Rotunda Dance Series: Ensambles Ballet Folklorico and Duniya Dance and Drum Company

As the second of 9 free public performances in the 2010/11 Rotunda Dance Series, Ensambles Ballet Folkoricó and Duniya Dance and Drum Company come together in a collaboration to perform excerpts from their work Half and Halves, a dance exploration of the Punjabi-Mexican communities of California—Friday, November 5, 2010, noon at City Hall, San Francisco.

The inaugural season of the high profile City Hall Rotunda Dance Series, a partnership between Dancers’ Group and World Arts West with San Francisco’s Grants for the Arts and San Francisco City Hall, will bring 10 of the Bay Area’s most acclaimed dance companies to the Rotunda of San Francisco City Hall for free noon-time performances taking place the first Friday of each month.

Future performances will include Leung’s White Crane Lion Dance, Halau o Keikiali‛i (Hawaiian hula), Monique Jenkinson / Fauxnique, Hui Tama Nui (Tahitian), Ohlone Costanoan Rumsen Carmel Tribe, AXIS Dance Company, and Gamelan Sekar Jaya.

About Half and Halves, Ensambles Ballet Folklorico & Duniya Dance and Drum Company
The project has sparked the collaborative relationship between nonprofit Mexican Folklórico dance company, Ensambles Ballet Folklórico de San Francisco, and Duniya Dance and Drum Company’s Artistic Director, Joti Singh, and is an exploration of the Punjabi-Mexican communities that formed in the early 20th century, in the Imperial, San Joaquin, and Sacramento valleys of California. Their children, who sometimes referred to themselves as “half and halves,” were brought up with mostly Mexican and American culture. With performances on November 13th at 7pm and November 14th at 2pm at the Brava Theater, Half and Halves investigates the lives of these interracial families.

About Dancers’ Group
Dancers’ Group promotes the visibility and viability of dance. Founded in 1982, we serve San Francisco Bay Area artists, the dance community and audiences through programs and services that are as collaborative and innovative as the creative process. As the primary dance service organization for the second largest dance community in the country, Dancers’ Group’s many programs help artists produce work, build audiences, and connect with their peers and the community.

About World Arts West
For over three decades, World Arts West has supported and presented world dance artists throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. The main presenting program of the organization is the nationally acclaimed San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, which presents over 100 distinct dance forms and thousands of local dancers who are sustaining and innovating within those forms. The organization works year round to advance cultural literacy and build bridges of cultural understanding.


Calendar Editors please note:
Rotunda Dance Series:
Ensambles Ballet Folklórico and Duniya Dance and Drum Company
Presented by Dancers’ Group and World Arts West, in partnership with San Francisco Grants for the Arts and San Francisco City Hall.