Nalengwe representing Talanta Express, will be held in all seven sub-counties, including Nambale, Butula, Matayos, Samia, and Bunyala, to determine the overall 2023 County Champions.
“The County finals will be held on August 12th, 2023, at Busia Polytechnic, starting at 10 a.m.; it will coincide with International Youth’s Day,” he said, noting that the aim of the event is to enable the youths to showcase their talents through performance and entertainment.
The event aligns with the United Nations Day theme: Accelerating the Recovery from COVID-19 and the Full Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at All Levels.
Nalengwe noted that the dance battle 2023 gives an opportunity for the youths to voice critical issues on sustainable development through the art of dance as a way of accelerating recovery from COVID-19.
“There is a need for parents, sponsors, and the leadership of the County and National governments to come together and support the youth in nurturing their talents to enable them to fend for themselves,” he said.
Nalengwe singled out the performance of five-member team dance crews from Teso North and Teso South for being exemplary, with dancers exhibiting potential energy to confirm their desire to put their best foot forward during the explosive finals.
“This is the first time Talanta Express has organised the event in Teso North and Teso South Sub-counties for the last 10 years when it was inaugurated; we used to organise it only in Nambale, but beginning this year, we opted to roll it out across the county,” he added.
Nalengwe noted that apart from team dance, they have also been organising other categories, including modelling, spoken word and comedy, singing, and solo dance, noting that the categories come both in solo and group. He urged the youth with other skills to showcase them.
Talanta Express is a programme that deals with scouting, nurturing, and promoting talents. The programme, which is of the transformational youth group, started in 2014 with objectives that include talent monetization, youth business exhibition, opportunities engagement, business management talk, and bringing together youth on their space in Agenda 2030 on sustainable development at all levels.
Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Sports, and Heritage, Ababu Namwamba, who is behind Talanta Hela, which is geared towards talent nurturing, is expected to grace the occasion among other dignitaries.
By Absalom Namwalo
