News Email - June 22, 2015
Performing Arts Management
Encore on Tour
Nauvoo, Illinois

"Uplifting! Educational! Captivating! Everyone here is so friendly!" These comments reflect the feelings of the Ballroom Dance Company as they complete their first of two weeks performing nightly in historic Nauvoo, IL. The week has not only included performances on the Nauvoo Outdoor Stage, but also experiences to learn of the history of this and nearby areas, and visits to the cities of Carthage and Springfield, IL, and Fairfield, IA. "We love it when BYU comes here. Their performance really brings the community together" was a comment from a Fairfield, IA audience member. BYU performed there on June 20th, as part of FairFest, a community celebration which occurs yearly. <h6>"We love it when BYU comes here. Their performance really brings the community together" was a comment from a Fairfield, IA audience member.</h6> "This is one of the best museums I have ever visited -- the information is very well presented and I am fascinated with all that you learn about Abraham Lincoln" -- from a group member following the June 19th visit to Springfield, IL and the Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. The group's 30 minute performance in the museum's large center hall was very well received. And what is the reaction to Historic Nauvoo? "I was surprised this has been so interesting and varied; I expected it to be boring" -but Nauvoo has been anything but boring. Ox rides, horse drawn wagon rides, visits to 1840's restored buildings, musical drama productions, a special experience in the Nauvoo Temple, and even fast moving tornado-prone clouds and rain (causing Saturday's performance to be indoors) have kept the Ballroom Dance Company busy and increasingly interested in this small town on the banks of the Mississippi. And they are looking forward to a week of service projects, more history, outreach and evening performances, and even the prospect of getting put in jail (in Carthage on Thursday).

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Kevin Allen, a sound technician with the Ballroom Dance Company, takes his turn at dancing in Nauvoo with the young musicians outside the Cultural Hall where a pioneer drama is presented daily

History expert and guide, Craig Dunn, of Nauvoo, took members of the Ballroom Dance Company along the "Martyrdom Trail", explaining details connected with the journey of Joseph and Hyrum Smith from Nauvoo to their eventual deaths in Carthage Jail in 1844

In visiting the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, IL, the Ballroom Dance Company gave a 30 minute performance, including a lively solo by Katelyn Holmes and Teddy Moffett

Learning about Old Nauvoo is part of the experience of being there; here members of the Ballroom Dance Company experience a horse drawn carriage ride accompanied with stories and scenery of the area around Nauvoo