Jūratė Budrys

THE LITHUANIAN FOLK DANCE FESTIVAl 2000

Jūratė Budrys is the Vice President of Information Services of the Lithuanian American Community, Inc.

The XI Lithuanian Folk Dance Festival 2000 will take place this summer from June 30th through July 2nd in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Preparations for this grand event began in the Fall of 1998. A strong and talented organizing committee, co-chaired by Vincas Piečaitis and Ramunė Sakalas-Jonaitis, are well into their planning process. The Dance Festival’s artistic directors – Rita and Juozas Karasiejus – have designed a varied and colorful program. Nearly 2,000 folk dancers are rehearsing.

The majority of the folk dance groups will be from the United States, with Canada represented as a close second. Lithuanian folk dance groups from Brazil, Argentina, Lithuania and the Lithuanian community from the Suvalkų Trikampis, Poland will also be participating. The president of the Lithuanian Republic has indicated that he too shall be attending.

Festival Events

As usual, the Festival for program participants begins with two days of rehearsal. Rehearsals will take place at the Hershey Centre (5500 Rose Cherry Place, Mississauga, Ontario – near Toronto) Friday, June 30th and Saturday, July 1st. Buses will be available to transport the dancers from the Regal Constellation Hotel to the Hershey Centre and back.

The Festival’s official opening ceremonies will take place at the Regal Constellation Hotel (900 Dixon Road, Etobicoke, Ontario) on Friday, June 30th evening. Following the opening, a DJ will host the Youth Dance at the hotel. Tickets for this dance are $8.00 U.S. ($10.00 Canadian).

Following rehearsals on Saturday, July 1st (Canada Day) evening, there will be a Friendship Dance in the Galaxy Ballroom at the Regal Constellation Hotel. Ticket prices are $16.00 U.S. ($20.00 Cdn.). In a nearby hall, various planned activities and games will entertain the Festival's younger participants. Also, during that same evening, a special dinner will be hosted by the organizing committee to acknowledge and recognize the dedication of the participating dancing group teachers.

On Sunday, July 2nd, religious services will be held according to the usual schedule at the local Lithuanian parishes. Bishop P. Baltakis, OFM, will say Mass at the Regal Constellation Hotel at 10:00 A.M..

All of the dancers will gather at the Hershey Centre later that Sunday at 1:00 P.M.. Once again, buses will be provided to transport the dancers from the Regal Constellation Hotel to the Hershey Centre and back.

The XI Lithuanian Folk Dance Festival is scheduled to begin at 2:00 P.M. The program that is planned should last for approximately two hours. Ticket prices are $20.00 US ($25.00 Cdn.); children (13 and younger) -- $12.00 US ($15.00 Cdn.).

Following the Dance Festival, two live bands will entertain guests at the XI Folk Dance Festival Banquet. The Banquet will be held in two Regal Constellation Hotel ballrooms. The Banquet will begin with a cocktail reception at 7:00 P.M., followed by dinner at 8:00 P.M. Ticket prices are $40.00 US ($50.00 Cdn.).

Ticket Ordering Procedures

Space at all of the events is highly limited. Therefore, it is highly recommended that tickets to all Festival events be ordered in advanced. Tickets can be ordered via mail utilizing the Festival Ticket Order Form printed at the end of this article. 

Tickets can also be ordered by telephone: V. Taseckas (1-905-824-4461; e-mail: vytas@home.com) or J. Vingelis (1-416-233-8108). It is important to note that tickets will not be forwarded until full payment has been received.

Checks for tickets are to be made out to: “Lithuanian Folk Dance Festival 2000”.

Program Book and Advertisements

A special Lithuanian Folk Dance Festival 2000 program book, introducing the participating dancing groups along with historical information, will be published. As is the custom, a portion of the program book will be dedicated to paid greetings/advertisements. Paid greetings/advertisement orders and copy will be accepted until the end of March 2000. The costs for paid greetings/advertisements are as follows: $40.00 US ($50.00 Cdn.) for business card size; $80.00 US ($100.00 Cdn.) for a half page and $160.00 US ($200.00 Cdn.) for the full 8.5 x 11 page. Copy, along with the appropriate check, should be sent to: Lithuanian Folk Dance Festival -- 2000, 2185 Stavebank Rd., Mississauga, Ontario L5C 1T3 CANADA.

It is important to take note that the larger part of these program books (and thereby the advertisements) will be seen by U.S. residents. Why? Probably because the large majority of dancers are from the United States.

Hotel Accommodations

Unfortunately all of the sleeping room at the Regal Constellation have been booked. Special Lithuanian Folk Dance Festival rates have been negotiated from Thursday, June 29th through Monday, July 3rd (approx. $105-$144 per room, per night) at the following hotels, which are located in the vicinity of the Regal Constellation: Travelodge (1-416-674-2222), Quality Suites (1-416-674-8442), Novotel Airport (1-416-798-9800), and Carlingview (1-416-675-3303). It is important to mention the Lithuanian Folk Dance Festival when making hotel room reservations in order to receive the discounted prices.

Additional Information

Should questions arise, Organizing Committee representatives can be contacted as follows:

CANADA:

Lithuanian Folk Dance Festival – 2000 Office
2185 Stavebank Road
Mississauga, Ontario L5C 1T3 CANADA
Tel.: 1-905-275-6505/1-905-891-3018
Fax: 1-905-275-6755
E-mail: jonaitis@pathcom.com

UNITED STATES:

Lithuanian Folk Dance Festival -- 2000
8015 S. Karlov
Chicago, IL 60652
Tel.: 1-773-284-6786 (eves 6:00-8:00 CST)
E-mail: ajbudrys@ameritech.net

Complete information, in both Lithuanian and English, is also available on the Lithuanian American Community, Inc. web site, www.lithuanian-american.org or www.javlb.org

Organizers

The Lithuanian Folk Dance Festival 2000 is hosted by the Canadian and American-Lithuanian Communities. The artistic program is coordinated by the Lithuanian Folk Dance Institute.