Tickets and Show Details
Performance Dates: Fri. and Sat., Dec. 5-6, 7:30 p.m., with a 2 p.m. Saturday matinee
Location: Marriott Center, BYU
Price: $10-20 (with discounts for children and BYU students)
Tickets: available at the BYU Ticket Office in the Harris Fine Arts Center or Marriott Center, by phone 801.422.2981 or on byuarts.com
This year’s Christmas Around the World celebration at Brigham Young University featuring the International Folk Dance Ensemble and sponsored by the BYU Department of Dance, will take place Friday and Saturday, December 5 and 6, at 7:30 p.m., with a 2 p.m. Saturday matinee, in the Marriott Center.
Tickets are available through the Harris Fine Arts Center and Marriott Center box offices, by phone 801.422.2981, or online at byuarts.com. Tickets are $10-20, with discounts available for children or individuals with a student ID.
This year’s theme, “Timeless Stories,” will be demonstrated by student dancers, singers and musicians in colorful costumes discovering the Christmas traditions of different cultures from around the world. The program will feature dances and music from a dozen countries across the globe, including Mexico, Turkey, Poland, Scotland, United States, Haiti and Ukraine.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the International Folk Dance Ensemble touring abroad and the 55th anniversary of Christmas Around the World performances at BYU.
In her fourth year as artistic director, Jeanette Geslison cites the talents of the more than 200 student performers featured in the production as the emotional core of the show.
“Countless stories have been told during the 55-year running of this concert,” said Geslison. “Thousands of dancing feet and smiling faces have participated in and witnessed the spectacular scope of unity embodied in this production. BYU’s remarkable folk dance and music students have always been — and continue to be — the heart and soul of Christmas Around the World.
This year’s performance will also feature special guests Living Legends. The BYU-based group features pieces from Native American, Polynesian and Latin American cultures performed by descendants of these cultures and performed with traditional and contemporary music.
Living Legends will be featured throughout the program, including a trio of traditional Samoan numbers “LapaLapa,” “SaSa” with the Polynesian Children’s Ensemble and a number featuring special guest fire knife dancers James and Michael Ahuna.
The main music accompaniment will be provided by Mountain Strings, a seven-student ensemble singing and playing a variety of traditional folk instruments including the fiddle, mandolin, banjo, dulcimer, guitar, harmonica, accordion, bass and bodhran (a Celtic drum). Former Mountain Strings musician Javier Misiego and Jared Antonio Garcvia Lyons will provide additional accompaniment for the Spanish flamenco number.
