Luanda — Maritza Lopes, a Cuban teacher specialised in folkloric dance, on Monday in Luanda defended the need for deeper research so that folkloric styles can done with essence, in its various aesthetic forms.

Speaking to the press, on the fringe of an artistic training organised by the Culture Ministry, Maritza Lopes stressed that Angola does not do folkloric dance, what it does is mixing the traditional and the modern, without highlighting the true regional roots.

She explained that folkloric dances are preserved by repetition, they change with the time, but the basic steps and the music remain close to the original.

"All countries have some kind of folkloric dance and most of them belong only to that nation", she explained.

"The dances from the Lunda region (east) are the ones that still try to preserve the genuine style, keeping the roots, but there is a need to do a serious research work, but that depends also on more training and research", she said.

The workshop, which will last seven days, was attended by representatives of several dance groups.