Essential information
| Type | Events and festivals |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Date and times | Sunday 8 March 2026 | 1.30-3pm |
Join us at the National Maritime Museum for an afternoon of dance to celebrate International Women's Day, honouring the strength and spirit of women.
The event takes place on the Ocean Map and features a diverse line-up of traditional dance forms from around the world, making it a memorable celebration of womanhood, cultural heritage and of women's relationships to the sea.
Event Schedule
1.30-1.40pm: Beats of Polynesia
Traditional medley of music and dance from Pacific nations – celebrating women from the Cook Islands, Samoa, Tonga, Kiribati and Fiji.
1.40-2.10pm: West African dance
Wuntanara perform a traditional West African dance with live African drumming.
2.10-2.20pm: Khaleeji
Join Sabina Oscar as she performs a Middle-Eastern folkloric dance.
2.20-2.30pm: Yemayá
Come and see Damarys Farres as she presents us with Yemayá which is inspired by the Afro-Cuban Orisha goddess of the sea, motherhood, and creation.
2.30-3pm: Bharatanatyam dance
To complete the celebration, come see Pranita Choudhry as she performs traditional Bharatanatyam dance followed by an interactive experience.
Join our super fun and relaxed 15 mins Bollywood and Bhangra dance session with Pranita Choudhry and Kavya Iyer Ramalingam. If you are a dance enthusiast, curious, professional or an absolute beginner, this taste of the world of folk and Bollywood dance is for you! Children are also welcome.
About the performers and their dances
About Wuntanara
Wuntanara, which means 'we are together,' was founded by Master Drummer Souleymane Compo in 2009. The group's mission is to share and promote the vibrant traditions of West African music, dance, and culture across the UK. They offer exceptional classes and workshops in African drumming and dance and deliver thrilling live performances. Wuntanara is honoured to participate in the National Maritime Museum Dance Fest for International Women’s Day 2026.
Follow @wuntanara_official on Instagram
About Moribayassa and Yankadi
During the event, Wuntanara will showcase two traditional dances performed by women in West Africa:
Moribayassa is a ceremonial women’s dance from the Malinke people of West Africa. It is traditionally used as a way for women to express emotions, seek spiritual cleansing, and release negativity, inviting positive energy. The dance also serves to pay tribute to ancestors and connect with the natural world.
Yankadi, originating from the Susu people of southwest Guinea, is a lively social dance with a rhythm that brings young people together. Usually danced by men and women aged 15 to 25, Yankadi celebrates courtship and seduction. The name itself translates as 'here is good' or 'something good', reflecting the joyful and welcoming spirit of the occasion.
About Sabina
Sabina is a professional belly dancer based in London. She has been belly dancing for almost 8 years and loves the deep oriental history and symbolism it holds. For Sabina, it is a celebration of femininity. Through dance, she connects to strength, softness, and self-expression, sharing stories that honour tradition while feeling alive and modern on stage.
Follow @swanbellydance on Instagram
About Khaleeji
Khaleeji is a Middle-Eastern folkloric dance and is all about femininity, grace, and joy. The soft upper body movements, gentle shoulder shimmies, and flowing hair swings highlight beauty and confidence in a very natural way. It’s deeply connected to Gulf culture and heritage, with dancers wearing the traditional thobe nashal, often using it to frame movements or mimic the flow of the sea. The hair movements, especially when done together, show pride, respect, and honour, traditionally used to welcome important guests. Many of the arm and dress movements reflect waves of the sea, a reminder of the region’s strong connection to the ocean and pearling history. Above all, Khaleeji is a happy, social dance – often starting solo and growing into a group – celebrating unity, womanhood, and shared joy.
About Damarys
Damarys Farres is a Cuban-born dancer, choreographer, and teacher based in London, known for her warm, grounded approach to Afro-Cuban dance and cultural heritage. With more than two decades' experience, she is the founder of The Cuban School and a pioneering figure in the UK Afro-Cuban dance scene.
Her work centres on sharing Afro-Cuban traditions through teaching, live music, and embodied storytelling, informed by extensive research and cultural exchange across Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, and the UK. A strong thread throughout her practice is empowering women through movement, rhythm, and connection, inviting audiences to experience culture as something living, felt, and shared.
About Yemayá
Yemayá is inspired by the Afro-Cuban Orisha goddess of the sea, motherhood, and creation. Rooted in traditional Afro-Cuban movement, the piece explores feminine strength, intuition, resilience, and care. It reflects my ongoing work with women, using dance and music as tools for connection, reflection, and empowerment.
Presented within the context of International Women’s Day, Yemayá honours women as cultural carriers and sources of continuity, protection, and transformation.
Read more about The Cuban School here.
About Pranita Choudhry
Pranita is an interdisciplinary London-based artist, dancer, choreographer, and educator, with Bharatanatyam as the core of her artistic language. She has been learning and training with Padmasri Smt. Geeta Chandran in New Delhi and performed with the Natya Vriksha Dance Collective across various festivals in India. Since relocating to the UK eight years ago, she has also performed solo and as part of ensembles at recognised venues such as the Royal Festival Hall, the Southbank Centre, and the Nehru Centre, among others. Her work moves fluidly through different mediums including dance, writing, photography and through classical traditions and contemporary contexts allowing for cross-disciplinary exploration. As a published dance writer, she contributes to UK’s leading dance magazines including PulseConnects and Dance Art Journal, examining movement through cultural, critical, and embodied lenses. Her dance photographic practice further extends this inquiry, treating dance as a visual archive and contemporary narrative, with her most recent solo dance photography exhibition hosted at the Nehru Centre in March 2025. As a choreographer, her work is driven by a need to tie in dance and activism and articulate what is often left unspoken, with her most recent thematic work being commissioned and presented at Pagrav Dance Company’s annual showcase in July 2025, interweaving Indian classical dance styles including Bharatanatyam and Kathak.
About Bharatanatyam
Pranita will be presenting Bharatanatyam pieces embodying Shakti – the feminine and living force of the universe – creative, nurturing, fierce, and transformative. She exists in softness and strength, stillness and dynamism, creation and destruction. In her presentation, Pranita explores the body as a resonant space for thought, sound, movement, immersing and experiencing the power within.
