Artists-in-Schools › ZIVILI: Dance and Music of the Southern Slavic Nations

Artist's Narrative | Programs Available | Availability

Artist's Narrative

ŽIVILI is the only fully professional ethnic dance company in America which performs exclusively the dances, songs, and music of the peoples of the Southern Slavic Nations. The company has performed all over the United States (including the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee, EPCOT Center, and the Brooklyn Center for the Performing Arts at Brooklyn College), and also in the former Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Hungary. During the summer of 2000, the company was chosen to represent Ohio on the Millennium Stage at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., and acted as a key facilitator in Plovdiv, Bulgaria at a UNESCO-sponsored "Balkan Youth Reconciliation Seminar." During the 1993-94 season, Mark Morris created The Office especially for ŽIVILI, to great critical acclaim. The Office speaks eloquently of life, war, and death in present-day Bosnia. During the summer of 1997, ŽIVILI performed for persons displaced by the war in former Yugoslavia in refugee camps in Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, and in Sarajevo, Bosnia. During the summer of 2001, the company again performed in Refugee Centers and Orphanages in Croatia.

Pamela Lacko Kelley, the company's artistic director and choreographer, is a 9-time recipient of the Ohio Arts Council's Individual Artists Awards for Choreography. Melissa Obenauf, ŽIVILI's executive director and dance director, dances with the company as well. She has choreographed for ŽIVILI and is also a recipient of Ohio Arts Council fellowships in choreography. Ms. Kelley and Ms. Obenauf are both respected experts in the field of ethnic dance; in addition, both have degrees in elementary education and have extensive classroom experience.

ŽIVILI has been supported in part by grants from the Greater Columbus Arts Council, the Ohio Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Community Arts Fund. ŽIVILI was awarded the Greater Columbus Arts Council's "Artistic Excellence" Award in April 2001.

Supplementary materials to aid in the preparation for or follow-up from a visit by ŽIVILI will be made available to schools that request them.

Availability

Upon request.

Programs Available

Dance and Music Informance (Grade levels K-12)

A lively introduction to ŽIVILI and to the spirited cultures that ŽIVILI represents, presented through dance, music and song. Representing ŽIVILI (in traditional costumes) will be Pamela Lacko Kelley, Artistic Director/Choreographer, and Melissa Pintar Obenauf, Dance Director/Executive Director.

Activity Options:

Dance and Music Informance

• Duration: 45 min.
• Fees: $400/ $625 for two back-to-back

Dance Workshops for Classrooms or P.E. Classes (Grade levels K-12; Teachers also)

An in-depth, personalized learning experience for students and/or teachers. Throughout the dance class, other topics such as traditional music, arts, Slavic cultures and history, as well as current events, are also introduced. Taught by Pamela Lacko Kelley, Artistic Director/Choreographer and by Melissa Pintar Obenauf, Dance Director/Executive Director. Live musical accompaniment on instruments indigenous to the area(s) is provided as well.

Activity Options:

Dance Workshops

• Duration: 45 min.
• Fees: $250

Social Studies Residency (Grade levels K-12)

ŽIVILI Directors Pam Kelley and Melissa Obenauf provide an in-depth half-week (2 ½ days) or full week (5 days) residency experience that is informative, educational, as well as entertaining. Social Studies curricular areas are certain to be enhanced with classes in history, culture, costuming (try them on!), musical instruments, dance, current events, and yes! even recipes - all from the Central European nation of Croatia! Our residencies are tailored to a school's specific needs/requests. Fees are negotiable.

Activity Options:

Social Studies Residency

• Duration: 2 ½ Day Residency with 2 artists
• Fees: $850

Social Studies Residency

• Duration: 5 Day Residency with 2 artists
• Fees: $1700

Complete a request form online, or download a printable copy.

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