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June 14, 2012
C
ANTON
- P
LYMOUTH
Arts council exhibits students’ New York photos
Again this year, the Canton
Liberty Fest will include an
International Festival from 11 a.m.
until 6 p.m. Saturday, June 16 on the
CantonLive! Stage.
“Our International Festival is a
great opportunity for audiencemem-
bers to experience music and dance
from around the globe in one loca-
tion,” said Canton Arts Coordinator
Jennifer Tobin. “The stage comes
alive with colorful costuming, exotic
instruments and stirring rhythms as
these talented individuals perform
in this open air venue and share
their heritagewith the crowd.”
Performers expected to take the
stage, include Pette Moore and
Sonja Srinivasan of the Verdi Opera
Theatre of Michigan who will per-
form from 1 to 1:30 p.m. Baritone
Moore is back home after being
deployed to serve in combat mis-
sions in Iraq, and he is nowpursuing
a career in vocal performance at
Wayne State University and singing
with the Michigan Opera Theatre
chorus as well as with the Verdi
Opera Theatre of Michigan. Soprano
Srinivasan, presently continuing her
music studies at the University of
Michigan School of Music, is an
award winning emerging profession-
al with an extensive curriculum of
performances with various opera
organizations in the USA and
abroad. This duo will be accompa-
nied by Gail Gebhart, who works
extensively throughout the Detroit
Metropolitan area for a variety of
professionals, students and ensem-
bles.
Other acts include: Rishabh Iyer,
sitar player; O'Hare School of Irish
Dance; Harmony Town Barbershop
Chorus; Triple Threat Dance and
Theatre Company; Hoaloha Hula in
Michigan; New Hope Church Youth
Mime, Praise Dancers, and
Steppers; Bollywood and Indian folk
dance; and Bulgarians in Detroit
Folk Dance Group; the Yangtze
Melody Group, from Plymouth-
Canton Chinese Learning Center;
Scottish Highland Dancers; songs of
Spain and Yoga demonstrations, as
well as skits by the Healthy Asian
Americans Project.
The performances at the
International Festival are appropri-
ate for children, adults, seniors, and
students.
Canton Liberty Fest takes place
June 14-16 in Heritage Park, located
adjacent
to
the
Canton
Administration Building, west of
Canton Center Road between
Cherry Hill Road and Summit
Parkway.
For more information visit
www.cantonlibertyfest.com or call
(734) 394-5460.
The key to true art, it's said, is a
fresh viewpoint.
The latest exhibit at the
Plymouth Community Arts Council
seems to be proof of that axiom in
the photography of eighth-grade
students who traveled to New York
City as part of a Pioneer Middle
School trip.
“The students' cameras became
their vehicles for recognizing and
celebrating the elements that make
each city unique and ultimately
what makes us each Americans,”
one of the teachers who accompa-
nied the students said.
The exhibit will continue
through July at the arts building
and features more than 100 photos
taken in New York City by the stu-
dents.
In planning this project, educa-
tors said they were looking for a
concept that could allow the stu-
dents to begin thinking of them-
selves as global citizens. They
arrived at the theme of Community
because of its timeliness, they said.
“This idea of individuals working
together and choosing how they
will live their lives is essential to
global unity. Through this project,
we hope they have gained a deeper
meaning of this concept and the
impact that their choices have on
the community in which they live,”
they said in a prepared statement.
“Throughout the project, we
asked the students to think about
and verbalize the answers to some
weighty questions: What is an ideal
community? What is the role of the
arts in a community? What is an
ideal traveler? How do the arts
improve the quality of life? Why is
New York City a place where the
“Great Conversation” takes
place?,” the statement continued.
The project was planned by
Pioneer Middle School Language
Arts teacher ClaireWalton-Swisher,
Principal Kevin Rhein, Assistant
Principal Ted Younglas and staff
members Nancy Blaylock, Dawn
Hurley, Barb Johnson, Karen
Johnson, JasonKaye, JerryMajetic,
Gwenn Marchesano, Chris Moore,
Brian Rochon, Sena Sherman,
JasonSlaughter andDanYoung.
Community and business part-
ners included Frameworks. Paula
Schuman fromJunior Tours,
Phil Freeman, assistant superin-
tendent for facilities-operations,
Plymouth Canton Community
Schools Board of Education,
Plymouth Community Arts Council
Board of Directors and Debra
Madonna. The trip was sponsored
by Junior Tours.
Our International Festival
is a great opportunity for
audience members to
experience music and
dance from around the
globe in one location.
”
Liberty Fest offers International Festival
Last year, these three Canton residents demonstrated the art of the hula
during the Liberty Fest.