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Show j" it v "i ; Pi i i- i V ! r il - j ".. - ' Y V L L .. J BYRON NICHOLLS, principal of the new Aspen Elementary School, points out some last minute details to secretary Donna Sorensen before the open house on Thursday night. Marianne Holman Tours With BYU International Folk Dancers Marianne Holman of Pleasant Grove recently returned from a tour of Asia with BYU's International In-ternational Folk Dancers who achieved distinction as the most popular performing 'group at" Japan's" huge"" "Portopia '81" Kobe Port Island Exposition. The 26 dancers and five-piece western band were so successful in attracting capacity crowds at the world' s-fair-type expositon that officials had the entire show videotaped so that it can be shown continuously con-tinuously until "Por-torjia "Por-torjia '81" ends in calmed by their headmaster so we could continue with the show," Mrs. Peay said. The Folk Dancers appeared before live audiences totaling more than 40,000 people "' during"; the " four-week tour to Korea, the Philippines and Japan, Dr. Shaw said. Performances Per-formances included appearances at the prestigious National Theater in Seoul and at the Folk Arts Theater in Manila. The group appeared twice on the "Good Morning Manila" television show and on were popular with the Filipinos and the difficult dif-ficult Hungarian Stick Dance was particularly appreciated by the Japanese," Mrs. Peay said. "The band's rhythmic .? Orange Blossom Special was the' high point for the American GI's whom we performed for near the Demilitarized Zone in Korea." Special attractions at the "Portipia '81" in Kobe were the Exhibition Square Dance, the Appalachian Clog and the unique American Indian Hoop Dance performed by the Indian dancers in the troupe, she noted. The authentic costumes and the wide selection of dances from Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Hung-ary, Spain, Mexico, Japan and thev United States fit neatly into the international themes at the Port Island Exposition Ex-position where the Folk Dancers performed 14 times, she added. "The purpose of our tour was to promote international understanding un-derstanding through dance and music," Mrs. Peay said. September. "We were informed by the director that we were the most popular group at the exposition, and he was amazed that we were able to attract and hold the attention of large crowds in spite of distractions from other exhibitions and activities," ac-tivities," said Dr. Don Shaw, tour manager and assistant dean of the BYU College of Physical Education. The Folk Dancers were founded in 1965 by Mary Bee Jensen and have consistently garnered awards each year at international folk festivals in Europe, but the troupe wasn't quite sure how it would be received in Asia, according to Delynne Peay, assistant to Mrs. Jensen and artistic director for the tour. "In Korea, we were stunned by the exuberance of the students who had to be four other national Philippine variety shows. In Korea, the entire show was televised nationally. The BYU students honored each country they visited by performing per-forming native dances and songs, Mrs. Peay said. In Manila they performed the famous Filipino Tinikling on television and brought the house down when the hosts of the variety show joined in to give their "Johnny Carson" try at jumping the bamboo poles being worked by the BYU dancers. In Korea the student performers sang the national folk song "Arirang" and in Japan they sang "Sa Ku Ra" and performed a Japanese folk dance, the artistic director said. "The Spanish Flamenco and the Mexican Zapateado |
