Tag Archives: International Dance Festivial@Silicon Valley

Lively Foundation Creates Community: Embarcadero Publishing

This article appeared in Our Neighborhoods: Mountain View and Los Altos, December, 2019, a magazine published by the Embarcadero Publishing Co., which publishes the Mountain View Voice, Palo Alto Weekly, Menlo-Atherton Almanac newspapers. Lively thanks Embarcadero Publishing for recognizing The Lively Foundation as a leader in creating community and selecting us to represent our community.

The first thing Leslie Friedman notices when she enters a room is the floor. Wooden? Concrete? Tiled? Her dancer’s eye is always looking for good floors for dancing. She is also always searching  for ways her work can serve the community. She brings people together to dance, to enjoy dance, to learn about our many cultures, and about each other. Her dance succeeds at building community.
As an internationally touring performer, choreographer, and artistic director of the nonprofit Lively Foundation that operates in Old Mountain View, her deep passion for life and her art energizes her choreography and performances. She is first American dancer or artist of any kind to perform with joint sponsorship of the US State Department and host countries around the world. These “firsts” include performances in Moscow and Leningrad/St. Petersburg, Russia; Beijing, Shenyang, and Shanghai, China; Barcelona and Madrid, Spain; Warsaw, Lodz, Krakow, Poznan, Poland; New Delhi, Bengaluru (Bangalore), Kolkata (Calcutta), Chennai (Madras), India; Bucharest, Romania; Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt; Tunis, Tunisia, and more. Her performances in these cities plus London, Tokyo, Toronto, Seoul, were all given ovations and invitations to return.
She stirs up artistic presence on the Peninsula by inviting renowned dancers to teach and  perform in the annual International Dance Festival@Silicon Valley that she hosts in Mountain View.

Artistic Director, Leslie Friedman
First launched in 2012, the week long festival seeks to create performance opportunities for professional dance artists, offers intensive training for dancers and dance students, and invites the whole community to experience dance in professional performance. “Some audience members would be dance lovers, for some it would be their first time watching, for all we hope to give them the excitement and beauty of dance,” says Leslie. The Festival also attracts adults aged 15 and up to classes in a wide variety of dances and  exposes them to the new choreography created by the teaching artists.  Performances and classes include traditional dances from many cultures flourishing in the Bay Area: Irish set dancing, Salsa, Polish folk dance, Mexican Folclorico, Afro-Haitian, several kinds of classical Indian dances, classical Chinese dance. These are in addition to Ballet, Tap, Line Dances, Contemporary, Jazz, and Ballroom dances.

Crystal Bella Chen and Oscar Adrian Rodriguez perform Ballroom dance in the International Dance Festival@Silicon Valley, 2019

“There is a rich variety of movement styles available for our open Master Classes on the Festival’s Full Day of Dance©,” says Leslie, “We encourage everyone to do what they love and also try something new.” All the classes are mixed levels. That includes beginners and pros.
“A ballerina will have an opportunity to learn Afro-Haitian Dance and love it as a beginner in the class. A complete beginner might have a wonderful time in Line dances or find a gift for Tap,” Friedman explains. “Professional dancers can showcase their work here. It gives them new audiences, a chance  to demonstrate and develop their art.”
Through the IDF@SV, Friedman said she hopes to bring the diversity of arts of different origins while involving the community in dance. She also believes it is possible and important that everyone finds a way to move that they enjoy enough to keep doing.
“Move whatever moves, wiggle whatever wiggles,” she said. “If my work inspires someone to keep moving, wow!”
]ennifer Urmson, a mother of two boys, was happy to endorse the way Leslie Friedman and The Lively Foundation build community. She started taking Friedman’s weekly ballet classes when a friend invited her two years ago. “I had not been dancing for a very long time, and I was nervous about the idea of doing ballet as an adult,” Urmson said, adding that as a child, she was told ballet was for bodies of a certain shape. “But Leslie is wonderful as a teacher, very open and supportive. I was really pleased that after a couple of lessons, I felt myself getting stronger and improving my balance.”
Within Jennifer’s class there was a woman in her early 20s, other moms, and retirees. A few of them were organize activities for their dance class friends outside class, such as going together to attend a ballet performance at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts.
Urmson said whether you attend several classes or take part in a single workshop at the Festival, The Lively Foundation seems to have a way of connecting people.
“Months after the dance Festival, you’ll hear people exchanging highlights from the event when they run into one another around town,” she said. “Even if it’s just one class, you see a different side of people. You feel you know them better.” For more information about the International Dance Festival@Silicon Valley, contact livelyfoundation@sbcglobal.net
­—Esther Young, 2019; photo of Leslie Friedman demonstrating a movement for Julie Van Gelder, private student and Festival participant, by Magali Gauthier

Artist in Residence: Dr. Leslie Friedman, Dancer, Choreographer, Writer

This is an article by author Don McPhail. It appeared in the November issue of OMVNA (vol. 31, Number 4) which covers the Old Mountain View, CA area.

ARTIST IN RESIDENCE: Dr. Leslie Friedman, Dancer, Choreographer, Writer

With quiet energy and a generous nature, Leslie Friedman is a local treasure. Her willingness to share and motivate other is distinctive. Residents who have participated in Leslie’s dance classes or the International Dance Festival@Silicon Valley which she founded and directs may be surprised to learn that this same unselfish teacher is an award winning, world-renowned dancer and ambassador of art. All of Leslie’s classes, the Festival, and other Lively Foundation events take place at Mountain View’s Masonic Lodge, in the heart of Old Mountain View.

Leslie Friedman’s extraordinary background is documented on The Lively Foundation’s website/blog  www.livelyfoundation.org   Leslie’s remarkable career as a dancer and choreographer has earned her acclaim from audiences and critics alike on four continents. She has performed with the support of the US State Department and host countries in Russia, China, India,England, Spain, Poland, Egypt, South Korea, Japan, and more. A writer and former history professor, she received her Ph.D. in Modern British History from Stanford. She taught at Stanford, Vassar, and Case Western Reserve before returning to dance professionally.

An invitation to introduce American modern dance to the artists of India’s National School of Drama led to a Fulbright Lectureship to support her work and travel. Beginning at Viswa Bharati University, home of Tagore, India’s Nobel winning poet, she performed across India: new Delhi, Bangalore, Madras, Calcutta, and Jaipur. Her work was so well received that each place invited her back for more performances.

Representatives of Indian arts institutions, US consulates or Fulbright in India took her to the next plane or train, but she traveled as she danced: solo. She was welcomed by people with whom she maintains long friendships. On China or Bulgaria she says, “I met wonderful individuals and learned so much.”

The success of her first India trips led to more. She performed and taught in Sri Lanka, Egypt, and Tunisia on that journey. Word of her beautiful dancing and ability to relate to new people and places spread, leading to more journeys touring her art. Next: Budapest, Pecs, and Gyor, Hungary; Barcelona and Madrid, Spain; Moscow and Leningrad, USSR. She knew these were peak experiences and was thrilled to be doing what she loved for appreciative, knowledgeable audiences.

The US State Department and The Place, London’s foremost theater for modern dance, co-sponsored her performances there. She taught her choreography to London’s Ballet Rambert. In China, she taught modern dance and created choreography for the national ballet academies: Beijing, Shenyang, and Shanghai. She introduced modern dance to Poland’s national ballets, making four extensive trips to Poland and Romania performing and choreographing.

Lively Foundation Artistic Director Leslie Friedman

She continued performing concerts across the US and the Bay Area. She and her company performed education performances about the the Gold Rush for thousands of students from San Jose to Marin. She created several firsts: concerts honoring the many holidays at year’s end; benefit concerts for breast cancer patients; Heroic, Beloved, a concert for Women’s History Month performed in multiple states’ universities and arts centers.

For this writer, Leslie Friedman’s delight in sharing her art is most inspiring see in the context of tumultuous historic events going on around her as she keeps dancing.

Current bookThe Dancer’s Garden, published in April, 2019

Current project: International Dance Festival@Silicon Valley, Founder & Artistic Director

Choreography Competition: Enter Now!

It is very exciting to announce that the Choreography Competition for the International Dance Festival@Silicon Valley, 2019, is now open. Awardees will perform in the Festival Concert of the International Dance Festival@Silicon Valley, May 19, 2019, 3 p.m., Masonic Hall, Mountain View.

Lively Foundation Artistic Director Leslie Friedman

Please send a video of the work you wish to perform. You may send it on a DVD to The Lively Foundation, 550 Mountain View Avenue, Mountain View, CA, 94041-1941. OR you may send it to us by youtube. Please use this email: livelyfoundation@sbcglobal.net. IF you send it by youtube, you must email us first letting us know you are sending it. Otherwise, we may have to delete it as suspected spam.

The competition is open to ALL KINDS of dance and other forms that feature movement. For example, last year our three awardees each represented a different art form: ballroom dance, contemporary dance, and circus art. These do not represent categories for applications; all entries are considered equally.

The work may not be over 8 minutes long.

Your sound must be performance ready. If you are selected to perform, you will have a brief time to go through your sound cues  with the Technical Director. Do not expect to be able to create your cues at that time or to have the Technical Director search around on your device for a particular sound. If it is not performance ready, it will not be performed.

Participants must be adults at least 18 years old.

Please send us by email or US Mail this information: your full, correct name; street address; email address; name of the presentation; names of performers (include your own if you will perform); a brief resume including training, education. Please let us know if you have technical requirements, stage or floor requirements. There is a $20 entry fee. Please send a check made out to The Lively Foundation to The Lively Foundation, 550 Mountain View Avenue, Mountain View, CA 94041

Deadline: March 31, 2019. Yes, that means that all information, video, and entry fee must be received by then. Entries or items which are part of an entry that are received after the deadline will not be considered.

Videos will be viewed by individuals of the selection committee. Announcement of awardees will be made after all entries have been viewed by the whole committee.

Questions? please contact livelyfoundation@sbcglobal.net

Thank you!!! We look forward to your art.

IDF@SV TICKETS FOR FESTIVAL CONCERTS! 2018

TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE NOW for the Showcase Performance, Jun 22, 2018, 7 p.m. and the Gala Festival Concert, June 23, 2018, 3 p.m. and the Festive Dinner after the Festival Concert. Unique and wonderful experiences that celebrate the best of dance. Buy your tickets now; the acclaimed the Festival artists perform to full houses every time. Audiences embrace these performances by peerless artists.  To buy your tickets: Mail a check made to The Lively Foundation to The Lively Foundation/550 Mountain View Avenue/Mountain View, CA/94041. OR if you prefer to use a credit card: please (1) go to the landing page of livelyfoundation.org (2) scroll down the page to see the PAYPAL logo (3) click on that. Follow the easy directions for making a donation. (4) Please email livelyfoundation@sbcglobal.net to let us know how many tickets for which date. OR Tickets available at the door. PLEASE bring cash or check and ID.

THE SHOWCASE PERFORMANCE program encompasses premieres of work from the Festival’s Choreo-Cubator©; an Awardee of the 2018 Choreography Competition, Sam Tribble’s amazing work on the Cyr, a circus art; and premier performances by guest artists. All tickets are $10. Complimentary refreshments. Attend the Showcase and you get a two-for-the-price-of-one ticket to the Festival Concert. FANTASTIC DEAL!

Audreyanne Delgado-Covarrubias

THE GALA FESTIVAL CONCERT presents the Tap Dance Star Audreyanne Delgado-Covarrubias whose wit and incredible quickness makes the audience gasp and applaud; Physical Comedy & Tap artist Megan Ivey whose feet never seem to touch the ground; Etta Walton invites the audience to join her in her amazing Line Dances–no one stays seated when they can dance with Etta. It is a concert to make you laugh and to make your spirits soar. Performances by Awardees of the 2018 Choreography Competition, Ballroom dance by Kris Mola with partner Yuriy Kuvshynov; contemporary dance by Marlene Garcia’s dancers Jessica Bozzo & Coryn Ware.

Above, L to Rt: Awardees Kris Mola with Yuriy Kuvshynov; Marlene Garcia  General Admission tickets, $20; tickets for those over age 65 or younger than 10, $12; Sponsor tickets are $35. Sponsor ticket holders will have reserved seats and a tax deduction. Group tickets for 5 or more available, please contact livelyfoundation@sbcglobal.net

DINNER and a SHOW! “What are you doing after the show?” Don’t rush off; join audience members and artists at Amici’s pizzeria just a block and a half away for a festive, pizza celebration after the show. Please let us know that you will attend so we can be sure Amici’s staff is ready for us! Add $25 to your ticket cost. That’s all it takes to make the fun continue. Performance will end around 5 p.m. We will probably arrive at Amici’s around 5:30. PLEASE RSVP; we need to count you in to reserve our table. Response by June 21 would be great. Mail your check made out to The Lively Foundation to The Lively Foundation/550 Mountain View Ave/Mountain View, CA/94041     QUESTIONS? contact livelyfoundation@sbcglobal.net

 

REGISTER for International Dance Festival@Silicon Valley NOW!

IT’S TIME TO REGISTER!

REGISTER NOW! Be sure to get the workshops & classes you want to take. IDF@SV 2018 has held on to prices from 2016. Sign up now for the best dance experiences anywhere. TO REGISTER: Mail your check made out to The Lively Foundation to The Lively Foundation, 550 Mountain View Avenue, Mountain View, CA 94041-1941. Please include a list of classes/workshops you want to take, your name, address, phone number. OR if you prefer to use a credit card (1) go to the landing page of livelyfoundation.org (2) scroll down to the PAYPAL logo (3) click on it & follow directions for making a donation (4) Please send an email to livelyfoundation@sbcglobal.net stating which classes/workshops you want to take & your name, address, phone number. OR pay at the door with cash or check. Please note that Early Bird prices expired on May 7. Here are prices, schedules, descriptions:

CHOREO-CUBATOR©  $125 regular (after May 7) Choreo-Cubator© offers dancers and other artists whose work involves movement space and time to make new work or to polish a work in progress. Supportive atmosphere. Opportunity to perform (not required but encouraged) in Showcase Performance, June 22. Working sessions for Choreo-cubator© meet on June 12, 14, 15, 19, 21, 22, at 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. ALL kinds of dance welcome.

PHYSICAL COMEDY WORKSHOP $30 for one person; bring a pal and  the second person pays $15. That’s a great deal for more fun than anyone could describe. Sun., June 10, 2:00-4:00 p.m.

Megan Ivey, formerly of the world famous Ringling Bros., leads the Physical Comedy Workshop. Walk into walls! Fall down funny!                   AND BE SURE TO SEE Megan perform in the Festival Concert, June 23, 3 p.m.

FULL DAY OF DANCE© Meets  from 10:00 a.m. – 4:45 p.m. on Saturday, June 16.  Each class one hour long. Fifteen minutes between classes; lunch break 12:25 – 1: 15 p.m. All five classes $70. Classes include Jazz, 10 a.m.; Pilates mat, 11:15 a.m.; Tap, 1:15 p.m.; Contemporary Ballet, 2:30 p.m.; Line dances, 3:45 – 4: 45 p.m. Five movement classes, back to back, all mixed levels. Regular fees: $25 single class; $20 per class for 2; $18 per class for 3; $16 per class for 4; $14  per class for 5. BEST DEAL AND MOST FUN: TAKE THEM ALL!!!

Audreyanne Delgado Covarrubias (left) teaches and performs Tap; Etta Walton (right) teaches and performs Line Dances. Their classes are on Full Day of Dance© Their performances are on the Festival Concert, June 23, 3:00 p.m.

AFRICAN RHYTHM & DANCE: Meets at 11:00 a.m., Mon. through Fri., June 18 – 22.  Dancers’ Group discount: $112.50; Regular is $125. Participants will learn a dance to perform in the Showcase Performance!  (Performance encouraged but not required).

DO IT NOW!!! Register for the best dance experiences available anywhere! Put the Heart Back in Your Art! Come Dance with Us!

Choreography Contest: Apply to Perform!

The International Dance Festival@Silicon Valley invites choreographers, dancers, and other artists whose work involves movement to apply for the Choreography Awards at IDF@SV 2018. All kinds of dance are welcome.

Winners will perform on one of the Festival’s concerts: the Showcase Performance, June 22, 6:30 p.m., or the Festival Concert, June 23, 3 p.m.  These are both public, ticketed performances. There are also cash awards. This is an amazing opportunity to present your work to new audiences without having to do the many chores of self-production.

PLEASE NOTE: work may not be longer than 8 minutes. DEADLINE for application is May 7. We will not announce awardees until after the deadline in order to have time to review all applicants. Even if we love your work, we cannot announce until after the deadline to be fair to all applicants.

Applicants are advised to send their video either on a DVD by US mail to The Lively Foundation, 550 Mountain View Avenue, Mountain View, CA 94041-1941                                                             OR                                                                                                                                                                   send video by youtube to livelyfoundation@sbcglobal.net    IF YOU SEND BY YOUTUBE: Please send us an email stating that you are sending it so that we do not think it is spam. We prefer not to receive by dropbox due to spams.

Send the following for your application: Your name, name of the work, length of time of the work, number of performers and their names. Let us know if you need special technical effects or equipment. The performances are low tech. Please mail us your entry fee of $20 by a check made out to The Lively Foundation and mail to The Lively Foundation/550 Mountain View Avenue/Mountain View, CA/94041-1941 For more information, please contact livelyfoundation@sbcglobal.net

photo above: Elisabeth Kindler-Abali, takes a bow; Dancer/choreographer from Berlin, Germany, guest artist, IDF@SV, 2017 & 2016; photo by GKermode: Los Altos, CA

Choreography Competition: NEW Deadline

The International Dance Festival@Silicon Valley announces a new deadline to receive submissions. Send your dvd or youtube so that it is received in Mountain View no later than May 27 (changed from May 20 due to change in travel plans of 2 judges). Send your dvd to The Lively Foundation, Attn. Leslie Friedman, 550 Mountain View Ave/Mountain View, CA 94041. If you send your work by youtube, please remember to send us an additional email to let us know you are sending something. Otherwise, we might think it is spam. Email address: livelyfoundation@sbcglobal.net     Mail your $25 entry fee to the Mountain View address above. ALL kinds of dance, traditional and contemporary, are welcome.

Arturo Magaña will perform on the Festival Concert, July 1st, 3 p.m. Mountain View Masonic Center, 890 Church St., Mountain View

Include your name, street address, email address, name of dance, names & number of dancers, length of dance, name of music or other sound accompaniment. Let us know if the work has been performed before, where, and when. Let us know if you plan to perform it again in Summer, 2017, in the Bay Area. Choreographers (actors, jugglers, mimes, writers–any artist for whom movement is a central element in the work) must be adults (over 18). For more questions, please contact The Lively Foundation at livelyfoundation@sbcglobal.net  AWARDS: 1st place winner performs on the Festival Concert, July 1, 3 p.m. with the acclaimed artists of the Festival. 2nd & 3rd place winners perform on the Showcase Performance which features new work created in IDF@SV’s Choreo-cubator©. Both performances are ticketed and open to the public. Honoraria for winners.

Mexican Folklorico Dance Joins in Full Day of Dance©!!!

Wonderful news for Full Day of Dance!© Arturo Magaña will teach Mexican Folklorico dance on Full Day of Dance©, June 24. He and his group will perform on the Festival Concert, July 1. Arturo is the Artistic Director of the Ensamble Folclorico Colibri. He also is the Dance teacher at Lincoln High School, San Jose. He is truly a master of the Folklorico dance. It is a great opportunity to watch him and his outstanding group AND to experience the Folklorico dance in his open master class.

Arturo Magana

More details: FULL DAY OF DANCE© June 24, classes run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with short breaks between classes. All are mixed levels and enjoyed by advanced or beginning dancers. This is a tribute to the excellence of our artist/teachers. All classes last one hour. EARLY BIRD discount available up to May 20. Price per class reduces with each added class. Early Bird: single class/$20; all five classes/$60. You may take any number of classes. Please remember to register! Send your check to The Lively Foundation/ 550 Mountain View Avenue/ Mountain View, CA 94041 Include the check made out to The Lively Foundation, your name, which classes you plan to take, your email address, and your US mail street address. Full Day of Dance© classes include Tap Dance, Pilates mat, Line Dances, Contemporary Dance, Mexican Folklorico.

FESTIVAL CONCERT is July1, 3 p.m. The program includes premiere work by all of the artist/teachers. This is an EXTRAORDINARY opportunity to see these fabulous artists on one program and to see what new work they have created. Tickets: $20 general/$12 over 65 and 10 years old & younger. Patron ticket: $30 (includes tax deductible charitable donation). Discounts available for groups. Tickets include complimentary refreshments.

All events/classes at the Mountain View Masonic Center, 890 Church Street, Mountain View, CA, 94041. For more information, contact livelyfoundation@sbcglobal.net

REGISTER NOW! IDF@SV 2016

Flying leslie Left SmallIt’s time! Register for the best summer dance experience at the International Dance Festival@Silicon Valley. Send in the following information by email to livelyfoundation@sbcglobal.net or by US Mail to The Lively Foundation/550 Mountain View Avenue/Mountain View, CA 94041-1941   You may also copy and print the form here. Make your check out to The Lively Foundation. Early Bird prices good through June 30.

International Dance Festival@Silicon Valley, August 6-14, 2016

Name (please check Mr or Ms)__________________________________________________________

Home Address___________________________________________________________________________

Festival Address (if home is out of area)__________________________________________________

Phone#s (home)____________________________(cell)_________________________________________

Email______________________________________________________________________________________

Emergency contact__________________________________________________________

phone#s_____________________________________________________________________________________

email_______________________________________________________________________________________

I, (your name)______________________________________________________register & pay in full for:

_______Physical Comedy Wkshp_________Contemp.Tech&Rep___________Choreo-Cubator©

If you take the Contemporary Wkshop you may perform in the Festival Concert or choose not to perform. If you take Choreo-Cubator© you may perform in the Showcase or choose not to.

Full Day of Dance©______Pilates mat_______Contemporary_____Tap______Lines_______Arg. Tango

__________All Five Classes

For prices & schedules please see previous post. Early Bird prices good through June 30