EDT Blogs
EDT Dancers Compete in China
October 2003
By Blanka Brichta and Jan Morse, EDT Dancers
In October 2003 we were participants in a world premier international dance festival and competition held in the city of Jiangdu, China. We performed three "fad" dances from the 1920's—Varsity Drag, Black Bottom and Charleston—to original jazz recordings from that era. The suite was choreographed by Lance Benishek, an internationally recognized expert on American dance (and a former EDT dancer who appeared most recently in EDT's The American Show).
The invitation to the festival was graciously offered by the festival committee through Ms. Tian Jiang Cui, the Artistic Director of the Minnesota Chinese Dance Theatre. Ms. Cui has worked with EDT many times over the years and is credited for setting the Chinese classic "Red Ribbon Dance," an audience favorite, for EDT in 1991.
The festival judges and the audience of nearly 3,000 people enjoyed our performances; we were awarded third place behind Brazil and Russia out of an overall festival competition of 14 groups.
We also had the good fortune to meet Shi Dali, one of the competition judges, who holds a prestigious position as the president of the Chinese Dancers Association at the Chinese Ministry of Culture. She is influential in promulgating and preserving dance as an art form as a valuable part of Chinese traditions.
We consider the Chinese experience a trip of a lifetime and are very grateful for the wonderful and unique memories we have.
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Did you know? Concert Factoids:*
Coming Soon. . . Factoids for THEN and NOW, EDT's Spring Show 2011
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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!