A CELEBRATION OF SERBIAN AND OTHER BALKAN MUSIC & DANCE.

[Mrdjan M Mladjan]

MIT Organization of Serbian Students presents:

CELEBRATION OF SERBIAN AND OTHER BALKAN MUSIC & DANCE
<http://web.mit.edu/most/www/folklor.htm>

Saturday, May 25, 2002, 3pm.
MIT - Kresge Auditorium, Cambridge, MA.
All proceeds will benefit Sasha Aleksic Fund for Education (SAFE).
Reception to follow.

Made possible by generous contributions from MIT Graduate Student Council,
The Kokkalis Program on Southeastern and East-Central Europe, John F.
Kennedy School of Government,Harvard University and Serbian-American
Alliance of New England.


Ticket sales:

Advance Purchase: $8 Students, $12 General Admission
At the Door: $10 Students, $15 General Admission
Advance tickets can be purchased at MIT's The Source located in the
Stratton Student Center (W20), 84 Massachusetts Ave. Phone (617)-252-1994.
Two weeks before the concert the tickets will also be available in MIT's
Lobby 10, 77 Massachusetts Ave from 12-2 PM.
To order tickets by mail contact Djorjde Koldzic at dkoldzic at yahoo.com

Performers:

THE SERBIAN FOLKLORE ENSEMBLE, "KOLO"
THE SINGER, SVETLANA STEVICH
THE SERBIAN FOLKLORE ENSEMBLE, "RASTKO"
THE SERBIAN FOLK DANCE ENSEMBLE, "GRACHANITSA"

ENSEMBLE "KOLO"
"KOLO" was formed in 1969 in Hamilton, Canada, as an integral part of "St.
Nicholas" Serbian Orthodox Church on Barton Street. It prides itself on the
perpetuation of authentic choreography and costume design, and most
importantly, on the preservation of Serbian ethnic heritage
"KOLO" had over 800 performances in its 30 year long tradition. These
include performances at Commonwealth Games (Edmonton), Canadian National
Exhibition (Toronto), Slavic Festivals at the Lincoln Center (New York
City), and a US/Canada/Australia Folk Fest in San Diego.. "Kolo" will
perform traditional dances from Bosnia, Croatia, Montenegro, and Serbia, as
well as the dances of the Albanian, Bulgarian and Romanian ethnic
minorities in Serbia.

SVETLANA STEVICH
Ms. Svetlana Stevich, a singer and ethnomusicologist from Belgrade,
Yugoslavia, has been performing for more than 25 years. She collects
Serbian folk heritage (songs, customs, stories) and interprets music from
all parts of the former Yugoslavia using the original singing style, known
as pupevanje (blossoming).Ms. Stevich Stevic, will perform traditional
Serbian and Bulgarian love songs, singing in a rarely heard trembling
voice" technique, uniquely kept alive in only a few villages of South-East
Serbia and Bulgaria.

ENSEMBLE "RASTKO"
The "RASTKO" dance group is a part of "St. Sava" Serbian Orthodox Cathedral
in New York City. Keeping the European, primarily Serbian, traditional
dancing alive, RASTKO performances take their audience back in time.

ENSEMBLE "GRACHANITSA"
Continuing the presence of Serbian and Balkan folk dancing in the Boston
area, "GRACHANITSA" was formed in 2000 by Djordje Koldzic, a former soloist
and assistant-choreographer with the National Folk Ballet of Yugoslavia
"Branko Krsmanovich". "GRACHANITSA" dancers are folk dance enthusiasts from
around the world.

SAHSA ALEKSIC FUND FOR EDUCATION

Sasha Aleksic Fund for Education has been established in memory of Dr.
Sasha Aleksic, a young scientist from Johns Hopkins University who
tragically died two years ago. His friends have established this fund with
the initial intention of providing several scholarships each year to
students in Serbia.
As a non-profit organization registered in the United States, the Fund's
goals in the first phase will primarily be to assist talented young men and
women in Serbia to pursue their education in their country. This will be
accomplished by providing young students from all domains with
scholarships. SAFE will have a particular interest in financing students in
poor economic condition.
In the later phase, with the anticipated growth of funds, we would like to
support the regeneration of the educational system in Serbia. We believe
that this is possible only if the excellence and integrity of educational
institutions are restored. Therefore, we will support and promote, as much
as possible, the endeavors, individual or institutional, that lead to the
rebuilding of education in Serbia

Acknowledgements:
We would like to acknowledge the performers for supporting our cause by
taking part in this event free of charge. We are thankful to the
organizations that made this event possible by their generous contributions:
Ensemble "KOLO"<http://www.kolo.org/>,
MIT Graduate Student Council<http://web.mit.edu/gsc/www/>,
The Kokkalis Program on Southeastern and East-Central Europe, John F.
Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
<http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/kokkalis/>and
The Serbian-American Alliance of New England<http://www.sane-boston.org/>.

Information about the event: <http://web.mit.edu/most/www/folklor.htm>.
More information about MOST <http://web.mit.edu/most/www/>.