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Show THE THUNDERBIRD SUSC MONDAY, MARCH 5, 1990 PAGE 9 Burch Manns American Folk Ballet to tour USSR The AFB captures the heritage of the American West and illustrates the energy of nations founders The American Folk Ballet will premiere in Leningrad, Russia, June 21, the command performance of an anticipated tour that Founder and Choreographer Burch Mann says will supply our Soviet Union hosts with an artistic glimpse of the American West Now in their 28th season, the American Folk Ballet continues to perform for audiences of all ages The American Folk Ballet has universal appeal to young and old alike because each performance deals with basic human emotions, said Michael Anderson, ballet company promotional manager Each performance takes the audience back m time when our land was unfenced and our ancestors were courageously moving out from the protective forests into the untamed wilderness After three Leningiad appearances, the company will travel to Petrograd for two performances and then onto Estonia and Lati ia It is Americas rich heritage and beauty that I want the Russian people to see, said Mann As Will Rogers once said, we have to really know people to dislike them and he never knew a man he y didnt like " Universal appeal is not new to the company The AFB was featured at the inaugural of President Jimmy Carter and has made 11 national tours and four international tours Art, to be of value to mankind, must reach the people, Mann says And wherever the AFB has performed for sophisticated New York patrons or rural country folk the reaction is the same, enthusiasm As the creator, producer, director and choreographer of the AFB, Mann at 81 says she has never been bored a day of her life. With only a glance at the many achievements of Mann an American folk historian, philosopher, educator, writer and choreographer its easy to see that she has never given herself time to be bored I was born on a Texas ranch when the mid-wewas basically a rural society and books were a treasure, said Mann It was during the hours of leisure time we children spent making up our own games and playing in a creek or on a hill that I feel my creativeness stems One of four children, Mann recalls a time of transient life, living in a tent while following her father and the oil booms along the Louisiana border. Looking back, I cant imagine the hardships our parents endured, but for a child it was an exciting and wonderful life Mann was a young student in New York City when the first ballet masters began coming out of Russia, and is one of very few living choreographers to have studied with famous master teachers including Adolph Bolm, Alberteiri, Mordkm, and Michael Fokme, to whom Mann gives credit for her classical background. It is not the classical background alone, however, that distinguishes the AFBs founder. It is also her 50 years of dance experience. Mann has worked in almost every field of dance. She was choreographer n for several night clubs in the 1940s and the the including Martinique, Havana-MadnLatin Quarter in New York City. Manns numerous credits in film and television productions include the Ed Sullivan Show, Hollywoods Academy Awards ceremonies, Disneys motion picture The Treasure of Montecumbe. During the first year, she created and choreographed all the production numbers for the Mickey Mouse Club. Using the AFB as a medium, with every step and every sound Mann says she is attempting to create another time and place for the audience. By returning to the roots of America, I want the audience to know and feel the hardships and trials, just as Robert Frost's readers knew New England or those of Thomas Harding knew rural England. We are the only company m the world delving into Americas pioneer history and folk art for theme and style, said Mann Each year America loses more and more of our folk heritage This heritage is needed so that our young people can feel the stability and continuity of a rooted past. Mann said it was this background to which she returned for style and content when creating the American Folk Ballet The word folk being incorporated into the company title because Mann wanted the company to reflect Americas pioneering past and the qualities which set Americans apart and made them unique Every country in the world except America has developed a style of dance uniquely its own and revealing the character and spirit of its people, said Mann It was with the hope of doing the same for America that I created the American Folk Ballet, using folk history for theme and style and techniques of classical ballet for discipline You need a technically brilliant company of dancers, singers and musicians combining the power of literature, movement, and music to capture the magic and myth of the American West We dont limit ourselves to one technique, said Mann You cant make an audience feel when all you can do is turn on your toes. We use various techniques as needed, whatever style is required to produce mood, develop drama and, above all, create emotion. We are not only a ballet company, we are a theatrical entity using dance as a base. A distinguished at Southern Utah State College, Mann and her daughter San are actively Christopher, also an building the dance department, imbuing the students with the American ideals in which they so strongly believe Mann says the American Folk Ballet is purely American Out of our national heritage and folk history 1 believe I have created a valuable artistic whole Something totally unique and totally American For information regarding the AFB, write to The American Folk Ballet, co The Circle, Box 1113, Cedar City, Utah, 84720 The AFB is seeking any donations to help fund this Friendship Tour to the Soviet Union e, st well-know- d, Founder and choreographer of the American Folk Ballet Burch Mann u ill lead her troupe on tour in the Soviet Union this June Manns style is reminiscent of Western tradition |