Born from a serendipitous encounter in China, the friendship between Charlene Campbell Carey (director of the Rocky Mountain Ballet School) and Jamal Shah (artist, film director and president of the 2019 Islamabad Art Festival) grew over the years. After Carey's Ballet Beyond Borders competition-show of last August in Los Angeles, Shah invited Carey to IAF 2019.
Carey brought five dancers, her co-director Karen Carreno, a documentarian and a cultural critic to IAF 2019. Hina, the vice president of the Pakistan Arts Council of USC Pacific Asia Museum, served as guide and Urdu interpreter.
From Nov. 14-29, 500 artists, dancers, etc., coming from Pakistan and 39 other countries shared talents, experiences and stories, engaging in comparative “show and tell,” bringing their worlds to Islamabad. Wherever the Montanans performed (on festival stages, at the international Serena Hotel or in a resort on the Margalla mountains), Jennifer (Missoulian ballet teacher, dancer/choreographer), Julia (Brazilian ballerina), Kaya (Salish-Kootenai dancer), Casper (Haitian/Californian rapper), Walter (Mex-American Salsa dancer/choreographer) aroused enthusiasm and spontaneous friendship.
Michel Valentin