New Delhi, July 23 - Samba, Salsa, Zouk, Lambada, Forro, Frevo ... As Indians wake up to the joys of popular Latin American dances, Brazil Thursday announced India as the maiden venue for a World Dance Festival to be held September 10-13 in Gurgaon, a town adjacent to Delhi.

The festival, organised by Latin American cosmetics giant Surya Brasil, to be held at the Leela Kempinski in Gurgaon, is supported by the embassies of Brazil, Cuba, Venezuela, Dominican Republic and Ecuador and will bring 15 top Latin American performers to India and also feature Indian artists.

The organisers are expecting more than 1,000 participants at the three-day dance carnival, which will include 72 tutorial workshops, from countries like Brazil, India, the host nation, the US, France, the Britain, Australia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, Colombia, South Africa and Serbia.

'We want to bring together dance enthusiasts from across the country and introduce them to different forms of dancing which are unique and new to India. We have also included Indian dance forms to make it international,' Raquel Novals, brand head of Surya Brasil in India, said Thursday at a press conference while announcing the festival with embassy representatives.

Part of the proceeds from the festival will be donated for treatment of spinal injuries in India, protection of children and People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

'The dances to be showcased at the festival include Forro, Saloon dance (for wheelchair users), salsa, hip-hop, street dance, jazz, Zouk, Zouk-arabe, capoiera, samba, pagode, lambada, frevo, house, video dance, Kathak, popular Bollywood dances and Punjabi folk dances,' Novals said.

The line-up of performers is impressive. 'Indians for the first will have the opportunity to see and learn from world-famous dancers like Carla Lazazzera and Sheila Mello, Latin rhythms teachers like Douglas Mohmari, zouk master Philip Miha, hip hop artist Bianchini, Kaytee Namgyal, founder of the largest Salsa school in India, and Kathak exponent Uma Sharma,' Novals said.