Japanese Dance Artist to Perform at SMC

02/11/11

Shizumi will perform at SMC on Feb. 22SPARTANBURG - Guests will experience an evening of Japanese culture when dance artist Shizumi Manale performs at Spartanburg Methodist College on Feb. 22.

Manale's performance, part of the SMC Centennial Celebration series, is free and open to the general public. It will be held in SMC's Camak Auditorium at 7:30 pm.

The San Francisco Examiner describes her and her work as, "An exquisite dancer... haunting, cannily inflected vignettes... choreography of depth that fused all the theatrical arts in the service of an original idea."

Manale distills over 2000 years of Japanese dance, music, and literature in performances and workshops. Her programs incorporate ancient Noh and Kyogen theatre traditions, Japanese fans, samurai swordsmanship, calligraphy, the art of the kimono, poetry, and elements of traditional tea ceremony. Her audiences explore the grace, strength, and humor of traditional and modern Japanese theatre and learn about the cultural connections between Japan and China, Korea, and India. Her new children's dance company, Kodomo Dance Troupe, provides children ages 5 to 15 the opportunity to learn Asian and modern dance and to perform at such major venues as the Kennedy Center.

She will also be conducting two same-day workshops, which are free and open to the public and will be held in SMC's Burgess Student Center:

  • 11:AM-11:50AM: Workshop: Importance & History of Japanese Mask
  • 2PM-2:50PM: Workshop: Importance & History of Japanese Swords

For more information on the Shizumi Manale, you can visit http://www.shizumidance.com

For more information on the event, please contact Centennial Committee chairman Briles Lever at (864) 587-4279 or leverb@smcsc.edu

Spartanburg Methodist College is in its 100th academic year of providing quality education to students in a Christian environment.  More than 90 percent of SMC graduates continue their education at other institutions of higher learning.