Over 7,000 People Enjoy International Dance Artistry at the 27th Annual San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival presented by World Arts West

The 27th Annual San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, presented by World Arts West, was a resounding artistic success, with over 7,000 people enjoying the artistry of performing groups presenting dance traditions from around the world.

(PRWEB) July 10, 2005 -- The 27th Annual San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, presented by World Arts West, was a resounding artistic success, with over 7,000 people enjoying the artistry of performing groups presenting dance traditions from around the world. The Festival, at the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre during three weekends in June, focused on the theme Origins: Beginnings, Journeys, and Transformations.

"This years Festival was an extraordinary artistic success," says Isabel Fine, Artistic Director of the 27th Annual San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival. We broke new ground by including more artists and presenting them in a cohesive theatrical experience, with beautiful transition elements, and the added excitement of direct interaction with the artists in the theater lobby after each performance. We highlighted some of the most important and enlightening elements of this work -- the connections between people from all cultures and backgrounds -- and the beauty and diversity of performing arts flourishing right here in our Bay Area backyard."

The 2005 Festival featured companies and soloists from around the Bay Area, with over 400 artists performing dance from 27 cultures and 22 nations, during three weekends of extraordinary dance and music. A special highlight of the 2005 Festival was the honoring of Grand Master Seiichi Tanaka, Founder of San Francisco Taiko Dojo, with the annual Malonga Casquelourd Lifetime Achievement Award.

World Arts West now begins planning for the 28th Annual San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival in June 2006, with auditions to take place January 14-22.

Unique in the United States, the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival has been hailed as one of the most significant annual dance festivals in America, and as a major factor in making the Bay Area one of the dance capitals of the U.S. The Festival has been instrumental in introducing large audiences to many of the worlds most distinctive cultural traditions, presenting dance from the many diverse cultural communities in the Bay Area and Northern California. Festival participants come from varied socioeconomic backgrounds and represent a broad range of occupations and lifestyles. Many are second and third generation dancers and musicians, and after 25 years, the children of Festival pioneers are recreating and preserving important work as their contribution to contemporary culture. Since 1978, the Festival has presented more than 14,000 dancers from over 700 companies, providing outstanding opportunities to artists who seek to present the dance expressions of their cultural and ethnic heritages.

The 27th Annual San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival was supported in part by Grants for the Arts of the San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund, the California Arts Council, the Walter and Elise Haas Fund, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, KPMG, Target Corporation, and the San Francisco Foundation.

About World Arts West:
World Arts West serves the ethnic, traditional, and folk dance communities of Northern California by presenting and advancing multicultural performing arts. Ongoing programs of World Arts West include: The San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival; People Like Me, an arts education program for grades K--6 modeled on the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival; The Community Involvement Initiative, a program designed to raise awareness of the ethnic dance community and its needs; and special events such as workshops and symposia.

World Arts West has been presenting and promoting the dance and music traditions of the world since 1978, creating opportunities for individuals and communities to celebrate, share, and sustain the vitality of ethnic and traditional dance. World Arts West promotes awareness and appreciation of cultural heritage for strengthening ethnic identity and community.

For more information, please call World Arts West (415) 474-3914.

###