| The
Avaz International Dance Theatre was founded in 1977 by Dr. Anthony Shay.
Since its founding, AVAZ has traveled locally, nationally and internationally
presenting the dances, music, costumes, and customs of diverse regions
of the world from Hungary and Croatia, Greece and Turkey, Saudi Arabia
and Azerbaijan, Iran and Uzbekistan. The mission of AVAZ contains two
important aspects: 1). preserving and performing traditional and
contemporary folk and classical dances from a wide variety of cultures
and 2). educating the widest possible audience about
these art forms and the societies and peoples they represent.
AVAZ fulfills this mission through performances by its professional ensemble
of artists and through an extensive educational outreach program that
serves elementary, middle and high school pupils, college and university
students, community organizations and the general public.
In
the view of AVAZ Anthony Shay and Artistic Director Jamal, the stage
presentation of traditional/ethnic/folk dances, songs, music, costumes
and customs requires authentication and documentation. This is done
through hours of dedicated and intensive research in the form of bibliographic
searching, studying scholarly books and articles in a variety of languages,
viewing and reviewing video cassettes, attending master classes at home
and abroad, travelling abroad to visit museums and interview knowledgeable
performers and scholars. Due to this exacting research, AVAZ is highly
respected in the artistic and academic community for its attention to
authentic detail and nuance in movement, sound and costuming. |
