Moscow, Idaho – Festival Dance & Performing Arts is celebrating 50 years of bringing professional dance to the Palouse during their Champagne Jubilee Benefit on Friday, November 4 from 6:30-9 PM at the 1912 Center. The public is invited to RSVP and attend the event focused on toasting the longevity of the organization with complimentary champagne, sparkling cider, hors d’oeuvres, and decadent desserts, all while viewing Academy dance performances, bidding on auction items, and receiving a Cha Cha lesson. A no-host bar by VIN will also be part of the evening festivities.
In June 1972, Idaho’s first professional Ballet company and student dance academy, Ballet Folk of Moscow was established by Carl and Jeanette Petrick with the aid of grant funding from the Idaho Commission on the Arts. The company toured extensively, performing in 32 different states, and represented Idaho at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. in 1976. The company moved to Boise in the 1980s to increase financial support and was later renamed Ballet Idaho. Festival Dance & Performing Arts (FDPAA) continued the academy in Moscow, ID, which is now located under the University of Idaho’s Dance Program and focuses its energy as a presenter with the mission of “Bringing Arts to the People and People to the Arts.” FDPAA has brought over 200 diverse professional touring dance and music companies to the Palouse. Until the 2020 Pandemic shutdown, FDPAA brought a semi-annual Nutcracker performance, alternating with other storybook ballets such as Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake, and plans to bring Ballet Fantastique to perform Babes in Toyland set to Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker in late November this year. Hundreds of people attend Festival Dance performances annually while area students attend free youth programs provided to all schools in 14 distinct communities of North Central Idaho and Eastern Washington, including both tribal communities; Coeur d’Alene through Tensed schools and the Nez Perce through Lapwai. These exciting diverse arts programs enrich our communities and inspire and educate people of all ages throughout the region.
Distinguished guests for the evening include founder, Jeanette Petrick and her daughter Pari, along with several company and academy members from the early years of the organization. If you are interested in joining in on the festivities, tickets are $30 each to attend. The evening is an annual fundraising tradition to Help Festival Dance continue its mission of enriching lives and enlivening communities for another half century, Visit the Festival Dance website: www.festivaldance.org, or call: 208-883-3267, or email at dance@fetivaldnce.org.
