2004 Programs and eventS

U.S. Modern Dance Ensemble Returns for Second Belarusian Tour

On October 5, Moving Arts Dance, a modern dance group from San Francisco, completed a four-city tour of Belarus with a performance in Grodno, the cultural capital of Western Belarus. The tour--the Americans' second visit to Belarus--began in Brest, where the group performed in the Belaya Vezha festival for the arts, and then continued with stops in Minsk, Gomel and Grodno.

The performance in Minsk was attended by U.S. Ambassador George Krol and representatives of the arts, dipomatic, NGO, academic, and other communities in Minsk. During their first visit to Belarus in 2003, the members of Moving Arts Dance fell in love with traditional Belarusian folk music, and they collaborated with Uladzimir Zenevich, director of the folk ensemble Gramnitsy of the Belarusian University of Culture, to create a dance to be performed to the music of his group. This piece premiered on September 28 in Minsk, with the entire Belarusian vocal ensemble also on stage, performing with the American dancers in traditional Belarusian dress.