Kota Kinabalu: Dancers of Parhakow Dance Theatre continued to excel when they once again managed to qualify for the final stage of the Dance World Cup scheduled to be held in Dublin, Ireland this July after winning the Dance World Cup Malaysia Qualifier competition held at the Sabah National Department of Culture and Arts (JKKN) on March 28 to 29 2026.
The leader of the dance group, who is also the choreographer, Brandon Balasius, said the success was achieved through four representatives who competed in the solo and duo categories, with excellent achievements and performances full of Borneo cultural elements.
“For the duo category, the pair of Mohamad Haykal from Sabah and Dion Das Louis from Sarawak won the Silver Medal through their performance titled “Kanjet Lian Sura”.
“The performance was inspired by the Orang Ulu community’s fairy tales, which featured unique elements of tradition and cultural storytelling,” he told Bernama.
He said in the women’s solo category, Mirdarline Marios won the Champion (Gold Medal) through her performance “Saga’ Leto” which was also inspired by the Orang Ulu community’s culture in Sarawak, thus showcasing the subtlety of traditional dance.
Meanwhile, Brandon said Dyeneley Daud recorded an excellent achievement when he won the Gold Medal for the men’s solo category through his performance themed “Rentap”, which was inspired by the famous Sarawak warrior figure, Rentap, a feared Iban warrior who fought against the Brooke colonialism in Sarawak (19th century) in order to defend the sovereignty of the homeland.
“The performance also qualified him to be crowned The Most Outstanding Solo Senior, thus emerging as the overall winner of the category,” he said, who is also the costume designer for both categories.
He said all of these achievements qualified them to perform at the final stage of the Dance World Cup in Dublin, thus proving the ability and superiority of the dance art with Borneo identity on the international stage.
Two years ago, Parhakow Dance Theatre, guided by Brandon and joined by three students from Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Bingkor, Keningau, brought glory to the country when they won two gold medals and two main awards at the 2024 Dance World Cup competition in Prague, Czech Republic.
