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Folk Dance Federation of California, South, Inc.
1987 Program By Dick Oakes |
THIS IS HISTORICAL INFORMATION ONLY
Saturday, June 6, 1987 at 8:00 p.m., Royce Hall
UCLA CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
presents
America's International Folk Ensemble
LEONA WOOD, Founding Artistic Director
BARRY GLASS, Artistic Director
Dancers/Singers
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Vicki Alexander Marianne Allen Ron Allman Sandy Allman Ronda Berkeley Anthony Biedul Amy Bonner Jennifer Brosious Ann Brown Susan Burke Umberto Carvajal |
Jerzy Checinski Sally Cullman Gigi DeMarrais Susan Duckett Charles Eisen Ralph Etheart Andrea Fishman Natasha Gaganidze Robert Gately Michele Gerard |
John Gibson Barry Glass Lorraine Graham Tamberlaine Harris Pamela Heiter Dagfinn Krogsrud Gene Landriau Roo Lester Tracie Marcus Donna Milton Zbyszek Orzol |
Asako Oshiro R. Premkumar Susan Rodearmel Ramona Sedillos Barbara Schaffer Susan Shapiro Sue Ellen Smyle Hillary Sohn Don Sparks Deanne Sparks Stephen Tabor |
Musicians
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Stuart Brotman Martin Espino David Feeney Mark Forry Eran Fraenkel Robyn Friend Dennis Helguero |
James Knight Bruce Maerker Donna Milton A. Jihad Racy Dušan Ratkovich Jerry Robin |
Lucho Rodriguez Isaac Sadigursky Neil Siegel Daniel Slosberg Don Sparks Ergun Tamer |
Çoskun Tamer Luis Torres Mario Torrico Chris Yseta John Yseta John Zeretzke |
Director
DON SPARKS
Music Director
JOHN ZERETZKE
Production Stage Manager
JOHN FEINSTEIN
Lighting Design
BRAD BOUCH
Sound Design
SCOTT FRASER
BARANJA
Choreography: Billy Burke
Musical Arrangement: Chris Yseta and the AMAN musicians
Baranja is one of the easternmost districts of Croatia in present-day Yugoslavia and occupies a small triangle formed by the Hungarian border, the Danube and Drava rivers. The costumes in this area exhibit a very ancient style. And the dances tend to be bright, incorporating sharp, vertical movements and many turns. A typical choral piece opens the suite and the TAMBURICA orchestra accompanies.
YUGOSLAVIA
Music Consultants: Mark Forry and Chris Yseta
The BECAR orchestra provides one of the most popular sounds of Yugoslav folk music. The musical tradition takes its name from the BECARI – musicians who take their good times seriously.
NORWAY
Choreography: Jennifer Brosious
Soloist: Dragfinn Krogsrud
Seljefløyte: Stuart Brotman
Hardingfele: John Zeretzke
Musica Consultant: Loretta Kelley
The willow flute or SELJEFLØYTE is related to other fipple-flutes, recorders, or whistles in the way the tone is actually produced. However, due to the fact that it has no holes along the bore of the instrument, its range is limited to the overtone series produced by either an open or closed tube, and in this regard differs from most instruments in the "whistle family." VESTLANDSSPRINGAR and HALLING are two regional dances (bygdedansar), an older style of traditional dancing done in Norway. Norwegian dancers are free to improvise, particularly in the HALLING, where the men's bravado is as important as their dance skills. The suite begins with a SANDSVAERRIL, and example of the more modern figure dance (turdans). The dances are accompanied by the HARDINGFELE, a highly ornamented violin with four sympathetic strings that give the instrument its rich, haunting sound.
SOVIET GEORGIA
Choreography: Leona Wood and Graham Hempel
Musical Arrangement: Stuart Brotman
Soloists: Michele Gerard and Charles Eisen
Vocal Soloists: Mark Forry and Robyn Friend
Changuri: Neil Siegel
Vocal Consultants: Priscilla McCoy and Don Stilo
Dancing is a vital part of cultural expression in all Transcaucasian (Kavkaz) countries. Traditional values, medieval costumes, and aristocratic manners survive, expressed in dances characterized by the traditions of chivalry, as in this wedding canopy dance. A song in the unique vocal style of the region opens the piece.
NORTHERN UKRAINE
Choreography: Don Sparks
Accordion Solo: Isaac Sadigursky
Soloists: Don Sparks and Deanne Sparks
The Northern Ukraine has a distinctive tradition of dance. Much of the present-day performance material cann be placed in the category of character dance, a style profoundly influenced by classical dance technique. We present here a piece representing that particular tradition.
BOLIVIA
Musical Arrangements: YATIRI Musicians
AMAN is pleased to present the group YATIRI in a selection of music from the Andes Mountains in Bolivia. The group will present music ranging from the ancient Pan Pipes to both older and more contemporary types of folk songs. Some of the instruments used include CHARANGO, a plucked instrument backed with the shell of an armadillo, the ZAMPONAS or Pan Pipes, the QUENA and TARKAS, both traditional flutes, and the two drums known as BOMBO and WANKARA. We welcome these exeellent musicians to tonight's program.
SZÉKELYFÖLD
Choreography and Musical Arrangement: Don Sparks
One of the earlier groups of Hungarian settlers in what is nowadays Romanian Transylvania is that group known as Székely. Although their music and dance are notably related not only to other groups of Hungarians throughout the region but also to their Romanian neighbors, the dance cycles in this area exhibit distinctive styles. Typical of the dances and music of the Székely people are the KESERVES or soldiers' lament and the lively FORGATÓS or twirling dance. The JÁRTÁTOS and SZÖKETETŐS complete the dance cycle. The orchestra in this part of Transylvania often includes the CYMBALOM, a regional hammered dulcimer, and the three-stringed KONTRA, a chord viola.
INTERMISSION
BOSNIA
Choreography: Olga Skovran
Around the town of Glamoć in this central Yugoslavian Republic, several versions of a dance performed in lines and couples to no instrumental or vocal musical accompaniment have persisted up to the present day. Often termed "silent," the dance STARO BOSANSKO KOLO (Old Bosnian dance) brings together many of the most interesting elements of this form of dance.
TURKEY
Asik soloist: Ergun Tamer
Soloist for the Black Sea Songs: Robyn Friend
Music Supervision Neil Siegal
Consultant: Yasar Turna
The ASIK or wandering minstrels accompanied their songs on the SAZ or long-necked Turkish lute. Following the traditional ASIK song will be a medley of dance songs from the KARA DENIZ region of the Eastern coast of the Black Sea. Although the songs are in different meters and tempos, the same dance – HORON – can be performed to all three. The unusual style of harmony in the instrumental accompanyment is both traditional and in current use in the area.
SIVAS
Choreography: Barry Glass from material taught to the company by Bora Özkök
Musical Supervision: Stuart Brotman
Soloists: Drgun Tamer and Neil Siegel
Vocal Consultant: Robyn Friend
A suite of dances from the Turkish region between Sivas and Bayburt, south of the Balaban mountains that separate the narrow Black Sea coastal plain from the rest of northeastern Anatolia. These dances are enjoyed by several fo the many ethnic groups of this area, which include Turks, Armenians, Kurds, and Georgians. The musical rhythm for the first piece in the suite is known as OYNAK and is a regional specialty.
BITLIS
Choreography: Don Sparks from material taught to the company by Bora Özkök
Zurna: John Zeretzke
Davul: Coskun Tamer
Dances for men from the town of Bitlis, near Lake Van in eastern Anatolia. Kurdish, Turkish, and Armenian elements are all present in these vigorous and exciting dances. The combination of the ZURNA and DAVUL is perhaps the favorite dance accompaniment throughout Turkey and is frequently found throughout much of the Middle East and Balkans.
BESSARABIA
Musical Arrangement and Cymbalom Solo: Stuart Brotman
In many parts of Eastern Europe, the CYMBALOM (hammered dulcimer), which is an ancestor of the piano, has for hundreds of years been a favorite instrument of the KLEZMER, the professional Jewish wedding musicians of these areas. Our soloist has chosen a DOINA (free improvisation), a GAS NIGN (prosessional), and two BULGARS (dances).
ROMANIA
Choreography: Richard Crum and Barry Glass
Musical Arrangement: Maimon Miller
Women's dances from Central Romania begin this segment. The PURTATA is an a capella song dance, typical of the area. This leads into a dance from the Crihalma region in which the women imitate the men's boot-slapping steps. In the southern districts of Romania, one of the best known dances is the BRÂL MARE. The dance name refers to the belt-hold or line formation which the dancers use. The musicians play in even time while the dancers typically perform a series of fast, syncopated rhythms which weave in and out of the orchestra's music. STRIGATURI or shouted verses accompany both dances.
APPALACHIA
Choreography: Jerry Duke
Musical Arrangement: AMAN Musicians
For the ballad: Research and supervision by Stuart Brotman. Sung by Sandra Ailman and Stuart Brotman.
Clogging was brought to the United States by early settlers from the British Isles. In Appalachia a different flavor was added, a dimension added from the dances of the black slave population. We enjoy completing our show with an old-fashioned American celebration, displaying the dance, music, singing, costumes, and toys of our own Appalachian mountains. The ballad THE PRODIGAL SON, sung in traditional style, illustrates this important aspect of Appalachia's musical folklore.