Brigham Young University”s highly-acclaimed Living Legends performers showcase the excitement, mystery and exhilaration of ancient cultures during their 90-minute display of Polynesian, Latin American, and Native American music and dance. Living Legends will perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 2, at the Marge Alakszay Center at Clear Lake High School in Lakeport. Cost of admission is $10; tickets are available by calling 263-7604.
Authentic choreography, intricate costumes and heart-pounding music bring to life the beauty of traditional cultures often forgotten in today”s modern world. From the graceful Hawaiian Hula, to Mexican Fiesta dances of celebration, to the excitement and beauty of a Native American Pow Wow, this year”s Living Legends performance will reflect the cycle of civilization. The dances will portray the changing seasons experienced by ancient cultures, waving together legends of the past with the reality of today.
Each year hundreds of BYU students representing the cultures of North and South America and the South Pacific audition for the opportunity to pay tribute to their ancestors. All Living Legends members are of Native American, Latin American or Polynesian heritage.
Living Legends will depart January 26, 2007 for a 10-day tour through northern California. Their schedule includes concerts in various cities, including Modesto, Sacramento, Napa and Eureka. Along the way, the group will take a slight detour to perform in Reno, Nevada.
Living Legends most recently visited Alaska for five days in October. The tour, which was sponsored by the Alaska Federation of Natives, included concerts throughout Anchorage and Glenallen. The performances were broadcast to 237 native villages throughout the state.
In May, Living Legends returned from a four-week tour to Germany and Austria, visiting 12 cities from Hamburg in Germany to Salzburg, Austria. They gave 11 concerts for nearly 9,000 people and also made television appearances that reached a potential of 38 million viewers. In January 2006, Living Legends performed throughout Wyoming and Montana for a mid-semester tour.
Living Legends strives to encourage all people to take pride in their individual heritage. Its joyful expression of cultural tradition encourages audiences to better themselves, as illustrated by a statement from the Office of Culture in Guatemala: “Your performance was wonderful. Your presence here teaches our people something ? to have high ideals and to walk proud as a people. We hope this community will not be the same after tonight.”
Living Legends is directed by Janielle Christensen and originates in the School of Music, College of Fine Arts and Communications at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.
BYU is one of the nation”s largest private universities with an enrollment of more than 30,000 students from throughout the United States and more than 120 foreign countries.
