UMaine International Dance Festival Feb. 10 Offers Insight to Cultures
Contact: Sarah Joughin, 581-2905; George Manlove, 581-3756
Note to editors: Students will rehearse Saturday, Feb. 3, from 3-5 p.m., in the dance studio on the second floor of the Class 1944 Hall and plan a full dress rehearsal Friday, Feb. 9 from 7-9 p.m. at the MCA.
ORONO — Using the overwhelming success of last year’s International Dance Festival as a barometer, UMaine’s international students organizing this year’s performance of music and dance from around the world expect to pack both the house and the stage at the Maine Center for the Arts on Feb. 10.
This year’s production, involving as many as 70 performers, opens at 7 p.m. in the MCA’s Hutchins Hall on the Orono campus. It is free, and members of the surrounding communities, in addition to students, friends and families visiting for Friends and Family Weekend are invited.
Students from nearly a dozen countries, from the Far East, Middle East, Europe, Africa and North and South America, have been rehearsing traditional dances that reflect much more than a desire to entertain. Dance is an important component central to many cultures around the world, according to Senthil Sockalingam of Malaysia, a co-organizer of the event with Bangor native Jessica Bishop, a graduate assistant with Campus Activities & Events.
“For 80 percent of any culture, dance is a part of it,” says Sockalingam, who will be among the dance performers. “I’m pretty much positive that the show is going to be awesome.”
Bishop says both UMaine students and area residents will have a rare opportunity to see the depth of cultural traditions expressed through traditional music, costumes and dance.
“It’s going to be something probably most have never experienced before,” she says.
Because almost twice the number of students from last year’s show wanted to participate in this year’s festival, coordinators working under the auspices of the Office of International Programs and with support from several campus organizations, created larger groups of dancers of similar cultural backgrounds. That adds up to more energy on stage, Sockalingam and Bishop say.
Student performers, many of who have trained for years in dance at home, are enthusiastic about sharing their traditional, ceremonial dances with area audiences, according to Sockalingam and Bishop.
Students also are preparing for record audience attendance this year. The festival outgrew its first venue, the 276-seat Minsky Recital Hall, and moved last year to Hutchins Hall, with more than 1,000 orchestra seats on the first level. Sockalingam says he and Sarah Joughin, international student advisor, were stunned when the hall filled to capacity.
“I’ve never seen that wave of energy in my life,” says Sockalingam, recalling last year’s audience. “To just see this sea of people, I felt like I belonged, like someone actually cared to see what we were doing. To see a bunch of dancers do what they love to do and show their cultures to an audience in a frenzy of appreciation