On Saturday 12 February, 2022, 6 countries united to celebrate their common denominator: they are all lucky enough to have officially recognised Wonders within their national borders. These Wonders were all elected in New7Wonders voting campaigns. Vietnam, Brazil, Argentina, Indonesia, Colombia and Cuba celebrated their Wonders on the Jubilee Stage at Expo 2020 Dubai with traditional performances from their respective nations.
President of New7Wonders Bernard Weber gave a short speech at the event, in which he expressed his gratitude to the participating nations’ performers for giving the audience “a taste of their culture and their joy of life” and also to Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and his dedicated governmental team “for having had this incredible vision and persistence”.
Within the context of the event, Weber also spoke of the goals behind New7Wonders, an organisation that strives to bring people together in recognition of what unites rather than what divides them: ”I founded this project as a Millennium project so that people from all over the world can be heard and can have a voice. And so far, we have received 600 million votes from people from all corners of the world to elect the New 7 Wonders of the World, man-made and natural. These canons of 7 Wonders will become global memory. 7 things that everybody on this planet, for future generations, will and can remember forever.” With these goals in mind, the audience settled in for a performance that celebrated cultural diversity and heritage through music, song and dance. Let’s take a closer look at the participating countries’ performances here:
Vietnam
Vietnamese artists performed traditional music and dance against a backdrop of scenes of Ha Long Bay, one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. At the event, Vietnamese Ambassador Nguyen Manh Tuan spoke about the unique and majestic landscapes that lend Ha Long Bay its outstanding beauty. Traditional bamboo instruments were played during the event, as the bamboo tree is symbolically connected to the notion of vitality, as it can withstand extreme weather conditions.
Argentina
Argentine tango dancers performed in front of a backdrop of Iguazu Falls, the nation’s New 7 Wonder of Nature. Iguazu Falls is the largest group of waterfalls in the world, with the entire structure spanning 8,858 feet in width and 269 feet in height.
Brazil
Brazilian performers celebrated the country’s unique status as the home of three Wonders: Christ the Redeemer, Iguazu Falls and the Amazon. This trio of Wonders was celebrated by a Brazilian dance troupe. The audience enjoyed a lively samba show that featured brightly coloured carnival costumes.
Indonesia
Indonesian dancers took to the stage in honour of Komodo, one of the 17,508 islands that make up the Republic of Indonesia. The site is one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature and is also home to the largest lizard on Earth, the Komodo dragon.
Colombia
Cayena Col Folk, a group of traditional Colombian performers, enthralled the audience with a medley of Colombian folklore, which they performed through music, song and dance on the Jubilee stage. This part of the show was in honour of the Colombian portion of the Amazon.
Cuba
Cubache, a Cuban band, took to the Jubilee Stage in honour of the city of Havana, one of the New 7 Wonders Cities. The audience enjoyed rumba and chacha melodies and dances.
