UPCOMING EVENT/SHOW:

Evening with the Hutsul Dance Project:

Ethnic Dance Theatre at Lewytzkyj Foundation Ethnic Festival

Click on pic for a higher resolution version of the event flyer (572kb)

View two thirty minute edits of a video documentary about traditional Hutsul dances as still done today in Ukraine; discussion to follow screening of this work-in-progress.

See a live performance by the Ethnic Dance Theatre of its new suite of Hutsul song, music and dance!

Thursday, July 9, 7 PM

Ukrainian Event Center
301 Maint St
Minneapolis, MN
55413

Map

All donations accepted; $5 suggested donation at the door.

Click for further details.

OTHER NEWS:

NEW!! Video of the Small Cast Version of the Hutsul Suite!

This is video of a small cast (3 couples) version of our new Hutsul suite that was performed on June 7, 2009 as part of the Minneapolis Mosaic festival. Represented in this video is the men's dance Arkan (usually danced in a closed circle; we adjusted it for a performance involving only three men) and the couple's dance Hutsulka.

The full-cast (8 couple) version debuted on March, 2009 at the Fitzgerald Theatre in St Paul, Minnesota as the finale to our 35th Anniversary Spring Concert Series The Kaiser's Jubilee.

The Hutsul suite is an exciting new choreography for EDT; it is the fruit of Artistic Director Donald LaCourse and Dancer Stefan Iwaskewycz's research trip to Ukraine last summer.

Artistic Director Donald LaCourse recently commented,

"It was especially moving for me to see our new Hutsul suite make it to the stage. I feel that we were able to present the most authentic village interpretation of this culture ever seen in our area. The audience response was tremendous, and I know that everyone in the company felt a sense of accomplishment and pride as well!"

Click to read more about Don and Stefan's trip to Ukraine last summer.

Click here to visit their Hutsul Dance Project website; in particular, visit the Hustul Dance Project Video page for clips from our footage of dancing at weddings in Ukraine, including the dances Arkan and Hutsulka.

EDT on the 3 Minute Egg:

Click on the following to see a segment about EDT's 35th Anniverary Concert on the 3 Minute Egg, a blog about the arts in the Minneapolis-St Paul metro area.

The Kaiser's Jubilee a Great Success!

Thank you to everyone who attended our recent 35th Anniversary Concert at the Fitzgerald Theatre this past March 20-22, 2009; it was a pleasure to perform for you all!

Also thank you to everyone who volunteered before, during and after the show and who helped behind-the-scenes to bring this special show to the stage!

We will be posting photos and video from and a blog entry about The Kaiser's Jubilee in the coming weeks, so please check back again!

Thank you!

Previews of our upcoming show The Kaiser's Jubilee:

OPENING THIS WEEKEND (March 20-22)!!!

Did you know? Concert Factoids:

As we slow down a bit for the summer, we will continue with "factoids" pertaining to our 35th Anniversary Spring Series The Kaiser's Jubilee.

Holy Roman Emperors and the Habsburgs

Hussars and peasants dancing verbunk

The Crown Prince Rudolph von Habsburg

EDT Dancer and Resident Choreographer Ann von Bibra Wharton's great grandfather was in the honor guard of Crown Prince Rudolph von Habsburg. Anne is descended from Franconian nobility on her father's side. Modern Franconia is a region in the north of Bavaria; for most of its history, Bavaria was de facto an indepedent kingdom, though technically part of the Holy Roman Empire. The position of Holy Roman Emperor was elected, and Bavaria's sovereign held the important position of elector in the diet of clergy and noblemen that elected the Emperor. Habsburgs held the title of Holy Roman Emperor for most of the empire's history, until the unification and creation of the modern German nation-state under Prussian--not Habsburg/Austrian--hegemony in the late 19th century.

*We update this section frequently, so remember to come back again!

**If you know something interesting--including your own personal story--about a culture represented in our current season, please tell us about it here!

Click here to read previous factoids