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| back | | SBS Teachers to Represent US in Thai Folk Festival | | |
 Members of the Ann Sorvino Dance Project and the Pioneer Consort have been invited to Surin, Thailand from January 15 through 28 to perform in the Surin International Folkloric Festival. Dance groups from around the globe, including Italy, Israel, China, the Philippines and others will attend. Hosted jointly by the government offices of Surin and various private sectors, the festival was established in 2006 to build bridges of cultural understanding through stage performance. The festival also serves as an international academic seminar.
Dancers attending include Ann Sorvino, chair of the Performing Arts Department at Stoneleigh-Burnham School and professor of dance at Greenfield Community College; Meg Van Dyck, also an instructor of dance at GCC and Deerfield Academy; and Billbob Brown, department chair of the University of Massachusetts - Amherst Dance Department. Members of the Pioneer Consort include Dr. Greg Snedeker, instrumental music director at Stoneleigh-Burnham; Greenfield resident guitar master Michael Nix; as well as documentary film maker, Vic Sorvino.
The dancers and musicians will perform each evening, presenting new dance choreography created by Sorvino, Van Dyck and Brown to original music scores created by Snedeker and performed live by the musicians. The days will be spent in seminars and workshops as well as sightseeing in nearby local communities. This will include trips to Buddhist temples and the Thai Elephant Village.
While representing the US at the festival, the groups will have opportunities to network with other artists, create partnerships for future collaboration and learn about the customs and arts traditions in other countries. The Sorvino Dance Project and the Pioneer Consort hope to link their experiences and connections made in Thailand back to their home arts community of the Pioneer Valley. In March, the groups will perform their festival concert at the Academy of Music in Northampton (exact dates and times are forthcoming – please click here for details). | | back | |
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