From staff reports
Brigham Young University’s International Folk Dance Ensemble (IFDE) and Mountain Strings will make one of only five stops on its Southeast U.S. tour and bring its “Journey Reflections” to Beaufort at 7 p.m., Friday, May 10 at the newly renovated Battery Creek High School Performing Arts Center.
The IFDE showcases the dance styles of the world and features the traditions of the United States. The Ensemble offers one of the broadest spectrum of folk dance performed by a single group of its kind.
The group’s extensive repertoire includes music and dance from all over the world including Europe, the Caribbean, and Asia. Members of IFDE are chosen by audition from among the most skilled performers involving more than 200 students.
The group, founded in 1956, has become internationally famous at the most prestigious folk dance festivals abroad and had the opportunity to perform with many of the world’s finest dance companies. In 2023, the group participated in the international CIOFF folk festivals in Czechia and the Danube Carnival Festival in Hungary. In 2022, they performed at Hello! Schoten Folk Festival and festivals throughout Belgium, Cacak, Serbia, and Bitola, Macedonia. Additionally, they enjoyed a cultural exchange with Folklorni Ansambl Vila in Novi Sad, Serbia.
Other prestigious festivals have invited the group back at least five times, including International Folklore Festival in Haifa, Israel; the Festival de Confolens in Confolens, France; and the Billingham International Folklore Festival in Stockton-on-Tees, England.
The ensemble is made up of 28 dancers, seven musicians, and four technicians. Combined, they form one of the most unique groups of performing arts in the United States. Directed by Mark Geslison, IFDE’s folk music ensemble Mountain Strings provides the magic of live music for the group. Its traditional approach to music includes the banjo, the fiddle, and other acoustic instruments Specializing in American, French-Canadian, and Celtic styles of music, the distinct sounds of spoons, bones, and bodhrans add percussive variety.
The performers, all students at Brigham Young University, come from throughout the United States.
Careful attention is given to every detail of cultural representation in choreography. A spectacular variety of beautiful costumes recreate regional dress from throughout the country.
Working behind the scenes of the International Folk Dance Ensemble’s dazzling showcase of music and dance from around the world is artistic director Jeanette Geslison. Geslison is from Odense, Denmark where she was trained in classical ballet, jazz, and theatre. She attended Brigham Young University and performed with International Folk Dance Ensemble, from 1987-1991, and again from 1993-94.
Geslison has directed the group since 2011. Her diverse background and wide array of experience has helped her to expand the International Folk Dance Ensemble’s repertoire and reach new horizons.
Tickets are $25 per person or $20 per person for groups of four or more. Tickets may be purchased online at https://bit.ly/4b8BRiC.
Want To Go?
Who: BYU’s International Folk Dance Ensemble and Mountain Strings
What: “Journey Reflections”
When: 7 p.m., Friday, May 10
Where: Battery Creek High School Performing Arts Center
Tickets: $25 per person or $20 per person for groups of 4 or more. Purchase tickets online at https://bit.ly/4b8BRiC.
