Give to EDT to the MAX!
Dear Friends and Supporters of the Ethnic Dance Theatre,
Give to the MAX is back Wednesday, November 16, and I am writing to ask for your support for the Ethnic Dance Theatre!
Give to the MAX is a special, gift-matching program that has for two years in a row broken records for online gift-giving in a single day.
EDT has received a pledge for matching funds! This means that on Wednesday, November 16 you can double your impact and help us raise twice the money!
Please visit our Give to the MAX page next Wednesday, November 16 to make your contribution:
http://www.razoo.com/story/Ethnic-Dance-Theatre
Your donation during Give to the MAX also increases EDT's chances of raising an additional $1,000! During the course of Give to the MAX day, one non-profit organization will be randomly selected each hour to receive a $1,000 reward--but to qualify for selection, that organization must have received a donation (of any amount) that hour!
Your donation will help EDT -- one of the most valued nonprofit arts organizations in the TC area with nearly four decades of experience and hard work, and one of few remaining international dance and music ensembles in North America -- continue its work in preserving and presenting world music and dance as art.
For more details about Give to the MAX, please visit this website:
http://givemn.razoo.com/p/gtmd
Please help us and the other Minnesota based nonprofits you cherish during what has been billed as The Great Minnesota Give-Together!
Sincerely,
Donald La Course
Artistic Director
Our Season Begins!
EDT will kick-off the 2011-2012 performance season by participating in an exciting, new folk festival!
Click for details about the Carpathian Folk Festival!
Watch the promotional video below!
THEN NOW Show Teaser!
Tickets ON SALE Now!
Click to enlarge
THEN and NOW
May 13-15, 2011
Ritz Theater, Minneapolis
Tickets Online: www.ritzdolls.com/tickets
Box Office: 612-436-1129 (Tu-Th, 12:30 - 4:30pm)
**New** EDT a MN Original!
EDT Artistic Director Donald La Course and Costume Designer Renee La Course were interviewed for a recent episode of MN Original, a TPT produced show!
Watch the embedded video above, or click here for streaming video on MN Original site.
Also, catch the episode on TPT or affiliated stations:
Date - Time - Channel
1/13/2011 - 7:30 PM - 2
1/14/2011 - 1:30 AM - 2
1/16/2011 - 6:00 PM - Life
1/17/2011 - 4:00 AM - Life
1/28/2011 - 7:00 PM - MN
1/29/2011 - 1:00 AM - MN
1/29/2011 - 7:00 AM - MN
1/29/2011 - 1:00 PM - MN
Calling All Dancers!
We are looking this season to add new talent to our already extraordinary cast of dancers!
Auditions will be held on November 7, 2010, 5-7pm at the Ritz Theater Rehearsal Studio! Click here for details!
Download an audition flyer here.
Upcoming Show!
A Scandinavian Christmas: EDT at the Minnesota Orchestra
WHEN:
Saturday,
December 11, 2pm
Sunday, December 12, 2pm
Sunday, December 12, 7pm
WHERE:
Orchestra Hall
1111 Nicollet Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55403
Map
TICKETS:
Orchestra Hall VIP: $22-50 / $60
Online: Minnesota Orchestra
Orchestra Hall Box Office: 612-371-5656
ABOUT:
Ethnic Dance Theatre has once again been invited to perform with the Minnesota Orchestra in its production of A Scandinavian Christmas. EDT will perform dances from Norway and Denmark, accompanied by the Minnesota Orchestra with Conductor Sarah Hicks.
"Music with passion, warm as holiday glög!" - Pioneer Press
Join EDT and the Minnesota Orchestra for a very special Yuletide celebration: a winter bouquet of Scandinavia's most beautiful Christmas songs, plus lovely seasonal selections by Schubert, Sibelius, Humperdinck and Grieg. It may be cold outside, but inside--God Jul!--a warm welcome awaits. The wreaths will be hung and the hall will be aglow with the magic of Santa Lucia, complete with a candlelight procession...a feast of sweet surprises.
Nordic sweaters welcome!
The 2009-2010 Season:
EDT at the FESTIVAL of NATIONS 2010!
Heading to that other Great Minnesota Get-Together, the Festival of Nations this weekend?
EDT will be there, too!
Thursday and Friday School Program:
EDT dancers will represent Bulgaria, Costa Rica, Greece, and Lebanon.
EDT Folk Orchestra / Orkestar Bez Ime members Dee Langley and Katrina Mundinger will perform music from Bulgaria.
Hopefully your kids will get to see us there!
EDT performers at the FON this weekend (Friday night through Sunday):
Orkestar Bez Ime: Consisting of several EDT members, OBI is the house band on Saturday and will play Bulgarian music on Sunday!
Ukrainian Village Band: Colleen Bertsch, Stefan Iwaskewycz, Sydney Lefevre, Natalie Nowytski, Kim Salisbury and Jenny Schultz will be playing Ukrainian music throughout the weekend!
Dolina Polish Folk Dancers: John Czichray and Victoria Piorek will represent Poland as part of Dolina on Friday and Sunday!
S.G. Edelweiss St. Paul: Matt and Don La Course will represent Germany and Austria as part of Edelweiss (Sunday).
Szaszka: Colleen Bertsch also will represent Hungary as part of Szaska on Saturday and Sunday!
Check the festival schedule online for details! http://festivalofnations.com/entertainment/
PORTS of CALL: EDT's 36th Annual Spring Concert Series a HUGE SUCCESS!
This past April 9-11, Ports of Call played to nearly sold out houses at the Ritz Theater in NE Minneapolis! It was a tremendous success!
We would like to THANK EVERYONE who helped out with and/or attended the show! You are part of what makes EDT such a cherished part of the TC arts community and our work at preserving and presenting world music and dance as art possible!
We will be taking a short break and then will begin rehearsals for our next season. . .We are already quite excited for what the next season has in store! WE WILL KEEP YOU UPDATED, but we don't want to spill the beans just yet!
No doubt other opportunities will arise to catch either EDT performing this summer or EDT performers doing their thing with their other groups! Check back here, we'll let you know soon about summer events!
OTHER NEWS:
New Collections in our Photo Gallery:
Photos from the weekend of the Virsky National Ensemble of Ukraine in the Twin Cities area.
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| Virsky 10/2009 @ Northrop & the Ukrainian Center |
Photos from last season's Winter Dance Party (February 2009)!
We added a Community Event Calendar!
Check it out here.
Is there an upcoming event in your ethnic and/or folk dance community that you would like to advertise on our site? Please write info@ethnicdancetheatre.com with your event announcement!
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)!!!
- NEW! Listen to EDT Director Donald LaCourse and Dancer Stefan Iwaskewycz promoting the show on Radio K International here
- NEW! Preview the new Hutsul finale by viewing some source video of the dance Hutsulka here and of Arkan here.
- Above: Preview of the Dunantuli (Hungary) suite; video is from a recent EDT performance on Saturday, March 7, 2009
- Click to read in depth and see photos about the historical background of The Kaiser's Jubilee
- Preview the costumes for The Kaiser's Jubilee
- A note on attending the show in 1913 period dress or folk costume
Concert Facts:
Did you know that?
Coming Soon. . . Factoids for THEN and NOW, EDT's Spring Show 2011
Click to enlarge
May 13-15
Ethnic Dance Theatre presents THEN and NOW, its 37th Annual Spring Concert Series featuring the music and dance of Bosnia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Iran, Norway, Sweden, and Turkey at the Ritz Theater in NE Minneapolis.
One of the most compelling elements of a people's identity is its folk culture. EDT is known for the authenticity it brings to interpreting ethnic music and dance for the stage, and is respected for its work in promoting ethnic music, dance, and costume as art. The first half of the show--THEN--demonstrates our signature performance style at its best.
Folk cultures are constantly evolving, and the manner of presenting folk music, dance and costume on the stage has been undergoing much change around the world in recent years. In some instances, change in the style of presentation has preserved the baby of tradition, while in others, we feel it has not. In the second half of the show--NOW--audiences will experience something of a departure from EDT's traditional style as we present our own contemporary interpretation of ethnic dance, music and costume!
Presentation of THEN and NOW is made possible in part by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund through an appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature, the McKnight Foundation, the Target Foundation, and our individual donors.
**If you know something interesting--including your own personal story--about a culture represented in our current season, please tell us about it here!