<hd>Children Teaching Children
<hd>Celebrating Children Worldwide
<bt>Bob of Sesame Street, otherwise known as Bob McGrath, will return as artistic adviser and host performer for the International Children's Festival to be held this weekend at Wolf Trap Farm Park in Vienna.
McGrath will be joined by clowns from the New York Goofs; international student performers from Bolivia, China, Georgia, Romania and South Korea; music ensembles from the City of Fairfax; and dancers from the Christina Heimlich School of International Dance. Bob Madigan from WTOP Radio is the festival's official master of ceremonies.
In addition the festival will once again feature two workshop areas, the Craft Workshop Tent sponsored by Kaiser Permanente, and the Arts/Technology Pavilion featuring workshops of the future.
McGrath, who has been the host performer since 1988, is one of the original members of the cast of Sesame Street and is also an author, recording artist and concert performer. He will be at the Filene Center Stage. Appearing with him will be the International Children's Festival Singers, a group of talented Fairfax County Public high-school students under the direction of Jan Lunsford.
ALSO PERFORMING SELECTIONS will be the Christina Heimlich Dancers from the International School of Dance and the City of Fairfax Band, including several of their ensembles, The Swing Band, the Alte Kamaraden German Band and the Potomac Brass Quintet.
The New York Goofs are an ensemble of physical comedians brought together by Dick Monday, former director of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown college. Drawing on the rich traditions of the Marx Brothers, Red Skeleton, Jackie Gleason, Sid Caesar and the June Taylor Dancers, the New York Goofs are quickly becoming New York's resident clown troupe.
Young people from around the world will be performing at the festival providing the traditional music and dance of their countries.
In elaborate and colorful costumes, children 12-17 will be presenting a wide variety of Bolivian folk dances as part of the Ballet Folklorico de la Universidad Mayor de San Simon.
A group of students from China, the Tianjin Youngster Art Troupe, will present short musical plays including singing, dancing and kung fu performances. Young dancers from Georgia will be presenting a dance and music program based on their region's traditions, and another troupe of singers dancers and musicians from Romania will be attending the festival for the first time to present the songs and dances of their home region, Transylvania.
For the first time in nearly a decade, a student performing group from the Republic of South Korea, the Lee Kyung-hwa Dance Company, will offer traditional Korean dance and music featuring elaborate costumes and drums.
The Craft Workshop will offer children the opportunity to make paper airplanes, to make and play with tops, to play a Korean game called “Yut” and to make yarn dolls similar to those children make in Romania. Children visiting the arts/technology pavilion sponsored by TRW systems will create an ID card, design a roller coaster, star in a short television show, explore the world of robots and check out virtual reality.
The International Children's Festival is produced by the Arts Council of Fairfax County, a private non-private corporation, in cooperation with the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts and the National Park Service.