Colombian Dance comes to South Armagh

South Armagh's Traditional Arts Partnership are looking forward to a special event St Mary's Primary School, Mullaghbawn this Thursday 28 November from 8.15 - 9pm when Genesis Quintero a musician from Colombia a lady famous for her work with girls education and peace building will host a group discussion and a dance workshop. The event is aimed for 15 - 18 year olds. Genesis is the founder of Genesis Stars Foundation, a school meeting the needs of girls and children using music in education. Genesis is also a beauty queen, with over 16 crowns to her name including Miss Grand Colombia.

Genesis use her success to contribute to peace building in Colombia by protecting and empowering children and young women in Arauca, one of the most affected regions by the Colombian armed conflict. Genesis is also a member of the ArtsDialogue collective an international intergenerational team of musicians, artists, producers, writers & peace activists.

Local organisation Beyond Skin have organised the event. The group have worked during the last 15 years contributing to peacebuilding in NI through creative solutions with international and local artists. In Northern Ireland, the Executive Office has funded for the first time the initiative Youth4Peace, an international movement to encourage youth to be peace ambassadors, peacebuilders and agents for positive change.

Genesis will hold a conversation with different groups discussing about the Colombian armed conflict, peace process and how does Genesis use her success to protect and empower young women, is it a contradiction to promote the unrealistic expectations of beauty competitions or a useful tool for engagement? At the same time, she will be developing some dancing workshops about the typical dance called joropo from the region of Arauca in Colombia.

Beyond Skin are leading the #youth4peace initiative in Northern Ireland as a member representative of UNOY (United Network of Young Peacebuilders), a network of youth peacebuilding organisations worldwide. Since 2012 UNOY have been working intensively towards the adoption of resolution 2250, engaging with young people, peacebuilding organisations and policy makers.