Japanese Folk Dance Institute of New York Performs
At Long Island University’s Brooklyn Campus, October 22

The concert will take place on Wednesday, October 22 at noon in the Campus’s Triangle Theater, as part of the Dance Department’s "Afternoons at LIU" concert series.

Dance long has been an integral part of Japanese life. Early dances expressed reverence for a god or spirit, celebration of a good harvest or prayers for exorcising evil spirits.

Founded in 1992 by Momo Suzuki, the Japanese Folk Dance Institute of New York strives to preserve and promote the traditional folk dances of Japan. In authentic traditional costumes, the dancers use props such as colorful umbrellas and fans to create images or tell a story.

The company has performed in numerous school presentations, community festivals and special events such as the Cherry Blossom Festival at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and the Epcot Pavilion at Disney World in Florida.

Suzuki began studying classical Japanese dance at age seven with the Fujima School of Yamagata in Japan. She also studied traditional Japanese folk dance at the Toriko Ogawa School. As a member of the Kamioka Japanese Folk Dance Company of Tokyo, she taught dance workshops. Since coming to New York in 1983, she has performed with the Hibiki Performing Arts Group and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the University of Idaho Jazz Festival and at Henry Street Settlement with choreographer Louis Johnson.

The Dance Department of Long Island University’s Brooklyn Campus developed its "Afternoons at LIU" series of dance concerts more than a decade ago to make dance artists accessible to students on campus and the public. The department offers a B.F.A. in Dance, with concentrations in performance and choreography. For more information, call Noel Hall at (718) 488-1051.

Long Island University opened its Brooklyn Campus in 1926, welcoming a diverse population at a time when other major universities enforced quota systems against racial and ethnic minorities. Some 30,000 students currently are enrolled at the university’s three residential and three regional campuses, including nearly 11,000 at the Brooklyn Campus. Located at the corner of Flatbush Avenue Extension and DeKalb Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn, the Campus is accessible to all major bus and subway routes and the Long Island Rail Road.