This Indigenous Dance Group From Sabah Just Won Big At The 2017 Dance World Cup Finals

The Sabah United Tobilung Association (Tobisa) Dance Group from Kota Marudu has successfully won several medals and awards at the recent 2017 Dance World Cup (DWC) in Offenburg, Germany.

The 13-member indigenous dance troupe managed to beat more than 4,000 dancers from 40 different countries to rise to the top in several categories during the world finals held from 24 June to 1 July.

Out of the group, ten members bagged the gold medal for the Dance Impact category and were selected for the Chairman’s Choice Award.

In the Junior Solo category, 17-year-old Matinin Sungkin won the gold medal, whereas 11-year-old Mohamad Farihin Abdulah won bronze in the Children Solo category.

In a New Straits Times report, Tobisa head coach and choreographer Mohd Hairul Nazmie was quoted as saying that the group actually didn’t have enough time to rehearse for a lot of the categories, but they were still able to consistently earn top 10 positions in most of them.

What an amazing feat! Congratulations to the talented dancers!

This was not the first time Tobisa represented Malaysia in the competition, and certainly not their first successful outing on the world stage.

This year marks the fourth consecutive DWC final for Tobisa since their debut in 2014.

In the past three world finals, they have also won a total of five gold medals, four silver medals and six bronze medals.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan congratulated the group and said that the Kota Belud parliamentary office will continue to provide support to enable and inspire the state to produce more young talents in the near future.

The DWC is known as the industry’s greatest all-genre dance competition for children and young adults from across the world.