Kazakhstan - not only corruption, farmers and Borat

Sophie Team Observers — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:45:38 +0200

Kazakhstan rarely makes it into the news. Most people's knowledge of the country rests on a corrupt post-soviet record, a tyrannical dictator, and last but not least, the 2006 box office hit, Borat. But as the following videos demonstrate, Kazhaks have a fantastic sense of both humour and rhythm.

French president Nicolas Sarkozy is in the country today signing lucrative contracts on behalf of France's oil giants. Human rights associations however are worried that the merry occasion will send the wrong message about a country that has a history of human rights abuses and democratic failings.

As is often pointed out by the international community, Kazakhstan is far from a fair democracy. The country's most recent election, which extended President Nursultan Nazerbayev's unbroken rule since the fall of the Soviet Union, was widely criticised for falling short of international democratic standards. Since then, the country's parliament has approved an amendment which allows Nazerbayev to seek as many terms as he wishes.

Not only does the country suffer a bad rap in politics, but its reputation as a people is also unflattering - something not helped by Sasha Baron Cohen's 2006 "mockumentary", Borat. Despite this backward depiction however, young Kazakhs are in fact keeping track of their Western counterparts. So much so, that they've already adopted the modern Parisian dance movement tecktonik - and are even posting videos of themselves doing it online.

The Tecktonik dance craze sweeps Morocco

Julien — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 16:08:00 +0100

For more than a year the French streets and metro stations have been invaded by ‘tecktonik’ dancers. Born out of a mix of electro and hip-hop moves in a suburban nightclub, the dance has now found its way onto the shores of Morocco. Young Moroccans haven’t only adopted the popping and locking dance-moves, they’ve also taken on the ‘Nu Rave’ style clothing and futuristic hair cuts to match. Not quite fitting with traditional Moroccan culture, the wave hasn’t gone down quite so well with older generations.