28 BYU Dancers Take the Stage to Share Traditional Dances from Around the World
Performance Details:
Date & Time: Jan. 23-24 at 7:30 p.m. and Jan. 25 at 2:00 p.m.
Location: Richard’s Building Dance Performance Theatre
Price: $18
Tickets: Available online at BYU OnStage
Experience International Folk Dance Ensemble’s (IFDE) “Journey: Reflections” on campus before they take it to other locations during the winter semester. The company is made up of 28 dancers who will be performing dances from Poland, Brazil, Canada, the Philippines, the United States, Peru, India, Hungary, Slovakia, Norway, Indonesia, the American First Nations and Ukraine. “The production ‘Journey: Reflections’ highlights a way to reflect about how we are more alike than different across cultures,” said IFDE artistic director Jeanette Geslison.
The production will feature award winning student performers and dances, such as Piero Gongora, who holds a world champion title in the Peruvian Marinera dance, which he will perform in the production. Cami Losik of the Tulalip tribe will perform the Hoop dance and Anthony Xanthos will perform a traditional Norwegian Hallingdans dance where he tries to kick his hat off a stick. The group also features champion cloggers who will dance in the American dance section of the performance.
IFDE dancers have the unique opportunity to learn from expert choreographers from around the world. For this production, they studied under Zsolt Juhász from Hungary; Mateus Arruda and Priscila Werner from southern Brazil; Gary Larsen, a percussive dance expert; Greg and Maria Tucker, clogging experts; Divya Narayanan, a bharatanatyam classical Indian dance expert; and many others.
“As we see each other's similarities and differences and learn about the different traditions and values, I hope this gives way for celebrating and appreciating the people we live side by side with,” said Geslison.
