The Tamburitzans to bring live song and dance to State Theatre
The Tamburitzan's performing.
The Tamburitzans performing.
Submitted
The Tamburitzans performing.
The Tamburitzans performing.
The Tamburitzans performing.
Formed at Duquesne University and bringing joy across the country for more than 80 years, The Tamburitzans will be making their way to Uniontown’s State Theatre Center for the Arts stage.
The premier International music and dance group has the longest-running stage show in the United States, and will perform in Uniontown 7 p.m. Feb. 23.
Erica Miller, executive director for the State Theatre, said the Tamburitzans have performed there many times over the years, but it has been quite a while since their last performance.
“This is really a great chance for all of the local fans to come out and see their new show,” she said. “There are lots of people who live in this region who love The Tamburitzans and the traditional dance and music that they perform.”
George “Butch” Kresovich, artistic director for The Tamburitzans, said this is the third season that the group has performed as its own nonprofit organization, separate from Duquesne University.
But while they are no longer under Duquesne University, he said they still have 22 out of the 29 students in their troupe who attend Duquesne.
In exchange for their performing in the group, the students are awarded scholarships for the college or university they attend.
“We put on a professional production that just happens to be done with students,” Kresovich said.
Their season runs from August to June and each season they put on a brand new show.
“For about a month, we take off and prepare a new show,” Kresovich said. “There’s a lot of prep that goes into the training camp, but we pulled this one together in just 21 days.”
While the group has traditionally performed song and dance numbers from Eastern European cultures such as Croatia, Serbia, Russia, Ukraine, Polish and Greek, they began taking on more international numbers once Kresovich came on board about four or five years ago.
Now they include such cultures as Irish, Scottish, Spanish/Latin and French.
This year’s show entitled “PRISM — Full Spectrum Culture” will bring music, song and dance of over a dozen countries for audiences to feel, hear and see the cultures of Armenia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Ireland, Latin Caribbean, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, and Ukraine.
“It’s a very colorful performance,” Kresovich said. “It symbolizes how the cultures take on a different vibrance and color. To go along with that we’re implementing different lighting and colorful costumes.
“It’s artistically bright, but when you get the whole gamut of color, the live performance and the multi-media aspect, it really is a prism of color,” he added.
Since its inception in 1937, the company’s repertoire has reflected the traditions and influences of more than 100 nationalities.
Kresovich said two seasons ago they did something on the origin of the Roma Culture as well as something with the culture of India, which was a first for them.
The group has performed in 48 states and 15 countries at iconic locations like Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center and Disney World. It is supported by the Pittsburgh International Folk Arts Institute.
Tickets are $25 and are available at 724-439-1360 or www.statetheatre.info.