Salsa, hip-hop and ballet for weekend?

The Dubai Dance Festival returns this weekend with more dance performances, a larger variety of dance styles, a new musical play and for the first time in three years workshops for non-dancers.?

The additions are part of an attempt to attract a larger audience than in previous years, said Founder and Organiser Ahmed Abdallah.

"After seeing the Dubai International Film Festival, I realised there should be a platform where the entire dance community comes together on one stage," he told Emirates Business, adding that the event, which is in its third year, has moved to The First Group Theatre at Madinat Jumeirah to cater to a larger audience.

"[The move] will allow us to cater to about 2,000 to 2,500 spectators for the play and performances this time – which is a considerable increase from the 1,500 people who attended in previous years. Including the workshops, which are being held at the Ibis Hotel Dubai World Trade Centre, he expects some 4,000 festival attendees.

The festival features over 25 dance styles, including salsa, rumba, hip-hop and ballet and over 100 local and international dancers will demonstrate their finest moves all weekend.

Events kick off today with the premiere of a new musical play, Believe Me, I'm A Dancer, an amalgamation of diverse dance styles performed by a cast of 60. "Show director Eric Lalta, a popular name in salsa, and I have handpicked different dance groups from around the world and made a story line. So you can say if dancers from Dubai may be performing salsa, dancers from the UK may be performing hip-hop," Abdallah said. He is also the producer of the play.

A homegrown production might find favour with UAE residents. Filipino Dance Port, a non-profit social club based in Dubai, will perform a series of short segments based around the cha-cha, rumba and jive dance forms throughout the programme. "We opted out of salsa because Ahmed said it is a very common dance form. So we thought we could do a few different dance styles for the audience," said Gina Salazar, founder of the group.

Another enticing part of the Dubai Dance Festival are the dance workshops. Under professional guidance, anyone can get the rhythm right.

There are over 15 dance forms to choose from, with classes running tomorrow and the day after. Each course costs Dh150. Workshops are also open to trained dancers who would like to sharpen their dancing skills.

Holding workshops in four different dance styles is Moe Flex, owner of the United Kingdom-based Moe Flex Dance Company. His workshops will be rueda, reggaeton, salsa and musicality, where participants can learn how music impacts dance.

"It is important that the dancers understand the music, musicality makes them do just that," he said.

But fans looking to emulate their favourite A-list movie stars will need to wait until next year, when Abdallah wants to launch a Bollywood component. "We wanted to have Bollywood dancing this year, but it wasn't possible. Next year for sure!"

- The third Annual Dance Festival runs until Saturday. Details are available at www.dancefestivaldubai.com