CLOG AMERICA, the International Festival Ensemble from South Jordan, Utah, has received an invitation to represent the USA at two prestigious folklore festivals in Istanbul, Turkey designated as the “2010 European Capital of Culture”.  The group’s 22 dancers and 8 musicians will participate in the “5^th International Kucukcekmece Lake Festival” from July 8-17 and the “10^th International Yesilkoy folk Dance Festival” from July 15-20, 2010.  CLOG AMERICA will join 19 other international ensembles from around the world for festival celebrations viewed by audiences estimated to be over 65,000 people with extensive press and media coverage.

August 10- “CONCERT OF CULTURE”

August 12-”COUNTRY SPOTLIGHT SHOWS”  

 August 13- “FOLKLORE FUN” at The District and Daybreak’s SoDa Row                          

 August 14-”UTAH HERITAGE DAY”                                                          “FLAVORS OF THE  WORLD”    and       “SWING NIGHT”

GET ALL OF EACH EVENT’S DETAILS BY CLICKING ON THE INTERNATIONAL DAYS TAB.

ALL EVENTS ARE FREE !!!!! Guest International Ensembles will soon be announced.  Watch for more information.

Clog America will then travel to Croatia to perform in the12^th International Folklore Festival Karlovac.  This year will be the first time the United States has had representation in this established Croatian festival

Ten years after performing in “Europaisches Folklore-Festival”, CLOG AMERICA will return to Bitburg, Germany for the festival’s 44^th anniversary. Because Spangdahlem Air Force Base is located just 15 KM from Bitburg, CLOG AMERICA has proven to be a festival favorite.  During this year’s festival,  CLOG AMERICA will join ensembles from Bulgaria, Ireland, Lithuania,  Poland, France, Croatia, Czech Republic, Great Britain, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, South Korea and Germany.

Although not officially sponsored by either The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or the United States, ClogAmerica has taken the standards of one and the melting-pot culture of the other while competing in more than 50 major dance festivals.

“We get two or three invitations per year,” said Shawnda Bishop, founder and director. “International organizations beg us to come.”

Folk dancing is not high on the list of America’s cultural exchange efforts. The United States is often not represented in the festivals because the comparatively young country does not have the same folklore emphasis that many other countries have, Bishop said. So ClogAmerica, which has 21 dancers and seven musicians, has borrowed from a number of homegrown dance traditions that have become embedded in America’s culture.

A special arrangement of the familiar LDS hymn “Love One Another” has become a signature piece for the group. Promotion of international friendship and harmony is the underlying purpose of the festivals, Bishop said. Invitations usually come through the Worldwide Association of Performing Artists.

Since its first performance in Biarritz, France, the group has appeared at festivals across Europe and in Canada, Mexico, Korea, China, Russia, Brazil and the United States, often as the only American entry. The members appeared during the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City as special guest artists. This summer, they were in France and Spain.

The majority of the ClogAmerica entertainers are LDS, Bishop said. Some have continued the traditions they learned as part of Brigham Young University’s International Folk Dancers. They graduate without getting the urge to tap out of their toes, and ClogAmerica is a natural extension, Bishop said. She is one who fits that description.

So is Catherine Larsen, a guitarist who also initiated “Warming the Human Spirit,” a humanitarian project that has been part of the group’s agenda since 2005.

The idea was sparked when she learned about a humanitarian project by a BYU group that was raising $1,500 — enough money to feed the youngsters in an orphanage in Southeast Asia for six months.

“It was so inspirational to me that I sat in my car in the parking lot and cried,” Larsen said. “There are no millionaires in our group, but our needs are met. I envisioned that everyone could sacrifice a bit to share.”

So on the group’s next trip — to Moscow to be among entertainers for a celebration commemorating the end of World War II in Russia — each member of the U.S. troupe had extra baggage. Blankets, quilts, toys, shoes and a variety of items went into jammed suitcases, displacing the extra clothing the performers might have taken along.

Donations have multiplied. Larsen’s mother, a Relief Society president, spread the word among her ward members and a pile of pink blankets appeared.

“Nothing says ‘love’ like a blanket,” Larsen said.

Youth groups, Primary children and “just folks” have contributed hundreds of items to the effort.

Now the challenge is cramming the charity items into the luggage ClogAmerica performers can take along. Bishop has a real concern with the growing demand by airlines that fliers pay for luggage services. Members of the troupe pay their own airfare while other expenses are met by the host country. Paying luggage fees would increase the costs, Bishop said. What they’d like more than anything are more cash donations to help meet the greater costs the humanitarian effort has generated. Either way, the charity component is here to stay, she said.

Don Carpenter, a member of the ClogAmerica board and father of twins Amy and Emily, who are ClogAmerica dancers, said the troupe members have been good ambassadors for the church. Often, they have gone the extra mile to perform for local LDS groups. Leaders in the areas they have visited have used them as a missionary tool, he said.

For instance, when the group was in Barcelona, Spain, this year, a gamut of church leaders was involved in arranging special appearances. They included Dan and Patricia Kirkham, Church Educational System missionaries; Elsa Zapata, public affairs director for L’Hospitalet de Llobregrat Stake in Barcelona; Enric Catala, Barcelona 2nd Ward mission leader; and Stake President Luis Rodriguez, who also is employed by CES in the area.

When the music ends, the clacking of cloggers’ taps dwindles into vague echoes and the performers return home. The hope is that love and giving will be a permanent ClogAmerica legacy.

“We can’t save the world, but we can do our bit,” Larsen said.

Originally posted on MormonTimes.com and accessed via the following lnik:  http://www.mormontimes.com/arts_entertainment/news/?id=4743

20^th Festival de Martigues in France

“If there is a way toward emotion, we would like to believe it’s the one we cross together… this 2008 Festival has been, once again, a great moment of brotherhood, communion, tolerance and recognition, as much for the world’s cultures than for this great adventure…”    Jean-François GUEGANNO, Festival President

During CLOG AMERICA’s 22^nd International Festival Tour, the energetic dancers and musicians from Utah joined  groups from 18 countries in Spain and France to share the magic of folklore and culture.  Appearing in parades, concerts and receptions during both festivals, Clog America also greeted the public in “Oh Susannah’s Ball” (a special anniversary event), “Cocktails of Culture” and “Festival de Enfants” during the Martigues Festival.  In Burgos, children and adults enjoyed meeting the young Americans during “Dance With Us Workshops” and “World Music and Song” featuring the musicians. It is estimated over 20,000 people saw, heard and felt the uniqueness of America’s culture as presented by CLOG AMERICA.

“We warmly thank you for having been a marvelous ambassador of the culture you represent. We express how much your presentation has been appreciated and how much we enjoyed discovering the richness and diversity of your culture,”  Festival de Martiques Organizing Committee.

This year’s  “WARMING THE HUMAN SPIRIT” Humanitarian Project included pediatric hospitals in Martigues and helping children in Chernobyl (Ukraine) and African refugee children in the Canary Islands through the Bomberso Humaniarios and ONG humanitarian organizations. 

CLOG AMERICA has received an invitation to represent the USA in the 20th anniversary celebration of “LA FESTIVAL DE MARTIGUES” in Martigues, France in July, 2008. The festival has received unfailing support from the City of Martigues, the Provence Alpes Cotes d’Azure region and the Council of Bouches du Rhones Department.

In addition to CLOG AMERICA, this year’s anniversary festival will host from ARGENTINA- “Gran Ballet Argentino”, BURYALIA- “Baykal Waves”, CANADA- “Mackinaw”, CATALONIA-“Colla Castellera”, CUBA- “Maraguan”, FRANCE- “La Capouliero”, IRELAND- “Bastable Warren Irish Dancers”, ITALY- “Sbandieratori Dei Rioni Di Cori”, KAZAKHSTAN- “National Ensemble Naz”, SOUTH KOREA- “Jung Je Man Company”, SPAIN- “Ballet Flamenco Ursula Lopez” and ZIMBABWE- “Amawumbo”.

Raymond-Yves Martinez, Festival Vice-President of International Relations wrote, “Our FESTIVAL OF MARTIGUES wishes to invite the CLOG AMERICA ENSEMBLE, in order to celebrate the 20th edition of our Festival. We are waiting with great impatience the performances of your Ensemble “CLOG AMERICA” in particular for the great Evening “Gigues & Reels”. Your artists will be the splendid ambassadors of the American culture…..”

CLOG AMERICA will also represent the USA this coming summer at the XXXII FESTIVAL INTERNACIONAL DE FOLCLORE in Burgos, Spain. This festival is one of Spain’s oldest and most prestigious festivals.

Because the USA rarely has representation at International Folklore Festivals abroad, CLOG AMERICA has been repeatedly thanked for bringing the folklore and energetic enthusiasm of the USA to the festivals thus continuing the group’s mission of “Building Bridges of Friendship and Peace Through Music and Dance”. After CLOG AMERICA’s performance which closed the final concert of the 39th Festival Internazionale del Folklore Aviano-Piancavallo in Italy, Brig. Gen. Craig A. Franklin, the Commander Aviano Air Base (who was in attendance) thanked the group for representing the USA with such enthusiasm and artistic excellence.

By Carma Wadley Deseret Morning News

Clog America, Utah’s international folklore festival ensemble, has just finished participating in the 44th annual Beskidy Highlanders’ Week of Culture in Zywiec, Poland. At the festival, the group captured the award for “Expressive Presentation of Program in Music and Dance,” one of only six awards given out. In presenting the award, festival director Anna Stachowska noted that “every festival has a star, and the star of this festival is Clog America.” Also receiving recognition at the Week of Culture celebration was Mary Bee Jensen, former director of the Brigham Young University Folkdancers. Jensen was introduced to the audience at the closing performances as a “living legend of folkdancing.” The Beskidy is the third festival where Clog America has represented the United States this summer. The group also participated in folkdance fests in Quartu Sant’Elena and Ittiri, Sardinia, Italy, in July, and will be going on to the 39th International Festival of Folklore Aviano-Piancavallo, also held in Italy. The tour company consists of 27 dancers and nine musicians from Utah, Idaho and Wyoming. While in Poland, members of the troupe also delivered hundreds of blankets, winter hats, gloves, scarves and coats, and dozens of school kits, newborn kits and hygiene kits to a local children’s home, Dom Dziecka in Bielsko-Biala. That, too, was their third humanitarian visit this summer. Previous donations were made in Italy.

Saturday, July 14, 2007 to Wednesday, August 15, 2007

CLOG AMERICA travels to four international festivals during 2007CLOG AMERICA will represent the USA in the following festivals during 2007:

July 14-18: 25th Festival del folklore “Sciampitta” in Quartu S. Elena,Sardinia

July 19-23: 22nd Festival del Folklore in Ittiri, Sardinia

July 28-Aug. 5: 42nd Beskidy Highlanders Week of Culture in Bielsko-Biala, Poland

Aug. 9-15: 39th Festival del Folklore in Aviano/Pordenone, Italy

Saturday, June 9, 2007

June 9, 2007 at Gardner Village in West JordanCelebrate the sights, sounds and color of the Utah Frontier at the first annual

“FRONTIER FEST” to be held at Gardner Historic Village June 9, 2007.

From a Fiddle Showcase to cowboy poets and old-fashioned “Barn Dance”,

you can experience the exciting cultural heritage of Utah’s Frontier.

A great evening concert will culminate the day featuring “The Nathan McEuen Trio”.

June 9- In THE GATHERING PLACE at Gardner Village

1100 West 7800 South, West Jordan, UT

10:00 AM BLUEGRASS SHOWCASE featuring Champion fiddlers Nate Olson, Laura Steward and Grace Dayton

Family bands- The Geslisons, The Wulfensteins, The Kellers & The Cluffs

Cowboy poets and the Clog America Band. The first 50 people will receive a special prize!

11:30 SINGER / SONGWRITER CONTEST

(See the contest rules)

12:00-1:30 BLUEGRASS SCRAMBLE

The Band Scramble is a fun event that anyone can enter. There will be 5 or 6containers at the registration table. Each containers will have the name of a musical instrument on it. Entrants will write their name on a piece of paper and deposit it in the proper container. At 11:00 AM the Band Scramble leader will draw out a group of 5 or 6 names that will form a band. These bands will rehearse one vocal and one instrumental song throughout the Village until 11:45. The bands will begin performing at noon. Judges will select first, second and third places.

2:00-5:00 TRADITIONAL BARN DANCE featuring Square dancing, contra dancing, line dancing, old-time Utah dances and CLOG AMERICA.

6:30 EVENING CONCERT PRE-SHOW featuring Winners of the Youth Cowboy Poet Contest, the Singer/Songwriter Contest and the Bluegrass Scramble as well as a FUND-RAISING AUCTION.

7:30 The “NATHAN McEUEN TRIO” in concert at the Gathering Place

Recording artist Nathan McEuen has appeared on numerous TV shows such as ‘The Tonight Show with Jay Leno’ and opened for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Kenny Loggins as well as David Crosby & Graham Nash.

FRONTIER FEST is sponsored by CLOG AMERICA, a 501 ( c ) 3 non-profit organization. Proceeds will go towards the preservation of Utah’s Heritage Arts.

TICKET PRICES

10:00 am-1:30 pm BLUEGRASS SHOWCASE, SINGER/SONGWRITER CONTEST/BLUEGRASS SCRAMBLE

$5/ person

Children 5 and under- free

2:00 pm-5:00 pm BARN DANCE

$7/person or $12/couple

Children 5 and under-free

6:30- NATHAN MCKUEN TRIO CONCERT

$15/pre-sale, $17 at the door

Tickets are available through Smith’s Tix- call 467-TIXX or at the door

For an all-day pass of $25 or other information call 755-1189

SINGER/SONGWRITING CONTEST

If you have a story you want to share in song celebrating the lives and times of those who lived in Utah between 1847 and 1869 we’d love to hear it! If your song is chosen as one of the six finalist songs, you must perform your original contemporary song live for us on Sat. June 9th between 11:30 am and noon in order to qualify for a spot as one of the top three winners.

Your song must be based on themes of Utah and or its residents (real or fictionalized), no matter the ethnicity or religion, so long as there is proof they lived in Utah during the time period, between the years 1847 (when the first Mormon Pioneers arrived) and May 10th 1869 when the railroad was completed. Besides the European-derivative pioneers this includes Native Americans, Mountain Men, African-Americans and any others you can document were here during those years. If you write a song for the contest based on a Utah resident not of the above ancestry, please provide proof of their existence during this time and have it authorized by a member of the judging committee before the contest.

The top three winners will receive two free hours of studio time at Pitchfork Studios to record their original song and the top winning songs will be placed on an album that will be produced from the best music of the Frontier Fest.

The first place winner will play his/her composition as part of that evening’s Pre-Show at the Nathan McEuen Trio concert and receive two free admission tickets to the concert. Second place winner will also receive free admission for two, to the concert.

A demo of your song must be sent, postmarked no later than May 7th to:

Frontier Fest Songwriting Contest

C/O Julie Keyser

11723 Country Crossing Rd.

South Jordan, UT 84095

We cannot be responsible for damaged, stolen or undelivered CDs or tapes sent in the mail. Sender is responsible to make sure their demo CD or tape has arrived. CDs and tapes will NOT be returned. Demos do not have to be fully developed and are preferred in their most simple state. We are judging on lyric and melody. Please make sure to include a lyric sheet! The top six finalist will be notified by no later than Friday, May 25th and are expected to perform their song live on Sat. June 9th.

Official songwriting Contest Rules and Regulations:

Songwriters under age 18 must have a parent’s consent. You may submit more than one song for the contest. Each song submission costs $15.00. A portion of the proceeds will go toward the nonprofit Utah Pioneer Heritage Arts.

You can perform your original song yourself, using one or more of the allowable instruments listed below, or you can have someone play and perform the song for you. We are focusing on the strength of the song lyrically and melodically, so a simple accompaniment with one instrument is fine and encouraged. Please have available three copies of your song lyrics for the judges to look at if you are chosen to perform on Sat. June 9th.

Instruments used must have been in use by Utah residents during 1847-1867 or have their origins traced to that time period. See list of qualifying instruments below. If your song is chosen for the album, the accompaniment must come from the instruments listed below or have their origins in those instruments.

While the top three winners of the song contest will be receiving two hours of free studio time to record their original song Utah Pioneer Heritage Arts is not responsible for the cost of hiring musicians or vocalists to record the song.

Instrumentation Rules:

Allowable instruments of that time period: violin, mandolin, banjo, guitar,accordion, harmonica, Scottish pipes, Native American flutes and Native American drums, piano, organ, and even woodwind or brass instruments that existed then. A cappella singing is acceptable. You may use any instrument (or direct descendant of that instrument) whose existence during the years of 1847-1869 you can document. For instance, the steel-string guitar did not exist until1900, but the gut-string guitar did exist during that period and the steel string has its origins in the gut-string and thus can be used. Exception, we are not allowing any electric guitars or any other form of electric instrumentation nor are we allowing any drums except Native American drums, and military drums such as snare drums and field drums. If there is an instrument you would like to use, not listed above, that has its origins from 1847-1869 and was used in Utah by any of the recognized pioneer heritage ethnic groups, then you must be able to document it’s use with the songwriting committee beforehand. We look forward to hearing all your wonderful songs!

Julie Keyser and Clive Romney- “Frontier Fest” Song Contest organizers

For more information please contact Julie Keyser 801-253-4589 keyser65@msn.com.

Contest sponsored by UTAH PIONEER HERITAGE ARTS

YOUTH COWBOY POETRY CONTEST

Not just cowboys write cowboy poetry. Many people, young and old have written poems about the western frontier. We invite you to write a poem for the first annual Frontier Fest Cowboy Poetry Contest to be held in Gardner Historic Village on June 9, 2007. You can write a poem about nature, animals, the land or how peopled lived, worked and played during the early days of the Utah Frontier up to the arrival of the railroad. You can even write a poem about how these things compare to your life today. The instructions for the contest are:

• Send in an original poem to Shawnda Bishop at 11416 Skylux Ave. South Jordan, UT 84095 or email it to IAE123@gmail.com Please include your name, telephone number, address, age and permission from your parents. Send it in before May 25. 2007.
• Eight finalists will be selected from all of the poems received. Finalists will be notified on June 1 and will read or recite their poem in the Gathering Place during the morning of the Frontier Fest Celebration on June 9, 2007.
• At about 1:00 PM, all finalists will be acknowledged and a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place awarded.
• The lst place winner will recite his or her poem during the evening concert’s Pre-Show in the Gathering Place.

Everyone who submits a poem will receive a certificate of participation. All finalists will be recognized, on Clog America’s web site and receive a prize at the Frontier Fest to be held June 9, 2007.