Towson University’s Asian Arts & Culture Center celebrates with the Many Moons Festival 2010, back by popular demand for the 5^th time, in the Center for the Arts on Sunday, September 12, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The festival utilizes six stages and large public spaces, featuring nine accomplished performing arts groups of traditional and innovative music and dance, arts & crafts, martial arts, food and teas from around the world.

Performing artists include Silk Road Dance Company; Shizumi and Kodomo performing Japanese dance; Chu Shan Chinese Opera Institute; Wood and Strings Puppet Theatre; Indian dance; Korean Music, Songs and Drums; Nepalese music and dance; Santo Nino Ati-atihan group; and Exploring Kimono Arts and Dance: Waltz with the Moon. Other activities include Application of Chinese Opera Make-up; Puppet Workshop; Martial Arts Showcases featuring Chinese, Korean, Filipino, and Japanese; animated short films from the Philippines, Japan, and Taiwan, and an art exhibition of Japanese American art.

The festival includes demonstrations, vendors, martial arts self defense presentations including Chinese, Korean, Filipino and Japanese forms, food, tea demonstrations and tastings, and workshops of Asian arts and crafts. Children and adults can try their hands on Japanese doll making, origami, silk rope knotting, dough figurines, bead craft, kite making, paper cutting and making, weaving, and more.

The colorful and aromatic Crossroads Marketplace in the second floor atrium features food vendors serving an array of culinary delights. Booths with colorful fine arts & craft items from various Asian countries including China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Japan, Nepal, Tibet, Thailand, and Vietnam, will sell artwork, clothing, books, CDs, jewelry and incense. Other booths feature practitioners of the art of yoga, meditation and integrative health presenting holistic methods of natural healing. Additionally, non-profit Asian community organizations will display information about their services with representatives available to answer questions and inquiries.

The Asian Arts Gallery features the exhibition, Interconnected – New Works by Yuriko Yamaguchi. Noted Japanese American artist Yuriko Yamaguchi recognizes how nature and technologies are intertwined. Through her art installations, Yamaguchi reminds the viewer of how lives are interconnected, which ultimately brings people together despite their differences in religion, nationalities and race. This exhibition is part of the 2010 Many Moons Festival and the Tri-State Sculptors Association annual conference.

Presenting Artists

The Chu Shan Chinese Opera Institute was established in 1992 by Zhu Chu Shan, internationally renowned director of the Chinese opera and Judy Huang, award-winning opera star. Chu Shan Chinese Opera is not only an educational institute, but also a major Chinese opera performing company, with a core group of professional performers and trainers to provide systematic training and full-scale performances of Chinese opera. The presentations include The Peach Party (An excerpt from The Monkey King) and Farewell My Concubine, where the actors characteristically rely upon stylized movements and symbolic action to portray events and characters.

The Silk Road Dance Company’s (SRDC) was founded in 1995 by Artistic Director, Dr. Laurel Victoria Gray, who believes in Enlightenment through Dance, ™ which is also a part of the entire company’s motto of “cultural understanding through beauty and delight.” Sharing a part of the life, culture, and art of the little known regions with their audiences, the ensemble has acquired a wide range of dancing styles that allows them to perform traditional and contemporary women’s dances from the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Caucasus.

Wood & Strings Theatre, located in central Tennessee, is a professional national touring company who operates on a year-round schedule with four puppeteers, four productions and a host of unique puppetry styles from around the world. The company is directed by Clarissa Lega and Leon Fuller and produces original works involving national renowned writers, directors, puppeteers and musicians. Their performance of "Out of the Mist ...a Dragon" is a dramatic and magical tale features exacting reproductions of the Japanese Bunraku articulated figures and Indonesian shadow play illustrating tales and legends.

Jayamangala Dance Company presents an eclectic collection of Indian classical dance-theater in the Bharatanatyam style. Ranging from traditional solos and duets to contemporary group numbers, the dancers use vibrant mudras, movements and music to tell stories of Hindu gods and goddesses like Shiva, Krishna and Durga. Their rhythmic footwork and silks with gold will transport the audience to the ancient temples of southern India. The program is choreographed and directed by Shobha Subramanian.

The Shizumi Kodomo Dance Troupe (SKDT) was established in 2000 per request of the Arts and Humanities Committee for the White House Millennium Celebration. Artistic Director, Shizumi Shigeto Manale formed a children’s dance troupe for the special event. The multicultural company, with dancers from diverse ethnic backgrounds, varies in age from 4 to 17 years of age. Their performance is an expression of Japanese culture and dance, demonstrating the importance of friendship between the East and West.

Tickets for general admission are $15 in advance, $20 at the door; $5 for students, $10 at the door,

$10 Asian Art & Culture Center Members and $5 Member’s children under 18; free for TU students with valid ID in advance, $2 at door. Discounted group rates are available. For tickets: www.tuboxoffice.com; for

additional information, please call 410-704-2807 or visit http://wwwnew.towson.edu/asianarts/.

The Asian Arts and Culture Center, founded in 1971, is a multi-faceted organization whose mission is to promote, preserve and enhance the community’s respect for and understanding of the cultures of Asia. The Asian Arts & Culture Center organizes and presents programs that encompass the spectrum of artistic and cultural achievements throughout the year through exhibitions of the visual arts, performances of dance, theatre and music, presentations of film, lectures, workshops and demonstrations.

Many Moons Festival 2010

SCHEDULE OF ACTIVITIES (Subject to change)

Grand Hall

11 a.m. – 6 p.m. Displays and sale of handicrafts from Japan, China, India, Tibet, Thailand, and Taiwan, with special interests including integrative medicines, natural healing, yoga, and more.

Center for the Arts Gallery

11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Arts & Crafts workshops

Doll making, origami, dough figurines, bead craft, silk rope knotting, kite making, paper cutting, fruit carving, paper making, etc.

The Atrium

11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Crossroads Marketplace Asian cuisines and teas

Asian Arts Gallery

11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Exhibition: Interconnected—New Works by Yuriko Yamaguchi

MFA Gallery

2 p.m. – 5 p.m. Animated Short Films

Kaplan Concert Hall

12 noon Welcome Ceremony with the Santo Nino Ati-atihan group

Silk Road Dance Company

1 p.m. Japanese Dance—Shizumi and Kodomo

2 p.m. Chinese Opera—Chu Shan Chinese Opera Institute

3 p.m. Silk Road Dance Company

4 p.m. Japanese Dance—Shizumi and Kodomo

5 p.m. Chinese Opera—Chu Shan Chinese Opera Institute

Mainstage Theater

12:30 p.m. Out of the Mist…A Dragon – Puppet Theatre

1:30 p.m. Indian Dance

2:30 p.m. Korean Music, Songs and Drums

3:30 p.m. Out of the Mist…A Dragon – Puppet Theatre

4:30 p.m. Indian Dance

5:30 p.m. Korean Music, Songs and Drums

Marder Studio Theatre

2 p.m. Puppet Workshop for Family

3:30 p.m. Application of Chinese Opera Make-up

Recital Hall

12:30 p.m. Indonesian Dance demo

2 p.m. Exploring Kimono Arts and Dance: Waltz with the Moon

3:30 p.m. Indonesian Dance demo

Dance Studio Theatre

1 – 5 p.m. Dancers Showcases (Hawaii, Malaysia, Philippines, Central Asia)

Studio Theatre

1 p.m. - 5 p.m. Martial Arts Showcases (Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Japanese)

1^st Floor Lobby and Art Hall

11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Community Information Sharing: Non-profit community service organizations will discuss their mission and services.