EGYPTIAN Belly Dance, Zimbabwean Folk, Cuban Salsa - these are just some of the dances on offer on Saturday at a special Ip-Art event.

EGYPTIAN Belly Dance, Zimbabwean Folk, Cuban Salsa - these are just some of the dances on offer on Saturday at a special Ip-Art event.

The event entitled Big Dance Goes East is organised by dance organisation DanceEast and takes to the stage of the Ipswich Corn Exchange from midday until 6pm.

A spokeswoman for DanceEast said: “There's six hours of non-stop dance on offer with a programme of open-to-anyone dance classes, from ballet to ballroom, musical theatre to Latin American, hip hop to belly dancing and there's something for all ages and abilities.

“There are even classes for tiny tots to try out their first dance steps.”

Big Dance Goes East is followed by Big Dance into the Night from 7pm to 1am.

The spokeswoman added: “The day-long dance celebrations move into the evening with a fabulous show of world dance, headlined by internationally acclaimed dance company Hofesh Schecter performing their high energy all male award-winning Uprising.

“DanceEast's Ipswich-based youth dance company, JS, will follow with a performance of a specially commissioned piece by East Anglian dance artist and choreographer Isobel Cohen.

Community Service Volunteers (CSV) and Ipswich Community Radio are presenting the rest of the evening's world dance showcase with performances by Egyptian, Indian and Portuguese dancers.

The spokeswoman added: “The night's finale is a World Music party with DJ and dancing to the early hours.”

Do you enjoy dance? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or send an e-mail to eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk