Saint Mary’s announces next Page Series season

WINONA, Minn. — The 25th season of the Saint Mary’s University Page Series is once again filled with music, dance, theatre, and family-friendly offerings from around the world! You don’t have to travel far for world-class performances. Season subscriptions go on sale May 16-July 29 and Aug. 15-Sept. 9. Individual tickets go on sale Aug. 15.

Purchase tickets to three or more events to receive a 10 percent discount for new subscribers; returning 2010-11 subscribers receive 25 percent off the total order. Subscribers also have exchange privileges and guaranteed seating choice.

To order, go online to www.pagetheatre.org or call the box office, (507) 457-1715, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Summer box office hours, May 16-July 29, are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The 2011-2012 Page Series


• Friday Sept. 16, 7:30 p.m. Terrance Simien and the Zydeco Experience
Grammy winner from Louisiana Tickets: $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and students
For more than two decades Grammy-award winning artist Terrance Simien, an eighth-generation Louisiana Creole has been shattering the myths about what his indigenous Creole Zydeco music is and is not. Leading his Zydeco Experience Band, Simien has become one of the most respected and internationally recognized touring and recording artists in roots music today. He has performed over 5,000 concerts, toured to over 40 countries and reached at least a million people during his eventful 25-year career. In December of 2009, Disney Pictures released a Pixar animated film, “The Princess & The Frog,” set in New Orleans, which was scored by Randy Newman and features the music of Simien, Terence Blanchard and Dr. John.

• Saturday Oct. 22, 7:30 p.m. Luna Negra Dance Theater
Contemporary Latin Dance Tickets: $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and students
Founded by Cuban-born dancer and choreographer Eduardo Vilaro, Luna Negra celebrates the richness and diversity of Latino culture through the creation of works by contemporary Latino choreographers and through intensive, hands-on education programs that encourage discovery and exploration of personal and community identity. Steering away from stereotypes and folkloric representations, the company performs works of contemporary Latino dance with energy, power, and passion. Founded in 1999, Luna Negra Dance Theater makes its home in Chicago.


• Tuesday, Nov. 1, 6:30 p.m. “Letters Home” by Griffin Theatre
Present day soldiers and families connect Tickets: $12 for adults, $5 for seniors and students
“Letters Home” puts the current war in Iraq front and center by bringing actual letters — written by soldiers serving in the Middle East — to life. The production is inspired by the New York Times Op-Ed Article, “The Things They Wrote” and the subsequent HBO documentary, “Last Letters Home” and additionally uses letters and correspondences from Frank Schaeffer’s books, “Voices From the Front,” “Letters Home From America’s Military Family,” “Faith of Our Sons,” and “Keeping Faith.” The play without politicizing gives audiences a powerful portrait of the soldier experience in the ongoing war.


• Thursday, Dec. 1, 7:30 p.m. The Good Lovelies
Award winning Canadian trio Tickets: $20 for adults, $15 for seniors and students
Part folk-roots, part Western Swing, this Toronto-based trio relies on unerring three-part vocal harmonies, clever songs, and convulsively funny repartee drawn from a seemingly endless succession of comedic adventures on the road. The Good Lovelies released a 12-track Christmas album, “Under The Mistletoe,” in November 2009, which includes three original Christmas songs, as well as a number of old classics. Get in the spirit for the holidays with this trio.

• Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012, 7:30 p.m. Yuval Ron Ensemble
Middle Eastern rhythms and Sufi dancer Tickets: $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and students
The Yuval Ron Ensemble endeavors to alleviate national, racial, religious and cultural divides by uniting the music and dance of the opposing people of the Middle East into a unique mystical, spiritual and inspiring musical celebration. Led by Oscar-winning composer Yuval Ron (who wrote the music for the Oscar-winning short film “West Bank Story”), the ensemble features the oud, harmonium and woodwinds, and the evening’s performance will include Aziz, a Sufi dancer.

• Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012, 6:30 p.m. “Duck For President” and other stories by Theatreworks USA
6 stories for the silly season Tickets: $12 for adults, $5 for seniors and students
This all-new musical revue features mini-musicals based on the best-selling children’s books: Duck For President, Fancy Nancy, Pirates Don’t Change Diapers and more. This is an excellent adventure for families with children in kindergarten through fourth grade.


• Wednesday, March 21, 2012, 7:30 p.m. Vishtèn
Prince Edward Island Acadian music Tickets: $25 for adults, $20 for seniors and students
Vishtèn's story is a musical tale of two islands. In the North Atlantic Ocean, in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence off of Canada’s east coast, lays tiny Prince Edward Island and nearby, the 11 smaller archipelago known as the Magdalen Islands (les Îles de la Madeleine). Both islands have a shared history and a shared cultural tie that dates back several centuries. The three members who make up Vishtèn, Pastelle and Emmanuelle LeBlanc, and Pascal Miousse, have become a distinctive and powerful international voice for traditional music from this part of the world.

• Tuesday, April 17, 2012, 6:30 p.m. “Peter & the Wolf” by Pushcart Players
Classic tale brought to stage Tickets: $12 for adults, $5 for seniors and students
“Peter and the Wolf” is an adaptation of the traditional Russian folktale set to music by Sergei Prokofiev. While providing a charming introduction to the world of music and musical instruments, this enchanting tale is all about the adventure of growing up. Danger becomes reality, and creative innovation becomes essential as young Peter meets the challenge of survival in the outside world.

‘Off The Page’
In addition, this year Saint Mary’s University is introducing “Off The Page” events, which feature Minnesota artists in venues around town. Individual tickets for “Off The Page” events go on sale May 16. No discounts apply. These are limited seating general admission venues.

• Saturday, July 23, 8 p.m., Valéncia Arts Center Joe Chvala and the Flying Foot Forum
Tickets: $15 for adults, $10 for seniors and students
The Flying Foot Forum is a vibrant and bold percussive dance/theater company that fuses percussion and percussive dances with many other forms of music, dance and theater, while it tells unusual tales, creates a wild variety of characters, and explores universal ideas in inventive and exciting new ways. Joe Chvala has worked as a director, choreographer, writer, composer, performer, and teacher for opera companies, experimental and nonexperimental theatres, concert dance venues, performing arts academies, and universities. Joe has received numerous choreographic and interdisciplinary fellowships and grants.

• Saturday, Sept. 3, 7 p.m., Masonic Temple Low, Ben Weaver, and The Morning Foreign
Tickets: $20 for adults, $15 for seniors and students
In association with the Minnesota Music Coalition.
Three popular music ensembles promise to fill the historic Masonic Temple with the sounds of today’s generations.

The musical group Low was formed in 1993 in Duluth. They quickly gained a following for their use of slow tempos and minimalist arrangements in what others have dubbed the “slowcore” movement. The striking harmonies of founding members Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker are perhaps the distinctive element for which the group is best remembered. Their debut album, “I Could Live In Hope,” was released on Virgin records Vernon Yard imprint in 1994. They currently have nine full-length recordings with numerous EPs and live recordings. Through continual evolution of their music they have grown a large fan base. Their live shows are well received, as numerous national and international tours will attest. Their tour this year includes stops at Radio City Music Hall, New York; First Avenue, Minneapolis; Queens Social Club, Bristol, England; Primavera Festival, Barcelona; Lido, Berlin; and the Barbican London.

Ben Weaver grew up in Saint Paul and has a distinctive voice that some have likened to Tom Waits. His first album, “El Camino Blues,” featured Greg Brown and Tony Glover. He now has seven releases, his most recent, “Mirepoix and Smoke,” was inspired by his time immersing himself in a farm-to-table restaurant in Minneapolis. He tours extensively, this spring spending time in Europe.

The Morning Foreign is a Winona-based group that has recently been seen at Midwest Music Fest, The Winona Art Center, and Ed’s. Playing original tunes written by Benjamin Scott, the group dabbles with jazz influenced pop, with a cello thrown in for good measure.

• Friday, Feb. 3, 2012, 7:30 p.m., Valéncia Arts Center Danza Española
Tickets: $12 for adults; $5 for seniors and students
Flamenco is an exciting and energetic art form from southern Spain that embodies rich cultural influences of the Andalusian, Gypsy, Islamic and Sephardic cultures that have lived there through history. The dancer’s rhythmic footwork, graceful arm and hand movements, and hand clapping are accompanied by the powerful strumming and soulful chords of the guitar to express a wide variety of styles, or palos, from the most serious cante jondo, to the light-hearted cante chico.

Deborah Elias is a member of the Minnesota State Arts Board’s Juried Arts in Education Roster of Artists, and has taught at Zorongo Flamenco Dance Theatre and School, the Minnesota Conservatory for the Arts, and the University of Minnesota. She also performs and choreographs with Zorongo Flamenco Dance Theatre. She recently presented, in conjunction with the Winona Public Library, “The Moon’s Desire,” a collaboration that revolved around the work of Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorća.

Special guest singer Vicente Griego “is striking for his deep, sonorous wails that seem to come from a cavern, someplace deep within his soul” (Anna Poplawska, “Chicago Artist’s News”). Coming from New Mexico, Griego has devoted his life to the study of cante flamenco, the art of flamenco singing. He has toured the U.S., Canada and Latin America with the Jose Greco II Flamenco Dance Company.

Saint Mary’s is a fiscal year 2011 recipient of an Institutional Presenter Support grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is funded, in part, by the Minnesota arts and cultural heritage fund as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on Nov.4, 2008. * PLEASE NOTE: All tickets (individual & subscription) are subject to a $1 processing fee. * Student price includes ages 4 and older. $10 student rush tickets may be available for some events 20 minutes before curtain.