Dragon Dance Theatre has been involved in the preservation of intangible cultural heritage through international collective creation projects.
This page presents an overview of some of the public performances.
A video record of a performance by the Dragon Dance Theater of Vermont and the Mexican theater company Comparsa at Monte Alban in Mexico. This collaboration between American and Mexican theater companies celebrates the epic legend of the Sun and the Moon using giant masks, puppets, fireworks, and pre-Columbian music. Performed amid the pre-Columbian ruins of Monte Alban at Oaxaca, Mexico, this video would be ideal for course in mexcian history, theater and cross-cultural education.
"This was the first time in centuries that anyone has been allowed to perform amongst these ancient monuments at night. We shared a sense of privilege and purpose in creating these performances in Monte Alban." Susan Bettmann, music director for Dragon Dance Theatre
The Nutti Pukki is a character from Finish forklore. Dragon Dance Theatre was invited in the winter 2009 to integrate the Nutti Pukki into the Traditional Three Kings celebrations. We spent 12 weeks with the community making the masks and creating a performance. The Show was performed on the ice of the River Ii, and the temperature was -20 ° C (just below 0°F), on January 6, 2010.
In 2012, thanks to the efforts of Stéfany Tremblay, Dragon Dance was invited to create a performance for a community event in Alma, Québec. We brought our own puppets and shared our process with a small group of theatre enthusiasts. This video is a 15 minute edited version of the spectacle we presented to the public.
This is an edited version of a video taken from a Dragon Dance Theatre spectacle, performed on February 20th, 2011 in the Gardens of the town of Citlaltepec, Veracruz, Mexico.
The performance was the outcome of a 6 week workshop in the town of Citlaltepec, where local participants were invited to join in and make all the props, masks, and collectively create the play. They chose a story told by their elders and together, we developed the scenario and integrated relevant current events to make the bridge between generations.
This video is an edited version of the play that we created during a 4 week long workshop last December and early January (2011) which took place in Jalpan de Serra, located in the province of Queretaro, Mexico. We had 4 Finnish participants and so we integrated a folkloric character called the Nutti Pukki who appears only at this time of year. We adapted the traditional story of the Slaughter of the Innocents to bring forth current environmental and ecological issues that were of concern to our group.
This project was produced by Dragon Dance Theatre, directed by Sam Kerson. Thanks to Junipero Cabrera Berrones of the Museo Historico de la Sierra Gorda.
This is a Dragon Dance Theatre Production, thanks to Maira Jimenez Desales from the group Nissarindani. Directed by Sam Kerson, filmed by Edson Caballero and Katah, edited by Katah and Sam. The movie, Rio de la Vida is based on the story La Tonka de Madera, written by Maira Jimenez Desales. The film was shot entirely on location, in the Zapotec community of San Blas Atempa, near Tehuantapec, in Oaxaca, Mexico.
This is a documentary about the work of Catalina Zepeda Moreno, a woman of oto-pames origin, living in the hills of the Sierra Gorda, in the State of Queretaro, Mexico. She continues the traditional pre-colombian techniques of making pottery.