EDT Blog (Web Log)
More about The Kaiser's Jubilee
March 15, 2009
By Stefan Iwaskewycz, EDT Dancer, with contributions
In 1913, the Emperor Franz Josef I von Habsburg celebrated his 65th year on the throne of what, after 1867, was known as the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In the Imperial capital of Vienna there were commemorative events and celebration, including a concert during which representatives of each of the Empire's subject peoples, dressed in folk costume, saluted and honored the Kaiser (German for "Emperor").
Map of the Austro-Hungarian EmpireAustria-Hungary was a diverse realm; at the time of the Jubilee celebration, it embraced either all or most of modern-day Austria, Hungary, Czechia (Czech Republic), Slovakia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia, Romania, and included parts of Poland, Ukraine, Serbia, Montenegro, and Italy. Each of these lands had distinctive folk and high cultures and various local social and political traditions.
Continue reading here. . .
Period Dress and the Culture of Theatre Going c. 1913
March 15, 2009
By Stefan Iwaskewycz, EDT Dancer
The Vienna Court Opera in 1902In 1913, in an era before radio and television and on the cusp of film, going to the theater was a major event. Throughout Europe and the US there were a variety of theaters and opera houses that catered to the differing tastes of different social classes. At theaters for the elite, folks without the proper dress or status markers were barred from entering, and attendance was about being seen as much as it was about seeing--and what people came to see was not on the stage alone!
Continue reading here. . .
To Ukraine in Search of Authentic Hutsul Dance
February 16, 2009
By Stefan Iwaskewycz for Ethnic Dance Theatre's Winter/Spring 2009 Newsletter
This past summer of 2008, Ethnic Dance Theatre's Artistic Director Donald LaCourse and I traveled to the Carpathian Mountain region of Ukraine in search of authentic Hutsul folk dance. The Hutsuls are oft considered as having, best among Ukrainians, preserved their traditional culture. On our trip we met a variety of interesting, highly animated individuals steeped in Hutsul music, dance, and culture and gathered a wealth of material over a three-week period.
Continue reading here. . . (include lots of links to video and photos)
Big Winners in Bavaria
October 2003
By Donald LaCourse, EDT Artistic Director
In October 2003, long time EDT performer and my sister Renee LaCourse, along with our nephew Jacob Schultz, his girlfriend Jenny Roehl, my brother Mark (another long time EDT performer) and I traveled to Germany to participate in the 3rd annual Bayrische Loewen (Bavarian Lion) Schuhplattler Competition held in Ingolstadt, Bavaria. We were there as the first American individual couples invited to take part in this prestigious championship, along with two group competitors from Philadelphia, PA and Newark, NJ. We had received our invitation because we were the 1st and 2nd place winners in our North American competion held in May 2003, and through the hard work of several friends in Bavaria who helped secure the invitations for us.
Continue reading here. . .
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).
Continue reading here. . .
