31ST ANNUAL San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival

June 6 – 28, 2009
Saturdays at 2pm and 8pm
Sundays at 2pm

WEEKEND 1: June 6 & 7

Compañía Mazatlán Bellas Artes
The beginning of a new season for the cultivation of corn in Tabasco is represented through a blessing dance and a celebration of the crop’s vibrant colors in Fiesta Tabasquena, accompanied by tambores drums and flutes specific to the region.

Ohm Kaara! depicts two forms of Shakthi, the Hindu Goddess—the Goddess of Knowledge and the Goddess of Power—in a struggle between good and evil portrayed in the swift rhythmic steps (Nritta) and expressions (Natya) of the South Indian classical dance form bharatanatyam.

Presidio Dance Theatre
WORLD PREMIERE
From the floral headpieces down to the traditional boots, artists and designers of the Kirov Ballet and Mariinsky Theatre (formerly Kirov Ballet) created costumes for this company of young dancers for Ukrainian Suite, a showcase of the traditional girls dance and the popular national Hopak.

Sri Susilowati
Jaipong Tablo tells the poignant story of a woman mourning her beloved in the style of Sundanese Jaipongan—a contrast to better known Indonesian dance forms said to have been influenced by the West’s introduction of rock ‘n roll to Indonesia.

Murphy Irish Dancers
WORLD PREMIERE
This year's Lifetime Achievement Award winner Mary Jo Feeney presents Tir Na No'g, a suite based on an Irish fairy tale, featuring wee dancers as fairies, lots of Murphy's famous footwork and a battle between a warrior and a prince.

Gamelan Sekar Jaya
WORLD PREMIERE
Devi Sri, the rice goddess, is honored in this Balinese dance accompanied by the magnificent gamelan jegog, an ensemble of giant bamboo marimbas so large that the musicians must climb them to play—one of the few existing outside of Bali.

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Theatre Flamenco
The traditional mantón de Manila, a large Spanish shawl, adds a dramatic flair to Encuentro—a caña cante grande duet, featuring the repeated cries of ‘ay’ accompanied by evocative guitar playing and rhythmic palmas.

Barbary Coast Cloggers
Steamerlane Breakdown, Cripple Creek and the brand-new Gone But Not Forgotten showcase buck-style clog dancing, complex rhythms and the raucous country-western music of the Appalachian Mountain region.

Te Mana O Te Ra
WORLD PREMIERE
Accompanied by the golden resounding tone of the standing bass skin drum, and created specially for this year’s Festival, Tani e Pahu expresses the Heartbeat of Tahiti—colorful, playful, powerful, potentially destructive, and, most importantly, limitless.

WEEKEND 2: June 13 & 14

KARIKTAN Dance Company
A trio of pieces portrays the historic immigration to the Philippines via outriggers with colorful sails; a pre-nuptial dance with complex footwork and gestures imitating that of a fish; and a dance from the island of Mindanao, featuring a princess wooed by her prince.

Hālau o Keikiali‘i
This thirty-member dance company performs a quartet of dances in the ancient hula kahiko style, honoring the Ali‘i—Hawaiian gods—and featuring pa‘i umauma (chest slapping), hula ku‘i (rhythmic stomping), and hula ‘uli‘uli (gourd rattles).

Mountian International Dance Company
From the time that Peter the Great organized Russia’s first naval fleet, Russia has taken great pride in her navy. This Russian Sailor Dance showcases the strength and virility of its sailors and serves to attract new recruits.

Grace Lee Grant
The sounds of the guzheng classic palace instrument suggest lofty mountains and flowing water, setting the scene for this soloist as she performs the highly expressive and multi-dimensional piece Brushing On My Heartstrings.

Grupo Folklórico Raíces de mi Tierra
Costa de Sinaloa brings to life the vibrancy of the northwestern coastal region of Mexico via magnificent and colorful costumes, and a lively suite of dances representing the courtship and regional celebrations of its people, accompanied by a live banda.

PAMPA Dance Academy
An invocation to Lord Ganesh—the elephant-headed god and remover of all obstacles—is depicted in Sankashta Ganapati, a bharatanatyam dance inspired by the ancient ashram recitation of hymns from the Vedas Hindu scriptures.

El Tunante
La marinera is the first national dance of Peru, an elegant reenactment of a courtship, characterized by its graceful and romantic movements and by the accompaniment of the cajón, clapping, guitars, bugles and enticing vocals.

Yaelisa & Caminos Flamencos
Emmy Award-winning dancer Yaelisa performs in the style of rondeña to the exquisite music of master guitarist "El Rubio". Rooted in tradition, this piece captures the feeling of the church bells sounding in the Spanish town of Ronda, honoring guitar master Ramon Montoya.

Diamano Coura West African Dance Company
Zaazi is a rites of passage dance for the Lorma girls of Liberia at the close of their schooling in the Sande Society, a school that has existed since the Crusades and maintains total secrecy from men. As they display skills taught to them by their elders, the cow horn and sa-sa gourd announce the masked dancers who bless them before returning to their parents.

WEEKEND 3: June 20 & 21

Leung’s White Crane Lion and Dragon Dance Association
WORLD PREMIERE
Exciting new choreography from one of the very best lion dance ensembles in America featuring an inquisitive and playful lion bringing joy and auspiciousness, skillfully navigating daring jumps atop eight-foot poles.

Savitha Sastry
Anjali invokes the guardian angels of different directions in order to appease the gods and dispel omens, highlighting the geometric-patterned movements of bharatanatyam based on the nritta or pure dance structures of this classical Indian dance form.

Luis Valverde
WORLD PREMIERE
“Tamaaaaaleeees…!” is the cry of the tamale street vendor, the inspiration for El Tamalero, a sequence of traditional Peruvian zapateo, created for the Festival stage, and featuring intricate footwork and rhythmic body percussion, accompanied by live music.

Los Lupeños de San José
Celebrating its 40th anniversary, this folklórico group recreates a post-war, early 1950’s Mexico City nightclub scene in Salón México, featuring three tropical dances—danzón, cumbia and mambo—with vibrant sounds from Latin band Futuro Picante.

Sanhiti
Performing Kummi Adi, which means “let’s clap together,” this vibrant dance company showcases six different ethnic folk dance forms found in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu—depicting a typical village carnival with balancing acts, dancing horses, rhythmic sticks and martial arts.

Samar Nassar
The relationship between Middle Eastern music and belly dance is stripped down to its rawest form in Beledi Drum Solo, a Lebanese-styled piece highlighting the technical side of belly dance through the elicitation of the “dum,” “tek” and “ka” sounds and rhythms of the live tabla drum.

Imani’s Dream
WORLD PREMIERE
Love Radio Station is a deeply moving ensemble piece danced by a company of young local dancers which addresses difficult issues faced by many youth in America’s inner cities and featuring a mixture of hip-hop and modern dance.

Obakòso Drum & Dance Ensemble
WORLD PREMIERE
Accompanied by live Yoruba song and music, Shango, King of Oyo portrays the fierce essence of the fifth king of Oyo, Nigeria—Orisha of thunder and lightning—whose spirit conquered death and returned to his place in the sky, exemplifying that despite hardship, and even mortality, the divine life force of Shango is eternal.

Las Que Son Son
WORLD PREMIERE
Women’s skirts billow recounting the rich story of Cuba’s past and present through a yambú; a highly ritualized dance of sexual conquest seen in the fast-paced guaguancó, with a highly competitive columbia serving as the peak of three cycles of rumba dances- with live musical accompaniment.

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WEEKEND 4: June 27 & 28

Four Winds
In this quartet of Native American dance, a warrior prepares for battle in the spear and shield dance; victory is proclaimed in the hundred year old fancy dance; the warrior tells his experience in the northern traditional dance; and the sacred hoop dance tells the story of creation and the circle of life.

First Voice: Mark Izu and Brenda Wong Aoki
Master storyteller Brenda Wong Aoki weaves together several dance performances using Japanese Noh and Kyogen dance forms, telling the Japanese folktale of Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess. Accompanied by musician Mark Izu, this story highlights how dance and music can bring light in times of darkness.

Ensambles Ballet Folklórico de San Francisco
WORLD PREMIERE
Deep adoration for the patron saint Cristo Negro de San Ramon is expressed in four Fiesta dances in his honor from the Yucantan Peninsula’s Villa de Campeche.

Northern California Korean Dance Association
Dancers skillfully manipulate muyong chon (long swords); and a reprise of Gummu—originating from Korea's ancient Shinra period—offers peaceful and graceful movements paying homage to a young boy called to dance for an enemy king.

De Rompe y Raja Cultural Association
WORLD PREMIERE
Mixing African and Spanish elements was an important part of Peru's Carnival celebrations until the 1950's, and this dance portrays a significant page in colonial history as the dominant Spanish class battle the enslaved Africans.

Shreelata Suresh
A traditional bharatanatyam invocatory dance begins with an offering to Mother Earth and an invocation to the Gods of the eight directions, showcasing the pure movements of South Indian classical dance.

Parangal Dance Company
Both real and mythical birds serve as inspiration for these dances performed at the tribal gatherings and festivities of the Lumad, or collective of ethnolinguistic groups from the Philippine island of Mindanao. Accompanied by live kulintang and dabakan, agung and gabang.

Jubilee American Dance Theatre
A late Sunday afternoon in a small and dusty town in Appalachia is the setting for this multi-generational barn dance including a square dance and precision clogging, accompanied by live soul-stirring music.

Wan-Chao Chang Dance
Fear, passion and love manifest in “Keep her safe, please”—a fusion of Indonesian and Chinese dance, inspired by the struggle of women and the courage they demonstrated during the 1998 anti-Chinese racial riots in Indonesia.

Fua Dia Congo
WORLD PREMIERE
A powerful dance piece marrying the dance and music traditions of Central Africa's BaTeke and BaBembe people, Kongo-Kintouari calls for unification and peace among the people of Kong, featuring Obitan, a communal honoring of village leaders, and MuPaba, celebrating a successful hunt.