Press
release
Contact:
Nina Sazevich (415) 752-2483
nina@worldartswest.org
29th Annual San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival
World Arts West Presents Three Weekends of World Dance and Music
June 9 & 10; 16 & 17; 23 & 24, 2007
SAN FRANCISCO-- Take an unforgettable journey around the world
as you experience the breathtaking beauty and explosive energy
of the highly acclaimed and ever-popular 29th Annual San
Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival. This year, twenty nine companies representing
dance traditions from 20 cultures and featuring more than three
hundred of Northern California’s most respected dancers and
musicians will perform Saturdays at 2 & 8 p.m. and Sundays
at 2 p.m. on June 9 & 10; 16 & 17; and 23 & 24, 2007
at the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre in San Francisco with a special
Opening Night Gala on Saturday, June 9 at 6 p.m. This year’s
theme is Evocations with a different line up of performers each
weekend (full list by weekend follows this release).
On any given weekend, Festival audiences are guaranteed to see
an extraordinary cross section of Northern California’s top
ethnic dance performers, many of whom are accompanied by world-class
musicians. More than 100 ensembles and soloists auditioned over
four days to land a coveted spot in this year’s Festival,
considered the largest and most prestigious gathering of its kind
in the country. The event repeatedly draws some of the most spectacular
and high energy groups in the area. Returning for their 9th time
to the Festival is audience favorite Barbary Coast Cloggers with
their rowdy spirit and red-hot footwork. Also returning this year
are Theater Flamenco, El Tunante, Instituto Mazatlan Bellas Artes
de Sacramento, Dunsmuir Scottish Dancers, Abinaya Dance Company
of San Jose and many more.
New this year are four specially commissioned original dance works
that will enjoy their world premieres at the Festival. With the
support of the San Francisco Foundation, World Arts West, producer
of the Festival, has developed an exciting program to foster the
creation of new work by important, local artists, including Diamano
Coura West African Dance Company and Jyoti Kala Mandir College
of Classical Arts. Another commission, funded by the James Irvine
Foundation, will showcase Charya Burt, founder of Charya Burt Classical
Cambodian Dance, who was inspired to create an exciting new work
based on Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie.”
This kind of innovation and experimentation by traditional artists
is one of the reasons World Arts West decided to launch this unique
incubator program. “Many people think that traditional dance
forms are static,” says Julie Mushet, Executive Director. “But
the truth is that fabulous new works are being created by dancers
working in traditional forms all around us. This year’s Festival illuminates the fact that traditional artists are contemporary
artists as well, and many of the artists on the Festival stage
are simultaneously preserving traditional dance forms and experimenting
in exciting and unprecedented ways.” Audiences will also
have the rare treat to see the premieres of new works by the Lily
Cai Chinese Dance Company, Likha Philipino Folk Ensemble, Hearan
Chung, Ensambles Ballet Folklorico de San Francisco, and Te Mana
O Te Ra.
Of course, one of the thrills of attending the Festival is also
being among the first to see some of the area’s best emerging,
new talents. Shabnam, a belly dancer from Oakland, is one of the
most awarded dancers in her style in the country and makes her
first appearance in the Festival this year. Also appearing for
the first time is Al Juthoor, a Palestinian ensemble; Tara Catherine
Pandeya, with a special woman’s solo dance from Tajikistan;
Leung’s White Crane Lion and Dragon Dance Association, who
will amaze audiences as they perform standing atop 6-foot high
poles, and more.
On June 9, the opening night of the Festival, World Arts
West’s
Board of Directors hosts an Opening Night Gala and reception from
6 to 8 p.m. The public is invited to attend this annual fundraiser
featuring food and wine from some of San Francisco’s top
restaurants, an exciting auction, and the evening’s exhilarating
performances. Tickets are $150 each and can be purchased by calling
(415) 474-3914.
Later that evening, World Arts West will present its annual
Malonga Casquelourd Lifetime Achievement Award to Danongan Sibay
Kalanduyan,
the man responsible for bringing kulintang music to the United
States, now a mainstay in the cultural life and public presentations
of Filipino American identity. Kalanduyan is a master of all aspects
of the Maguindanao tribal style of kulintang music and dance. He
began playing at the age of 4 while growing up in a fishing village
in the Catabato area of Mindanao. In 1995, he received the United
States' most prestigious award for traditional artists, the National
Heritage Fellowship, granted by the National Endowment for the
Arts. There are only several such fellows in the SF Bay Area.
Tickets to the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival are
$22 - $36. A subscription package for all three weekends of performances is
priced from $60 - $98. Group discounts for 20 or more are available
by calling (415) 474-3914. Tickets are available by calling City
Box Office at (415) 392-4400; or online at www.cityboxoffice.com
or www.tickets.com.
The 29th Annual San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival is
supported in part by Grants for the Arts of the San Francisco Hotel
Tax Fund,
the Walter and Elise Haas Fund, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation,
The San Francisco Foundation, the San Francisco Arts Commission,
and Target Corporation. Media sponsors include: ABC7/KGO-TV, Asian
Week, India-West,
KLOK 1170 AM, KPFA, KQED Public Broadcasting, KTSF TV 26, Radio
Recuerdo 100.3FM, San Francisco Bay Guardian, San Francisco Business
Times, SF Station.com, Telefutura 66, Univision 14, World Journal,
and Yelp.com.
BACKGROUND
World Arts West has been presenting and promoting the dance and
music traditions of the world since 1978, creating opportunities
for individuals and communities to celebrate, share, and sustain
the vitality of ethnic dance. Their work promotes the importance
of cultural heritage for strengthening community and building cultural
understanding. For more information about World Arts West, visit
www.worldartswest.org.
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PHOTOS ARE AVAILABLE BY REQUEST by contacting Nina Sazevich at (415) 752-2483 or nina@worldartswest.org or can be downloaded in high resolution JPG format at http://www.worldartswest.org/about/press/photos.html.
B ROLL VIDEO IS ALSO AVAILABLE BY REQUEST.
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